Help wanted: Workforce Development & Training

Manufacturing is an ancient yet ever evolving endeavor. As a result, workforce development shifts constantly. However, a manufacturer must attract workers before it can develop them. The process begins with companies striving to become the employer of choice.

People entering the workforce frequently are searching for a career that provides a sense of purpose, said Alexander Freund, director of product management for production software at Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence Division. The U.S. headquarters of the company is in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and he is based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

“When they join a company,” he said, “they ask, ‘OK, what am I delivering to customers, or how can I make a change to address also the bigger topics that we have in the world?'”

Those subjects include sustainability and the transition to green energy, Freund said, noting that companies like Hexagon develop solutions that help drive the movement to sustainable energy sources.

Although manufacturing has “been out there forever,” he said, “I think the image of manufacturing is also changing.”

Moving Pictures

The image of manufacturing needs to change from the perception of the four D’s (dirty, dark, dangerous and declining) to the four S’s (sustainable, smart, safe and surging), said Michael Molnar, director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and coordinates Manufacturing USA, a network of 17 manufacturing innovation institutes.

He said many people outside the industry still view manufacturing similarly to the way that Diego Rivera rendered it in the famous murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“These murals depicted the original vertically integrated Ford Rouge plant where iron ore and coal were transformed into Model T autos,” Molnar said. “The foundry looks like Hades, and men — all men back then — are sweating away on the assembly line. Unfortunately, that image from nearly a century ago is what so many people think of as manufacturing. Modern manufacturing is high-tech, clean and sustainable.”

He said construction of the Ford Rouge complex began in 1917 and was completed in 1928.

“It not only had this innovation of a moving assembly line,” Molnar said, “but it was the largest integrated factory in the world.”

He said one way that industry is trying to change that negative perception is with the annual Manufacturing Day. The national event takes place the first Friday in October when a growing number of manufacturers open their doors to the public, giving people, such as students, the opportunity to see production facilities with clean work environments and workers operating expensive, sophisticated machine tools.

“One of the target audiences on national Manufacturing Day is guidance counselors and educators to show them the manufacturer in their community,” Molnar said.

He said by visiting manufacturing plants, students and counselors can see how robots and other automation equipment are not eliminating workers but allowing them to gain skills, become more productive and, as a result, earn more.

“Everyone wants a good, high-paying job,” Molnar said, “and Manufacturing Day was established to show people this is what manufacturing in your local community is about. If you want to be an employer of choice, you offer opportunities for upward mobility.”

The image of manufacturing needs to change from the perception of the four D’s (dirty, dark, dangerous and declining) to the four S’s (sustainable, smart, safe and searching).

Freund concurred that automation creates openings for career advancement.

“Putting robots on the machine and so on, somebody needs to do that,” he said, “so the complexity itself enables a lot of opportunities.”

The need for workers remains urgent.

“The No. 1 issue of manufacturers, among the many challenges ahead of them, is they can’t find skilled workers,” Molnar said. “That’s what economists call a market failure — where government can help.”

That situation occurs when a manufacturer cannot expand or create a business if it cannot find the needed workers.

“It stops it in its tracks,” Molnar said. “It takes a long time to develop the right skilled workforce, and so this is where the role of government comes in to help facilitate working with the private sector to address the ongoing shortage of workforce. This is not only a clear and present issue today — it’s a growing one.”

The manufacturing skills gap in the United States could result in 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, according to a study by the professional services network and consultancy Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. The cost of not filling those jobs could reach $1 trillion in 2030 alone.

“We built the largest middle class in the world because of U.S. manufacturing,” Molnar said. “We need to get back in that game of strengthening the middle class. The best way to do this is to upskill and to connect interested workers to growing and new manufacturing organizations.”

The result of those efforts is bearing fruit.

“I am very optimistic about the future of manufacturing,” Molnar said. “If you look at the uptick in new factories being launched and manufacturing employment, and this is not just a re-shoring of things over there coming back. This is creating new products, whole new industries.”

On-the-Job Training

Both short- and long-term internship programs can help manufacturers attract some of the people they need to hire, said Olivier Thenoz, principal product manager for production software at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, who is based in Camarillo, California. The company collaborates with engineering schools to help students learn about manufacturing and add workers to its teams through internships.

“We’re giving them some interesting projects so that they will come back and be present at the end of their internship,” he said. “Quite often, we end up keeping those people.”

Molnar concurred that internships are a “huge tactic” for connecting with people who want to try something related to technology and advanced manufacturing and see whether they like it.

“When I was in industry,” he said, “we would bring on 300-plus interns every summer to learn and gain experience. It really does help.”

Apprenticeships also assist. For advanced manufacturers, which use technology and innovation to change the way that parts and products are made, Molnar said the primary issue is a shortage of skilled technicians. Although the tech is advanced, people don’t need a four-year college degree to become involved with that type of manufacturing.

Clean room technicians working at the Albany NanoTech Complex chip fabrication facility in New York are an example of advanced manufacturing. Photo courtesy of SUNY Polytechnic Institute

“There is a misperception that advanced manufacturers are only hiring degreed engineers and Ph.D.s,” he said. “In actuality, the greatest needs are skilled trades and operators with certifications. Community colleges, tailored programs and apprenticeships are really effective ways to gain these
credentials.”

Molnar said graduates with degrees that were earned over multiple years of study often are saddled with enormous debt. In contrast, an apprenticeship program generally involves a participant working at a manufacturing company for pay with benefits.