Minnesota Makes It Happen

PMA members are participating in an innovative program designed to meet employer needs by providing manufacturers in the Twin Cities District with well-trained entry-level employees who have the necessary skills for on-the-job success. The "Minnesota Make It Happen" metalforming skills program helps employers meet demands for a skilled workforce by connecting industry, education, workforce development service providers and potential employees.

"What's unique about this program is that employers drive the demand and the content," says Joe Fredkove, director of training and business development, Hennepin Technical College, which is carrying out the training effort. Fredkove also is a member of the PMA Educational Foundation Board of Trustees. "Manufacturing companies are asking for highly focused training that prospective or newly hired employees can complete in a short timeframe. The intense, short-term curriculum ultimately places employees on a path for career development."

Twenty-three companies, many of them PMA members, are actively supporting the effort, advising on the curriculum, sending employees through the training and participating in associated job fairs. The executives formed a "Super Advisory Group" to assure that the program meets their needs. Deborah Cooper, co-chair of the group and president of PMA member Rotation Engineering, says that "filling the pipeline" is an equally important goal. "We want entry-level workers to see that they can move up through the system and develop a rewarding career path within our company and this industry. We have to address our customers' evolving needs for reasonable costs and faster response times, and we need a skilled workforce to do that."

Erick Ajax, vice president of another PMA member, E.J. Ajax & Sons, is a member of the project's core team. He notes that this sector project ties closely to the Minnesota Manufacturing Coalition's goals of attracting more people to careers in manufacturing and keeping manufacturing a vital part of Minnesota's economy. "In its first year, the program has over 60 graduates with most being able to find jobs and career ladders into our industry."

Elizabeth Abraham, CEO of Top Tool, another PMA member company, also strongly endorses the program. "We believe that working in the manufacturing industry is a profession, and we are committed to investing time and money on education and training for our employees to help them advance in a rewarding career path." Abraham also believes this investment in training is helping to meet business objectives and having a positive impact on the bottom line. "Only with highly trained employees can we meet our goals of providing a quality product in a timely manner for the best value. When we do that, we can better meet our customer demands and increase sales."

Other metalworking companies are working with PMA members on the project. John Timmersman, president of Marshall Manufacturing, explains, "We're participating because we need a well-trained workforce in order to meet customer demands. We rely on highly skilled workers to meet our business objectives."

Funding for the project is provided through the Center for Workforce Success at the National Association of Manufacturers Manufacturing Institute, the Annie Casey Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Hitachi Foundation, and the PMA Educational Foundation.

For more information about the project, contact Dave Sansone.

PMA Educational Foundation Announces New Industry Partners

Recently, six companies became partners of the PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF) to support its mission of meeting workforce development challenges: Pentaflex Inc.; Waukesha Tool and Stamping, LLC; Die Tech, Inc.; Jagemann Stamping Company; GMT Corporation and ITW Anchor Stampings. Those interested in joining the growing list of PMAEF annual partners can apply online.

PMA Educational Foundation Awards Grants to Industry Programs

The PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF) has awarded a total of $34,370 in grants to five programs created to enhance the U.S. metalforming workforce-the Connecticut Business & Industry Association's Manufacture Your Future Careers Exposition, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, East Leyden High School, National Institute for Metalworking Skills Assessment Inc. and the PMA/Science Olympiad partnership. The deadline to submit applications for the next grant cycle is October 1, 2006. Interested parties may contact Dave Sansone to receive an application.

Foundation Releases
New Training Guides

PMAEF has introduced new training guides for diemakers and stamping press operators/setup personnel. These modular training outlines, titled Supervisor Guides to Implement Competency-Based Training & Apprenticeship, assist supervisors, in-plant trainers, coaches and instructors in implementing structured, performance-based training.

Each module explains the core competency to be mastered and describes the overall learning objectives, performance standards, in-training assessments and structured job training activities that support the competency. Each module also lists potential education and training resources needed to administer it.

The Supervisor Guides to Implement Competency-Based Training & Apprenticeship have multiple functions. Companies can use them to design a new training or apprenticeship program or enhance and update existing training. They may also be used to standardize learning strategies and performance outcomes, structure on-the-job training requirements and provide benchmarking opportunities to national standards. In addition, the guides can help companies develop competency-based curricula and course content.

Both the diemaker guide and the press operator and setup personnel guide are available on CD-ROM. While the modules are sequenced in a logical order of training, the training delivery sequence and module content can be modified to meet company-specific objectives, processes, equipment, tolerances and terminology.

More information about these new products may be obtained by contacting Bruce Broman, PMA Educational Foundation program director, at 216-901-8800 or bbroman@pma.org.

$170,000 available to Grant Seekers for the 2006 Grant Cycle

The PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF) announced a $170,000 grant budget for the 2006 year. PMAEF accepts requests for funding from organizations and initiatives whose programs and services promote, enhance and/or support the development of a metalforming workforce in the United States. Interested parties can download an application or contact PMAEF staff at 216-901-8800. The deadlines to submit applications for the grant year are October 1, 2005 and March 1, 2006.

It's Time to Get Training Again!

Experts say there's a dramatic labor shortage looming in the United States. Employers will struggle to fill job openings while people qualified for these positions sit idle. Even now, the lack of skilled workers is making it difficult to maintain production levels to meet customer demand and compete in the global marketplace. The need for increased productivity and profitability coupled with ISO/QS and lean-manufacturing requirements has created the necessity for a well educated, highly trained and motivated workforce. See how skill standards can improve your bottom line through human performance. Download the white paper (pdf, 278k)

PMA's new Training System

PMA's new Tool & Die Skill-Based Training & Assessment Systemis a valuable resource for benchmarking and measuring diemakers' abilities, developing or upgrading a tool & die training or apprenticeship program, documenting and tracking diemaker competencies for ISO/QS compliance, starting or enhancing a pay-for-skills program, partnering with a local institution to train diemakers, or simply measuring what your diemakers can do and how well they do it. It provides a "best practice" training design for each of four "levels" of ability (novice, entry, journey and master) and illustrates what diemakers should be able to perform at each level and in what order they should learn the necessary skills. It provides 30 hands-on performance tests and includes Performance Achievement Records to track and document the skills, competencies and accomplishments of your diemakers, trainees or apprentices. All printed material is also provided on a CD, allowing you to reproduce consumables and even modify the program to your organization's specific needs. This program is partially funded by a grant from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). For more information or a complimentary copy of the Program Guide which illustrates how the program works, please contact Bruce Broman (bbroman@pma.org) at PMA. To purchase this Training System, go to the PMA marketplace and choose the title under the topic, "Employee Training."