Crying for Help

The upsurge in manufacturing has left shops desperate for skilled workers. The demand has created a boomlet in programs to recruit and train tomorrow’s machinists.

Good times have driven many shops to extremes.

Manufacturing’s sustained crescendo has created a crying need for skilled machinists. Gary Noble, president of K&G Manufacturing, Faribault, MN, says that his staff has grown to 60 to 65 people, an increase of 50% in the last two years, and the company still has seven positions to fill. Gulf South Machine Inc., Ponchatoula, LA, needs 12 new people to keep its four new machine tools running all three shifts.

At the same time, the flow of fresh blood into the industry has slowed to a trickle. Across the country, high-school and post-secondary vocational-education classes are being cancelled for lack of interest. And teachers, counselors, and parents are steering students with the innate skills to be good machinists away from manufacturing.

Faced with a shrinking labor pool, many shops have resorted to cannibalizing their competitors’ and customers’ workforces to the detriment of the industry as a whole. "You’re basically stealing from manufacturing sources that don’t have ample people to begin with," Noble says.

Skilled workers are in such short supply that shops are finding themselves in bidding wars with every other industry in their part of the country. And they are losing out to non-manufacturing industries that can afford to pay more. Ron Buchta, Gulf South’s plant manager, claims the company can’t compete with other employers in the oil-rich region where his shop is located. After recruiting new workers and investing in their training, the shop often loses employees to companies in the bigger cities nearby. "They’ll go to work in facilities in Baton Rouge or New Orleans and a lot of times make more money than even our top people, even though they have little experience," he says.

Back to Basics
Many see the roots of our current labor shortage reaching back into the nation’s educational system and the attitudes of its citizenry. If the United States had a shop-friendly culture, kids with machinist potential would be guided into a manufacturing track early in their high-school careers. As students of metalworking, they would be exposed to a curriculum that would teach them basic manual skills and give them some experience making chips. Dick Walker, director of education for the National Tooling & Machining Association, Ft. Washington, MD, says students who make it through a high-school vocational-education curriculum should have the necessary qualifications to become entry-level machinists ready for advanced training.

The prime candidates for such training are students with keen math skills. Ron Buchta says that math is such an important part of the job at Gulf South that the company tests its applicants’ math aptitude first thing. "The math test has some problem solving with fractions and decimals, and some simple geometry to make sure they know their angles. If they can complete that, then they qualify for an interview," he says.

Jim Kubinski, director of MechTech Inc., which operates a New England-wide apprenticeship program out of its offices in Ware, MA, says the ideal candidate for the program has taken algebra, geometry, and trigonometry in school.

Equally important to many shop employers is an ability to read blueprints. Gary Noble says that trainees who can read a blueprint and do the math have the fundamental skills to understand what they’re being told about the part and make the necessary adjustments at the machine to produce it according to specifications.

Vocational education roughs students out in the approximate shape of skilled craftsmen. The finishing steps are performed during training that may occur in conjunction with or immediately after the students’ high-school or technical-school work. What turns kids with native aptitude into seasoned machinists is hands-on experience under the watchful eye of journeymen machinists. Everyone involved in training or hiring shop personnel agrees that you cannot become a true craftsman without operating a manual machine tool with your own two hands.

Shops could begin building tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce if they had a steady supply of eager recruits skilled in the fundamentals of metalworking. But with the schools’ current output, shops are struggling to maintain quality and fill orders even with automated machines that require little operator intervention. It’s not that we’re raising a generation of incompetents. It’s just that students gifted in math and the manual arts are not being encouraged to pursue a manufacturing career by their teachers and career counselors.

An Alternative Career
Rita Jung, college career counselor and school-to-work coordinator for Senn Metro Academy, Chicago, says she was once one of those counselors who believed a college education was the only path to a rewarding career. This belief led her to direct students into a precollege curriculum even when their heart was not in academics. Jung says when she saw talented students dropping out because a college career didn’t suit them, she realized there had to be an alternative route to a lucrative and satisfying career. Now, as the director of the school’s school-to-work program, she is encouraging kids to consider metalworking and steering those with the right skills and interests into Senn’s Metalworks curriculum, which prepares them to become machine shop apprentices after they graduate.

Walker says the industry’s recruitment woes may be due, in part, to the common perception of machining as low-paying, physically demanding, mind-numbing, dirty, and dangerous. Although shop jobs have changed dramatically in recent years, many teachers, counselors, and parents still carry images of machining’s dark ages in their minds.

Even students whose parents currently work in the metalworking industry may be told to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Ron Buchta admits that he’s not encouraging his son to work in a shop. "Parents realize that if their children want to be successful, their children are going to have to go to college, they’re going to have to go after a career that pays a higher wage than a machinist," he says.

Walker believes the industry’s labor shortage is exacerbated by the fact that students in the United States aren’t encouraged to train for a metalworking career at an early enough age. "If you go into a German type of system, you have 14-year-old people in what we would consider a pretty intensive machining apprenticeship," he says. In the United States, on the other hand, kids are allowed to explore a variety of options throughout high school. This lack of focus may be fine for college-bound students, but it leaves the other students ill prepared for the work world. 
"They don’t have the kind of aptitudes, attitudes, and experiences that would allow them to go directly into training programs," Walker says, "so they have to take very low-level jobs and then prove to somebody in a shop environment that they are good enough to invest some money in."

Education on the Decline
With interest in manufacturing at an all-time low among teachers and parents, vocational education in the schools is on the decline. What’s happening in the schools in the Chicago area is indicative of what’s occurring across the country. Glen Gustafson, who sells supplies to shop classes in the region as a district manager for Midwest Technology Products and Services, Sioux City, IA, says he’s seen 20 high-school shop labs close recently. The schools say they need the space for more-popular programs.

Even in schools that maintain a metalworking curriculum, the quality and scope of that education may be slipping. Walker says high schools are finding it increasingly difficult to give students experience on a full range of machines cutting a variety of materials. Also, he says, fewer and fewer students are being given the opportunity to plan and lay out the jobs they are working on.

Students who do learn some metalworking skills in high school might have trouble finding the advanced training they need to become journeymen machinists. A shop may be reluctant to spend the time and money it takes to cultivate apprentices, especially if it is having trouble holding on to workers once they’ve been trained. Also, the shrinking number of skilled machinists in the workforce means there are fewer masters available to pass on their expertise. And when a skilled craftsman can be found who is willing to serve as a mentor, he may not be adequately versed in the newer technologies. "In many cases, these are guys in their 50s or 60s who have not had the background experience in computers and so on that the new technology is calling for," says Bob Sherman, executive director of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills Inc. (NIMS), Fairfax, VA.

Students who hope to learn the metalworking trade in a technical college might not fare any better. Dick Walker says that because of funding cuts and other factors, many of the nation’s technical schools are providing a substandard education in metalworking. "We feel like there’s probably only about 30 or 35 postsecondary schools that have a good quality machining program," he says.

Gary Noble believes a shortage of good teachers could be crippling the curriculum of some technical colleges. "Because of the shrinkage in enrollment, they’ve lost key instructors or key directors of departments," he says.

As in manufacturing, the quality of the process has a significant impact on the quality of the product. In this case, the decline in vocational education has produced a supply of job candidates that lack the skills shops need for their particular operations. A diploma and a transcript indicating that a student has passed a school’s manufacturing-related courses is no longer a guarantee that he or she can program a part or cut chips productively.

Refilling the Labor Pool
With the shortage of skilled metalworkers reaching a crisis point, a number of organizations have launched initiatives and programs to fill the need. The first task is to snag talented kids and convince them that metalworking is a lucrative and respectable trade.

Posters, brochures, and press releases are broadcasting this message in the schools and in the media, but many say the real pitch happens when industry representatives meet face-to-face with kids and the people who influence their career choices. "It takes a lot of selling," Rita Jung says. "The students accept information better from the [Metalworks] students than they do from the adults, so we start out with the students going out to the cafeterias wearing their Metalworks T-shirts, and talking about Metalworks." After these student recruiters have piqued their fellow students’ interest, the program sponsors meetings and tours of Senn’s metalworking shop.

Finally, program leaders talk to each interested student individually. "It takes almost six months to recruit for the next year," says Jung. "It’s a long process because the kids don’t understand manufacturing or Metalworks."

Jim Kubinski prefers a small classroom setting to introduce students to MechTech’s apprenticeship program. From September to January he makes presentations in the schools and asks teachers to contact him with the names of any qualified students interested in pursuing an apprenticeship.

Sometimes, local businesses are enlisted to help with recruitment efforts. Jung says shops in the area frequently host tours for participants in Senn’s Metalworks program. The exposure helps keep the students interested in metalworking as a career. Some shops around the country participate in school career fairs, where they might inspire a student with an aptitude for metalworking to consider shop training.

These recruitment efforts aren’t aimed strictly at high-school students. Jung has requested funding from the Chicago Board of Education to catch children as early as 6th grade and get them thinking about a metalworking career. Gary Noble says his company sends representatives out to talk to junior-high classes and tell them about opportunities in the industry.

To generate excitement about manufacturing among students on a broader scale, a number of organizations have banded together to create what they are calling a Youth Summit. The summit organizers are hoping to draw students with a guided tour of IMTS ‘98. The summit has paired mentors with individual schools to distribute information about the show and the industry and make presentations to classes.

At the show, the mentors will act as hosts and guides as the students visit selected booths, where exhibitors have agreed to spend some time with them. Once the show is over and the students are back home, the mentors will make a follow-up visit to the school. The Youth Summit will have its own headquarters at IMTS, where young visitors can talk with industry representatives and students who are already taking manufacturing classes.

Where the Shops Fit In
Many schools and organizations with recruitment and training programs are tapping into local shops for help and ideas. For instance, a brochure from the Tooling & Manufacturing Association (TMA), Park Ridge, IL, lists the 304 association members that had apprentices enrolled in TMA’s program. The brochure urges more members to take an active role in apprentice recruitment and training. The members are asked to consider what their toolroom needs will be in five years, and it suggests that they recruit apprentices to fill those needs now. TMA also is seeking talented journeymen with a minimum of nine years of experience who are willing to give up at least two evenings a week to teach related theory courses.

A bill currently being debated in Congress would offer a tax incentive to shops that participate in training programs. According to information from NTMA, the Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act (H.R. 3110) that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would offer a tax credit equal to 80% of the trainee’s wages to any employer with an employee in a four-year 8000-hour apprenticeship program. To qualify for the credit, the shop must hire the apprentice as a certified journeyman and keep the employee on the payroll for at least a year after the apprenticeship ends. 
Even with a tax break, however, some shops may be reluctant to invest their time and money in a full four-year apprenticeship program. MechTech’s answer to these misgivings is to spread the burden around. Jim Kubinski says MechTech is supported by a consortium of manufacturers with shops throughout New England. Currently, there are 41 companies participating in the program, which is providing training to 36 students. The apprentices’ time is divided between eight to 12 consortium members’ shops, with each stint lasting four to six months. The participants also are required to take college courses to round out their education.

Through MechTech, each consortium member can tap into a reservoir of formally trained workers without exhausting their own resources on training. The apprentices and shops also benefit from a more varied education than the trainees might receive at any one shop.

The rotation also exposes the apprentices to a broad range of manufacturing processes and shop cultures, according to Kubinski. The trainees have the opportunity to operate different types of machines in small to large companies and progress from manual to CNC controls. By their third year, says Kubinski, most apprentices find a particular process or work environment that suits them best. The apprentices are allowed to choose where they would like to work for the last cycle in their training.

Typically, this is the shop that hires them as journeymen once the apprenticeship is over. Any shop is free to hire a program graduate, however. Kubinski says he sends out a letter to each consortium member announcing that an apprentice is nearing the end of his or her training and listing where the new graduate may be reached.

Shop Input Is Sought
Because consortium members themselves conduct the training in their own shops, MechTech apprentices are learning the skills those employers want most. In other programs across the country, educators are seeking the participation of industry craftsmen and executives in course planning to ensure that students are taught the right set of skills. TMA hosts networking conferences that allow the trainers and the employers of industry recruits to share ideas and concerns. TMA also urges members to become involved with their community schools’ advisory committees. Gary Noble says his company’s vice president of manufacturing sits on the local school’s board of trustees so that he can help shape the school’s metalworking curriculum.

Rita Jung says input from local industries was critical to the initial success of her school’s program, because the program’s administrators had very little direct knowledge of metalworking. Industry participation has also been instrumental in keeping the program alive. Two years ago, the program’s funding was in jeopardy and Jung had to submit a proposal to request its continuation. "We wouldn’t have been OK’d if we didn’t have those companies behind us," she says.

Quality Control
While some make improvements to the education process, others are working to ensure the quality of the output. MechTech uses a rigid screening process to select only those students with the aptitudes and attitudes needed to make good machinists. To be considered for the program, according to Kubinski, students have to be recommended by the school; they have to maintain a minimum grade-point average of 2.5 in core subjects; and they must be in school at least 95% of the time, which typically means they can miss no more than nine days of classes. 
If students meet these criteria, "we give them an aptitude test," says Kubinski, "and then I have our consortium members interview them." Out of this process, each student receives a certain number of points, and selection for the program proceeds from the highest to the lowest ranked student. Once in the program, the apprentices are evaluated once a week by their trainers.

For much of the rest of the industry, employers still must rely on school transcripts, grade-point averages, test scores, and gut instincts to sort out the craftsmen from the duds. Seeing the need for a more objective yardstick by which to judge machinists, a consortium of metalworking trade associations, national labor organizations, state governors, metalworking companies, and educators created the National 
Institute for Metalworking Skills, an industry-wide worker testing and credentialing program, in 1995.

To evaluate machinsts’ proficiency, NIMS first had to determine what skills machinists should have, and ultimately, what skills the metalworking courses that were teaching these machinists should be concentrating on. This led to the development of skills standards. NIMS relied heavily on input from machinists. "Our concept was to say, ÔLet’s get industry together and develop a set of guidelines on what kinds of things need to be taught,’" says Bob Sherman.

Currently, NIMS has standards for four metalworking occupations: machining; machine building and maintenance; metalforming; and tool, die, and moldmaking. These broad categories have been broken down further into skill levels with standards that define entry-level skills as well as the skills more proficient and experienced machinists should possess. Within the skill levels, there are standards that specify the skills a machinist needs in order to perform specific operations such as surface grinding or vertical milling.

To earn credentials in a particular skill, a machinist must meet certain performance requirements and pass a written test. The performance requirements involve making parts according to the specifications on a set of prints prepared specifically for the standard. A local industry review panel then examines the parts. If the parts pass, the machinist must then take a written test concerning the machine tool that was used to make the parts. This is to ensure that the machinist understands the process he or she was using and not just following a rote set of procedures, says Sherman.

NIMS then receives the results of the machinist’s evaluations and issues credentials if the applicant qualifies. Passing applicants receive a card and a certificate to verify that they possess the skills needed for a particular operation. By the end of 1998, the program will have administered 1800 tests and passed out 1200 credentials, according to Sherman

The NIMS credentialing program and standards are being used in a number of ways. At the most basic level, NIMS credentials provide potential employers with third-party verification that a job candidate possesses the skills he claims to possess. The standards also provide a common, well-defined language to describe those skills. When a machinist says he or she possesses Level 1 skills in power-feed milling, the shop owner or manager knows what level of proficiency to expect. In some cities, employers are using the NIMS standards to define their expectations in the want ads, requesting, for instance, applicants with Level II machining skills.

The NIMS standards are being used to plan and evaluate training programs as well. Sherman says that 11 states have officially adopted NIMS standards as part of their apprenticeship standards, saying that their officially sanctioned apprenticeship programs should be producing machinists who can meet the standards. Seven of these states require their vocational programs to teach to the standards. "So if a school is not teaching to the skill standards, and they cannot come up with the credentialed students, then they have a challenge with their own state funding," says Sherman.

According to information on NIMS’s Web site, companies also are using the standards to benchmark their own training programs, to demonstrate to customers that they have a quality workforce, to define pay-for-skill programs, and to qualify for certification in quality-assurance programs.
NIMS also certifies metalworking training programs that meet or exceed the organization’s quality requirements. Certification is available for programs administered by private companies as well as for those run by other groups such as trade associations, labor unions, and business consortia. Certification involves completing a self-study form and passing an on-site evaluation of the program and facilities.

Programs like NIMS’s are needed to help refill the labor pool with qualified machinists. The current labor drought actually began many years ago, when manufacturing was on the skids. In the 1980s, employment dropped and the flow of students was channeled into industries that were thriving better. This left few students and apprentices in the pipeline when shops began adding shifts and reactivating idled machines. It may be some time before we see a labor market teeming with skilled recruits, but the signs are encouraging. Organizers of recruitment programs say their efforts are paying off with higher enrollment in metalworking classes. And with programs such as MechTech’s and NIMS’s, the quality of that education is improving as well.