Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/449345
12 | /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING • Januar y 2015 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m between manufacturers and educators to help address the skills gap, such as through enhancing tech education offerings and creating more opportunities for young people to spend time in manufacturing facilities. "Getting engaged in K12 is critical, (as is) having students participate in an apprenticeship program, a job-shadowing program," Franz says. "So many times, companies are saying, 'We're too busy,' but by making that small investment now, you're able to find the workforce you need for the future." And manufacturers are not just concerned about finding technically trained workers, they're worried about finding people with "soft skills," the non-technical skills such as communication, decision-making and a good work ethic that translate into employability. "I hear it all the time from companies saying, 'You know what, I'm willing to train someone if they are able to communicate, work hard and will come to work every day,'" Franz says. Soft skills are hard to train for, but giving students real-world experiences to show how their behavior will impact a future career can help, Kawleski says. Initiatives such as the Bay Link Manufacturing program at Green Bay West High School, a student-run manufacturing learning lab, will give students the experience of running a program, working with customers, working in teams and making business decisions. Schools have lost many of the traditional vocational student groups and intra- curricular type student organizations that were strong opportunities to learn leadership skills, he says. "We haven't really had a big emphasis on that, I think," Kawleski says. "And maybe it's time to think about doing more of that." Growing pains T he need for prepared workers will only grow as industry gets healthier. The increase in planned plant expansions and modernizations is a positive sign of financial health, but also may be a symptom of the skills gap because companies may need to improve plant efficiency as workers retire, Kawleski says. "Having said that, you still need folks that are technically trained to operate that new equipment," Kawleski says. "You're looking at things that are usually much more computerized, much more complex. You need people to both operate that and to maintain that." And if companies had a large talent pool from which to choose workers, their confidence in expanding might increase that much more, he says. "Anecdotally, certainly we've heard for the last number of years that there are a lot of companies that probably would expand even faster if they could solve the people problem," Kawleski says. "They're saying, 'We could fill these orders, we could expand our customer base, but we just physically don't have the people to operate the equipment.'" Scott Kuehn, technical talent acquisition coordinator at Bemis Manufacturing in Sheboygan Falls, says his company is looking for good workers that don't necessarily have technical degrees, but possess a minor amount of mechanical aptitude — and the right attitude — to learn and fit into the company culture. "Can this person work within an environment where every voice needs to be heard?" Kuehn says. "We are very team-oriented, and if there's someone that comes in that is not a good culture fit, they're going to struggle." Kuehn is part of a partnership of other Sheboygan County manufacturers that MANUFACTURING: THUMBS UP FOR 2015 c o n t i n u e d "We've heard for the last number of years that there are a lot of companies that probably would expand even faster if they could solve the people problem. They're saying, 'We could fill these orders, we could expand our customer base, but we just physically don't have the people to operate the equipment.'" Mike Kawleski, public affairs manager for Georgia- Pacific and chairman of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance's communications task force