Response to recent article
The
March issue of Shop Talk provoked many interesting responses. Thanks
to all that corresponded, I appreciate your comments and would like
to share some of your thoughts and ideas.
The article was entitled “Let’s train
young people for our industry” and addressed many issues of
trained personnel in the manufacturing industry.
Many readers expressed frustration with
vocational education at the high school level. School teachers and
instructors told me that education systems do not offer sufficient
manufacturing programs. JS in Cleveland, OH says the “schools have
all but given up on vocational training at the high school level”.
Others feel the schools are not providing
the fundamental skills needed to learn in manufacturing fields. RB
in Broomfield, CO felt that “students not considered ‘college
material’ do not have the academic base essential for training in
various aspects of machining…”.
CR in Holyoke, MA, a high school CAD
instructor, said “most of my students do not understand how
important this vocational training is.”
Many people who wrote, felt that most high
schools do not offer quality programs to produce individuals ready
to assume employment or explore additional training in the
manufacturing industry.
Schools alone are not to blame for this
situation. JS in Cleveland, OH observes that parents “who are at
all involved in their children’s lives focus on college as the
only path to a better life.”
Those who graduate college are educated,
but often have no practical machining experience. One reader shared
information regarding the University of Colorado’s School of
Engineering. “[The university] has had a machine shop since the
early ‘80s and in early 2000 they added CNC machine tools… the
purpose [of which] is to educate potential mechanical engineers in
manufacturing processes…” says RB, Broomfield,
CO. |
A
reader in Lynn, MA told me of a German engineering education program
where students are exposed to a hands-on apprenticeship program and
a practical college engineering education.
JL from Lynn, MA speculates on the reason
“why so many German engineers for decades have been highly
regarded for their precision, innovation and inventive genius. Could
it be … training in the skilled trades…before acceptance to
engineering school?”
One reader thought I was a bit hard
on engineers. JG of Walla Walla, WA suggested that schools give
students a basic knowledge from which to build. He compared green
machinists to newly graduated engineers. Both depend on company
veterans to show them the ropes.
“It should be the companies
responsibility to take a green engineer and put him on the shop
floor. Get them dirty, make them run the equipment, “ said JG, a
mechanical engineer. “This will also pull the engineer off of the
soapbox and build a respect. An engineer is only as good as the
manufacturing staff that supports him.”
One idea these readers seem to have in
common is that change can only come from industry. When our
industries demands a more knowledgeable work force, all levels of
education will respond.
From one reader’s perspective, “management
thinks they can get any type of employee they want off the street
corner!”
More and more manufacturing is moving out
of the United States. JL in Lynn, MA feels this is a mistake. “The
U.S. won World War II because our industrial manufacturing base was
alive and functioning on our own shores, not overseas,” said JL.
“We need to restart investment in manufacturing skills [and] new
methods … learn from our own American history and invest wisely
here on our shores again.”
There are a lot of strong feelings
regarding the coarse of our manufacturing base. Our industry is in a
survival-of-the-fittest mode. We need to ensure our engineers and
machinists are the fittest.
I appreciate the many people who took the
time to correspond with me. It is good to know so many readers share
some of my views. The manufacturing industries are a vital part of
our world. I hope we’ve stirred more thought in employers and
educators alike. Thanks again for all the comments. |