Automation for manufacturing purposes has made some substantial progress recently as machines sophisticated and inexpensive enough to handle low-volume orders and ever-changing production:
New systems, software and processes are replacing so-called islands of automation with seamless, automated manufacturing lines that boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from 30 to 80% or more. Like …
Large companies in the Quad Cities have stepped in to help supply a local high school manufacturing class with the materials they need.
North Scott High School offers a manufacturing class where students can learn different aspects of business. The class is divided up into four divisions: finance, marketing, design and production.
“We want to put the students in a real world manufacturing situation,” …
Apprenticeship programs continue to catch on across the country, as a practice once thought old-fashioned takes on new relevance in a manufacturing economy. This time in Greenville, South Carolina.
Five young men signed on the dotted line Friday, marking the start of their careers with Michelin.
They ranged in age from 15 to 17, and they are the first class of high-school apprentices to work …
This blog has covered a lot of training programs around the country, all of them dedicated to preparing a new generation of manufacturing workers. Today though we’re going to go local so that we can spotlight the Success Story of two P-TECH students: Frank Alicandri and Katharine Navarra.
Frank and Katharine were students in the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy who were just hired for paid …
Cutting edge technology like virtual reality is more than most schools’ budget, but what if a mobile classroom could share the cost with multiple districts?
Student’s eyes started to glow as they stepped into the Future Maker Mobile Learning Lab Thursday afternoon at Inman High School.
The lab, which was provided by Wichita Area Technical College, consisted of hands-on learning virtual …
Lowe’s is launching a new workforce development program known as “Track to the Trades.” It will roll out March 1 in Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver; Pittsburgh and Richmond, Virginia.
The platform will offer employees financial assistance to pursue certification for a specific trade skill, such as carpentry, heating and air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and appliance …
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its monthly survey of New York manufacturers, and once again it cast a sunny outlook with continued growth in everything from business to employment. The only downside being a few indicators suggesting the rate of growth was slowing down compared to last month.
The headline general business conditions index fell five points to 13.1, suggesting a …
Talk about a once in a lifetime opportunity! While many schools have partnered with local industries to inspire a greater interest among their students in manufacturing, this year dozens of high schools affiliated with the nonprofit SME Education Foundation’s program to train future manufacturing workers joined with the High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program.
Instead …
This program in Caroline County, Maryland, teaches high-school students manufacturing skills in partnership with local businesses. Started in 2014, Untangled Minds, as it is called, also teaches lean principles, quality control and sustainability.
Untangled Minds’ goal is to get students in a fast-track, career-ready program that would set them up for success in the advanced manufacturing …
We’ve put a lot of time and effort into spearheading initiatives to handle the manufacturing skills gap, like our new apprentice program or Gomakeit.org. We’re not the only ones working hard to solve this problem though, here’s a great read on efforts upstate around Buffalo to attract new manufacturing workers.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has released the results of its monthly manufacturing survey for January 2018. As expected, the first report of the new year shows little has changed. The headline general business conditions index, at 17.7, was about the same as it was last month. The new orders index and the shipments index both showed ongoing growth, although at a slower pace than in …
On Thursday, January 11th, members of the Council of Industry visited Spackenkill High School to talk about workforce opportunities and advanced manufacturing. Council employees demonstrated the GoMakeIt.org career portal designed to educate students and educators about pathways to careers in advanced manufacturing and showed the GoMakeIt video.
Rob Engle, Vice President of Sono-Tek …
Have you ever wondered how they get the lead (or graphite, nowadays) into a little wooden stick to make a pencil? Or how they attach the eraser to the end? The New York Times has put together a brief, yet fascinating photo essay chronicling the journey young pencils take at the General Pencil Company’s factory in Jersey City, New Jersey. Take a look inside one of the last pencil …
The Council of Industry is pleased to support the latest advancement in workforce development as SUNY Ulster kicks off a state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Program on January 22nd. This critical program is in response to the increasing demand for skilled workers within and beyond the Hudson Valley. Our members indicate that workforce development, recruiting and filling skilled worker positions …
The numbers are in, The country has added jobs for 86 consecutive months — the longest streak on record — according to the Labor Department. (Its numbers date back to 1939.) The unemployment rate has ticked down to 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000. Experts say that the current low rate shows it won’t get much better than this.
In fact, unemployment is so low that an increasing …
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has released its December report on the state’s manufacturing industry, and it shows good news for manufacturers.
Manufacturing firms in New York State reported that business activity continued to expand strongly. The general business conditions index was little changed at 18.0. Thirty-seven percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved …
The latest idea to reinvent American manufacturing: Servitization.
More manufacturers are shifting their focus from products to end solutions in a means to enhance their competitive advantage.
A survey of 750 manufacturers in 16 countries by enterprise applications company IFS found a growing number are offering “servitization.” Anthony Bourne, Vice President of Global Industry Solutions …
The NY Times published a profile of Ford a few weeks ago, focusing on the legendary car company’s efforts to compete with tech companies like Google and Uber in developing a Self-Driving car. It’s an interesting piece that captures the changing face of manufacturing. The company that introduced the Model T and the factory assembly line that …
Businesses are collaborating with academic partners to advocate for modern manufacturing jobs. While such collaborations have existed for years they have become more common, and more thorough, as the manufacturing skills gap continues to widen.
Silicon Forest Electronics first learned of the individual through a locally based industry ally, Partners in Careers, which helps provide resources, …
3D printing is officially transforming industries. Experts have been saying that for ages, but now there’s data to prove it:
With more and more 3D printed parts hitting the market, Forbes predicts the spare-parts supply chain will shift toward 3D printing solutions within the next three years. A survey report from Strategy& estimates that 85% of spare-parts suppliers will build 3D …
40% Of Manufacturing Machines Are Under-Utilized. That’s the sad fact, but one company had an idea that brought the sharing economy to the manufacturing industry.
Here’s the deal: Say a manufacturer needs to make a machined part, but does not have the needed machinery or a reliable method of outsourcing. Another company (a supplier) has the machinery needed, sitting idle, collecting …
Robots have been a part of manufacturing for years now, but recent developments have seen a tipping point in terms of what the machines are capable of. New, sophisticated, robots are rapidly transforming the workplace.
Robots are becoming easier to configure and use than their traditional industrial forebears. Embedded vision systems, sophisticated behavior software, and robotic positioning …
The Socratic method, kinesthetic learning and vivid visualization are three of the techniques that may be effective when teaching engineers and other people in technical occupations, Don Graham of SECO Tools writes for American Machinist.
A successful teaching strategy hinges on two primary goals: get students to retain and apply the information. With that said, instructors first must identify …
SupplyChain Management Review is out with three suggestions on how to raise Millennial interest in manufacturing:
Embrace mobile connectivity. Millennials came to the workforce in the age of the app. They don’t have a context for careers without speed and immediacy of the Internet and using mobile devices. For workers in this group, having to go from the production floor …
Manufacturing is changing at a greater pace than ever before. So how do you keep up? There’s never going to be an easy answer to that question, but the trusted management firm McKinsey & Company has just come out with what it says are the four key characteristics of successful change management:
No mountain high enough: Aspirations to give inspiration
Few transformations achieve more …
