A Cool Day for Manufacturing

“Wait…we have more people signed up!” This was the statement I made every morning for the 3 weeks leading up to the Manufacturing Day event we hosted here at Okuma America on Friday, October 2. The original plan was to have 120 high school students and teachers attend, but this rapidly expanded to over 150 students and teachers. Normally having an increase in attendance would’ve made me nervous. Where do we put this many people? How can we fit everyone into our carefully orchestrated time slots? How do we feed all these people?!! I’m not going to lie and say that all of those thoughts (along with some not fit to put into words) didn’t cross my mind. But it wasn’t nervousness I felt, I was actually consumed with excitement.

Showing the Opportunities

As most of us in this industry know, we’re facing a challenge in developing a future skilled workforce. Many parents think of the following words when they envision a job in manufacturing: Dark. Dirty. Dangerous. Not to mention most parents have high aspirations for their children that they will all go on to be doctors who cure cancer, lawyers who debate world issues, and engineers who create the “next big thing.” I don’t blame those parents. I know my mother and father held some of those same aspirations for my sister and I as we grew up. However my parents also gave us the opportunity to find a career that resonated with us on a personal level, something we were passionate about. Not every child gets that kind of chance. So by participating in national Manufacturing Day we’re giving children exposure to our industry and showing them the exciting and rewarding career opportunities that exist.

Quite a Busy Day

During the event students from 6 high schools in the North and South Carolina area had the opportunity to get engaged with manufacturing. We exposed them to robots for automation (partners ABB, FANUC and KUKA all had a presence – ABB’s robot even served soft drinks!), app development, and the future of technology in manufacturing through demonstrations by CU-ICAR, where students showed technology that is currently being prototyped by companies such as BMW. We didn’t just focus on Okuma; we also spoke to what’s going on in the aerospace and automotive industries. Students had the opportunity to learn that race teams need people who know how to cut metal, and that without CNC machines people wouldn’t be able to fly to summer vacation destinations. Of course we did highlight the types of careers that are available here at Okuma by showing a fun video with employees talking about their jobs. We also had 3 different machines running and cutting to show students how CAD/CAM software and other programs allow our machines to be operated. Our goal was to provide students with a well-rounded day by highlighting many different areas of our industry.

“Hey, This Seems Cool”

To be realistic, not every student who attended our event left inspired to pursue a career in manufacturing. But if even a third of students stopped for a moment and thought, “hey, this seems cool…I want to know more” then we accomplished our mission. It’s through community outreach events such as this that we, the face of manufacturing “now”, begin to pave the path for what manufacturing for the future will look like.

Spread the Word

At more than one point in our careers most of us have had someone who helped us get started in a new job or a new company. We should remember the help we received and express our gratitude by “paying it forward” to the next generation. The national Manufacturing Day event is a start, but every day should be Manufacturing Day! Talk to your children about what “cool” things you get to do in your job. Talk to your neighbor, or friends’ kids about the same. Now you might have to text them to have this conversation, but I assure you your efforts will not be lost. Every small action by each individual will multiply, and our future skilled workforce will thrive.

Did you or your company celebrate Manufacturing Day? Perhaps you celebrate it every single day! Please comment below and share how you’re helping pay it forward.

Brittany Russell is Training Program Manager, Okuma America Corporation.