Managing Automation - August 2008 - (Page 39)

of the skilled manufacturing labor force will retire. Adding to this dilemma is the widely accepted fact that the workers needed to fill tomorrow’s jobs will require new skills to qualify them to manage the highly automated manufacturing systems on factory floors and elsewhere within the enterprise. “Manufacturing [today] is less about getting your hands dirty and up to your elbows in really manual labor and more about using the brain power of your employees,” said Stacey Wagner, principal of Jarrett Wagner Group and former managing director of the National Association of Manufacturers’ Center for Workforce Success, in a panel discussion called “Managing the Next-Gen Workforce: New Technology and Business Skills” held at the recent Managing Automation Progressive Manufacturing Summit in Las Vegas. impressing on them that it is a problem-solving profession without which no societal problems can be solved,” Kreiner says. “The status of engineers in the U.S. is generally not as high as those of lawyers and medical doctors, for example. Engineers seem to be far more appreciated and treasured in China and India than they are in the U.S.” NEW SKILLS NEEDED Meanwhile, the skills that will qualify young people for the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow are changing. “We have many booming manufacturing sectors in the U.S. that cannot fill the jobs they have available,” Tomlinson says. “Medical device, aerospace & defense, oil & gas, alternative energy, and transportation industries outside of the rust belt are all looking for qualified workers.” Many industr y obser vers, in fact, predict the need for highly skilled manufacturing workers. “The requirements for factory floor workers are going to be significantly different than they are today,” said Eric Mittelstadt, CEO of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM), during the Progressive Manufacturing Summit panel discussion. “Workers are going to have to be much better qualified in order to be able to use [advanced] technology appropriately.” Meanwhile, Mittelstadt said, the traditionally integral role of lower skilled workers will either move offshore or be replaced by automation. “We’re going to have to figure out how to do high-wage, high-skilled, high value-added jobs on the factory floor and still be competitive” in the global marketplace. Changing gears within education systems to address these needs will require a concerted effort from government in KEY RECOMMENDATIONS order to help standardize the approach. “If we’re going to spend ● Focus on and help emphasize the positive aspects of a career in manufacturing billions of dollars — which we do — federally, state, and locally on ● Standardize an approach to applied learning educational systems, we’ve got to ● Support math and science skill-building figure out how to do it the right starting with kindergarten way,” Mittelstadt said during the ● Support additional training for teachers panel discussion. “We’ve got to ● Support state-level continuing education have world standards, class stanprograms dards, and applied learning — the ● Provide more financial aid to help defray connection between what they college costs learn in school and what they’ll ● Provide assistance to companies offering need to do in the workplace.” apprenticeships Tomlinson agrees. “The effort “We have many booming manufacturing sectors in the U.S. that cannot fill the jobs they have available.” — Mark Tomlinson The key to attracting qualified workers, says Mark Tomlinson, executive director and general manager of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), is to emphasize the fun of working in a manufacturing job. “Manufacturing, for the most part, is not an ‘oily rag’ industry anymore; in most cases, you’re working in a dust-free, clean-room environment,” Tomlinson says. “So the new administration needs to raise the awareness that the ‘blight of manufacturing’ that gets all the news coverage — things like automotive jobs leaving the country — is not the only manufacturing sector we have.” Tools such as the SME Education Foundation’s ManufacturingIsCool.com Web site help expose young people to the fun and positive aspects of manufacturing jobs. It is but one example of the foundation’s overall strategy to “get the word out” about the value of math and science skills, Tomlinson adds. Jesa Kreiner, a professor in the mechanical engineering department at California State University, cites a statistic claiming that just 5% to 6% of U.S. high school graduates pursue engineering or science careers, compared with 50% to 60% in China and India and somewhat less in Korea, Taiwan, and other countries. “We must make an effort to make engineering more appealing to the students by Photo courtesy: SME 39 August 2008 http://ManufacturingIsCool.com

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Managing Automation - August 2008 Contents Take 1 After 18 Months, the Oracle/SAP Suit Has Little Effect on Maintenance Sales At 100, Foxboro Reinvents Around Its Customers New Private Equity Firm Eyes Software A Software Suite Just for Manufacturers i2 Chief Focuses on Services Plan Notes It's Time for Action Examining U.S. Competitveness Leveling the Field An Unhealthy Situation Exploring Alternatives Math and Science: Key to the Future Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - August 2008

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