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Innovating automation education

There’s an engineer in all of us. By applying unique immersive experiences to draw out that natural attraction to making things, we can, hopefully, solve manufacturing’s biggest obstacle: the skills gap.

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There’s an old saying: “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Perhaps that’s why we have kids aspiring to be professional athletes, musicians, chefs, reality TV stars and—the No. 1 profession cited by 3- to 4-year-olds—superhero.

Luckily, as of 2015, “engineer” made it to No. 9 on the top 10 professions that kids want to be when they grow up, according to the Fatherly Imagination Report, based on 500 responses from kids between the ages of 1 and 10 years old.

But the need to get “engineer” and even “machine operator” and “automation expert” to the top of the list is important to the future of manufacturing, which is facing a serious shortage of workers. Over the next decade, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, according to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, which noted that the skills gap is expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled.

The industry is responding by trying to change the image of manufacturing with outreach efforts, such as the annual Manufacturing Day. Launched in 2012 by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the goal of the day is to change the public perception of the factory floor as a dirty, monotonous, dead-end job, and demonstrate to the next-generation workforce that today’s manufacturing jobs are highly skilled positions with growth opportunity. 

There are indications that Manufacturing Day is working. According to Deloitte’s Manufacturing Day 2015 survey, 81 percent of students who attended Manufacturing Day events emerged “more convinced that manufacturing provides careers that are interesting and rewarding.” In 2016, that perception rose to 84 percent. Projections indicate that roughly 600,000 people attended Manufacturing Day events in 2016 and that 267,000 of them were students. That means that more than 224,000 students walked away from the 2016 event with a more positive perception of manufacturing, according to Deloitte.

That’s a good start. But the companies need more. They require tools that support the new image of modern manufacturing as an innovative environment that leverages automation, 3D printing, simulation, the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile apps. They also need programs that support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education—in a somewhat unique way. To that end, manufacturers, suppliers, academia, government, associations and the entertainment industry are developing and delivering programs and promotions that make manufacturing interesting to Millennials, as well as provide a rewarding career path for veterans and skilled tradespeople.

“Everyone is starting to understand the importance of STEM, but that won’t convince someone to be an engineer,” says Jay Flores, the global STEM ambassador at Rockwell Automation. “We are trying to find things kids are already passionate about and show them the STEM behind it.” Many students are becoming technology users but aren’t understanding the importance of being creators, he comments.

To change that, Rockwell has partnered with Discovery World, a science museum in Milwaukee. There, the kids can see scale replicas of landmarks around the city, such as Miller Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers play. The park has a fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open and close in less than 10 minutes. At the exhibit, students use a human-machine interface (HMI) and see the motors and controls behind the scenes to open and close the roof.

“They might go to the ball park in the summer and never see the connection to STEM,” Flores says. “But we help bridge that gap and make the connection for them.” To drive home the point even more, after “playing” with the Miller Park roof replica, students are then asked to look across the street to the Milwaukee Art Museum which has “wings” as part of the building architecture that open and close—and which are controlled by Rockwell technology.

Rockwell is a great example of how an automation supplier is making a difference in the minds of up-and-coming engineers. Associations have gotten in the game, too. PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (and parent company of PMMI Media Group, publisher of Automation World), has developed a unique spin on a popular television program, hosting the “Amazing Packaging Race” at its PACK EXPO show.

This friendly competition brings together students from PMMI partner schools who form teams to visit exhibitor booths and complete specific packaging tasks, as well as share trivia-related tasks on social media platforms to earn extra points.

“Like the Amazing Race, it’s a scavenger hunt where students learn about the industry and exhibitors have the opportunity to interact with students,” says Stephan Girard, director of workforce development at PMMI. It is a hands-on approach to learning that builds teamwork skills and engages the participants. Last year, 25 teams and 30 exhibitors participated in the program.

“It generates a lot of buzz on the show floor and is a conversation starter,” Girard says. “But ultimately, the companies that participate do so because they want to encourage the next generation to join the industry.”

PMMI is actively supporting other workforce development efforts as well, such as offering a next-generation networking fair at PACK EXPO that connects employers in the processing and packaging industry with students about to enter the workforce. PMMI also offers mechatronics certification programs and online technical training to keep operators, technicians and maintenance staff up-to-date on basic skills.

The way in which schools and industry organizations interact with students and deliver educational programs is becoming a critical element to success, industry experts say, because we are at a unique moment in history.

“In addition to the challenges we are facing related to brain drain from Baby Boomers retiring, we have an educational system that is out of alignment with the labor market,” says Jennifer McNelly, president of 180 Skills, a provider of high-quality, yet affordable online career and technical skills courses. Although that’s starting to change around STEM careers, it is still not meeting the market demands for the future workforce in manufacturing, she says. That’s because “the pace of change on the education side is not as fast as the pace of change in the industry.

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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Food Products at PACK EXPO Southeast