Personnel

A precision machining supplier has come up with a way to address the skills shortage problem. Micron Manufacturing Co., Walker, Mich., lets workers create their own schedules. You want to be there for your first-grader's field trip? Do it. Want to have a long lunch with your aging mom? You can.

Although millions of manufacturing jobs may need to be filled in the years to come as baby boomers continue to retire, many manufacturers already struggle with unfilled positions. One efficient way to combat the problem is by improving company websites, said Claudia Pennington, co-founder and CEO of DIY Marketing, Marietta, Pa.

There was nothing at their first meeting that suggested to Chris Salow that Amanda Hutchings would one day be president of his Peak Manufacturing Corp. and take it to record revenue. It was 2007, and she was applying for a job as marketing manager at his Shop Rat Foundation, a Jackson area-based nonprofit that teaches area high school kids how to operate factory machinery and prepare for skilled, well-paying jobs upon graduation. She was 22, and although she had graduated from Baker College with a degree in business administration with honors, she was so nervous about the interview that she had broken out in hives.

The job training programs at Hononegah Community High School and Beloit Memorial High School include job shadowing, mentoring, summer apprenticeships and training workshops at cutting tool manufacturer Regal Cutting Tools, Roscoe, Ill.—but no internships. Working at Regal Cutting Tools means being considered a normal employee, not an intern, even if the worker is there part time and spending his or her days as a high school junior or senior. Although students are allowed time off for academic-related reasons, such as preparing for college admission tests, there are no exceptions for extracurricular activities, such as sports or clubs. “They need to make a decision whether they want to be part of that,” said Plant Manager Dennis Weiland.

In a clear echo of the 'Rosie the Riveter' campaign of WWII, manufacturing organizations in 2017 are striving to let women know that their talents are needed, the work is important and rewarding, and unlike in their grandparents' time, the jobs are permanent.

Whether an interviewer or interviewee, it is important to be prepared when discussing a job opening. An e-book provides 110 typical questions and answers for production interviews, as well as tips for how to prepare.

Marion Technical College's new $500,000 mobile training lab has the potential to train hundreds of workers each year throughout central Ohio, writes Hasan Karim in The Marion Star. The vehicle's 400-sq.-ft. simulation center accommodates eight students, each with a laptop and other training equipment, officials say. Bob Haas, the college's chief strategy officer, says the purpose of the mobile lab is to provide on-site training to local manufacturers.

In the decade since the beginning of the Great Recession industrial production (e.g. manufacturing, mining and electricity production) has been a political football of both the left and right. It’s time to stop playing that game, and a good way to start is to review some facts about these industries, which continue to provide a significant share of the Midwestern economy.

Deloitte projects that in the next decade, 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled. However, many manufacturers struggle to fill the employment vacancies they have now. With five website enhancements, a manufacturer can improve its chances of recruiting talented, experienced millennials.

Doug Yates was having trouble finding folks to run his CNC machines, so he called his buddy John Dodson at the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C. Dodson had an answer for Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines in Mooresville, but it would cost him. The idea is to train students on how to run the complex metalworking machines, not only for making NASCAR engines and race cars but for medical, energy and aerospace applications.