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Educators aim to build bridge between students, manufacturers

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This isn’t your granddad’s – or even your dad’s – manufacturing industry anymore. The problem is the next workforce doesn’t know it.

With a manufacturing labor shortage, educators in the skilled trades are fielding concerns by industry leaders about succession plans and the sustainability of the manufacturing industry.

“We are underemployed in many cases,” said Matt Hudson, dean of technical education at Ozarks Technical Community College. “We’re trying to guide students into making the choice where there are job openings. That seems like the healthy train of thought.”

Educational institutions are under increased pressure to get the younger generation interested in manufacturing employment. In the case of OTC, Hudson said administrators recognize 18- to 22-year-old students have perceptions in manufacturing that are skewed in the wrong direction. Now, he said they’re attempting to reach kids when they’re younger: in the fifth-eighth grades, before film, media and the older generation have a chance to influence their perceptions of the industry.

The current landscape of manufacturing is no longer huge buildings abuzz with hundreds or thousands of workers, but rather machines and highly trained and technical workers keeping them functioning, Hudson said. For instance, much of the NorthStar Battery Co.’s manufacturing process is automated.

OTC also created a consortium for skilled labor training for high school students.

At Missouri State University, professor R. Neal Callahan said the department of technology and construction management he leads has created a new program in mechanical engineering technology.

“One of the major goals of this program is to place technical professionals in the manufacturing sector,” he said. “These students are equipped with the technical and managerial skills that are relevant in the manufacturing environment.”

Students can begin the first two years of the program at OTC before transferring to MSU. Courses in the program emphasize computer programming, physics, calculus, thermodynamics, materials and manufacturing processes, and computer-integrated manufacturing.

With 513 manufacturers operating in Springfield and 14,762 local people working in the industry, according the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, a steady growth of technical positions demands more specialized education. Hudson said the influence of tech in manufacturing is far-reaching and not likely to slow down.

The 2016 Manufacturing Outlook Conference held in early December at the University Plaza Hotel touched on some issues vital to the industry: safety, legislation and education. During a panel discussion with International Dehydrated Foods Inc. Chairman Kurt Hellweg, Vice President of Food Safety, Quality Assurance, Compliance and Grower Support Jeff Hinds and Dairy Farmers of America Human Resources Manager Randy Tucker, the participants agreed education is the top priority and expressed hope the local educational community understands their needs.

“What Springfield can do is start looking at that skill set and making sure that we have that in our education system so that we are raising a generation that can fulfill those manufacturing jobs,” Hellweg said.

Hudson said the 2008 recession drove many students back to school for bachelor’s degrees, and now the manufacturing industry is feeling that labor pinch. It’s an uphill battle, he said, given the misconceptions of manufacturing careers. There are now fewer people in buildings full of highly technical machines that require programming and repair.

Douglas Carroll, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the cooperative engineering program at MSU, said he has a hard time encouraging young people to pursue jobs in the trades, despite the demand and competitive wages.

“We get a lot of electricians in their 40s who come to talk about doing an electrical engineering degree because their bodies are worn out,” he said.

“This is something the companies need to address. What do you do with people in these hard physical jobs as they get older? Most companies fire them and find a younger person. That’s the biggest problem.”


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