Darlene Miller was interviewed by President Bill Clinton at Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago recently.
Darlene Miller, President and CEO of Permac Industries, Vice President of PMPA, gave an employer’s perspective of Right Skills Now during a panel discussion about developing talent to continue economic recovery that has been led by manufacturing.
Darlene ‘s segment begins at 9:00 in the below video.
Clinton asks “Why is manufacturing recovering and growing again, and what are the constraints to finding workers, and what have you done about it?”
Miller answers “US manufactures as much as Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. We need skilled people- to fill over 600,000 openings we have. But we don’t need just labor, we need skilled people. We started Right Skills Now to help people get the skills they need for a career in Advanced Manufacturing.”
PMPA provides staff support to Ms. Miller and her work on the President’s Job Council and Right Skills Now. Our precision machining companies are looking for people with skills and talent to get a great career in advanced manufacturing.
The blue bar segments in the following graph shows us that as the baby boomer cohort leave the workforce, there are currently not enough under 25 and 25- 34 year olds to make up for their loss. This means that not only will productivity increases have to continue, but also that we need to really make an effort to bring 34 and under people into our skilled workforce in manufacturing. This will certainly be a challenge for employers, and if nothing is done, will mean a new management version of the No Job Blues– “the no skilled worker blues” – for our shops as we try to find candidates for open positions left by the departing boomers.
If you are a savvy shop, you are working on this issue today- if the average age of our manufacturing workers is 50, that means over half of our workforce are within a few short years of retirement.
What’s your plan for workforce and skill development in your shop, city, region and state?
Brandon Jacobs, 20 years old, was a grocery store cashier and pricing clerk before completing the Right Skills Now program at South Central College in Faribault, MN.
He thought machining would be an interesting job.
Looks like he’s enjoying his work as a CNC machinist.
The point of Right Skills Now was to find a way to match math qualified people with training to get them prepared for entry level CNC operator positions in our industry. After 16 weeks of classroom and hands on machining, Right Skills Now participants get real experience with sponsoring employers.
Brandon shows his coach Shawn Olson that his part is in spec.
Right Skills Now made it possible for Brandon to try his hand at becoming a machinist.
His coach at Permac, Shawn Olson says “Right Skills Now made sure that Brandon had the basics mastered.”
Right Skills Now doesn’t claim to turn people into journeymen machinists overnight.
But in 16 weeks, folks like Brandon are mastering the basics of safe CNC operation and are already helping to produce precision machined products for a wide range of industries.
Unemployed? Underemployed? Consider getting the RIGHT SKILLS NOW South Central, Dunwoody.
Employers- do you need people with the RIGHT SKILLS NOW? (Program info pdf)
Right Skills Now canmeansRight People Nowfor your shop.
Is now the right time for you to start your career in U.S. Manufacturing?
The phrase "get in on the ground floor" comes to mind...
I found this chart on Global Macro Monitor Blog on WordPress. They look at it for their purposes. Lets look at it for ours.
I started my manufacturing career in September 1973, near the bottom of the “Nixon Decline.” It wasn’t easy- I had plenty of layoffs- but there was plenty of upside and I went from laborer in a sintering plant through a series of jobs to become, senior plant metallurgist, quality director, plant manager, division director for quality and technology.
Being in the right place at the right time (manufacturing) from 1973 to 1977 allowed me to take advantage of the upside in manufacturing that gave me the momentum to grow my career.
Looking at the chart above, 2012 looks like the exact same opportunity, only better.
Global Macro Monitor lists some of the factors which influenced the chart above:
Strengthening of the dollar during the 1980′s;
Globalization;
Entry of China and India into the global labor force;
The internet;
Improved productivity;
Technological innovation;
Demographics and worker preferences;
All of the above.
I speak and meet with precision machining company managers and owners daily.
All are looking for people with skills and talent.
All are investing in training for their proven performers.
Our National Technical Conference last week had over 102 first time attendees.
Twice as many companies offerred internships as there were students in our first Right Skills Now class.
A comment I received yesterday on Linked In: “I teach Precision Machining and our students are all getting jobs now and the starting pay is getting better… ”
These are some very strong indicators that now is a great time to start a career in manufacturing.
If you can do the math and solve problems based on your experiences, we’d love to have you in our precision machining industry.
P.S. And even though I characterized it as the “Nixon Decline,” I am not at all holding any president responsible for these.
There are far more important factors at play in this chart than whether or not there is a Donkey or an Elephant in the oval office.
PMPA Member Darlene Miller, member of the President’s Job Council and Creator/ Champion for RightSkillsNow said, “The skill set that we need, compared to ten years ago, is enormously different. Math skills, problem solving skills are absolutely critical.”
The students said they are excited and hopeful the skills they learn will lead them to a job and a lifetime of possibilities. Many local employers have stepped up to provide internships where the students can get additional time on task and real world experience.
Brandon Eide said, “It’s something to look forward to in the future, definitely.”
Right Skills Now will provide fast-track training for skilled manufacturing jobs- starting with entry level precision machinists.
Right Skills Now for manufacturing
According to a Skills Gap study by the Manufacturing Institute, more than 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers can’t find qualified people for the nearly 600,000 skilled production jobs that are currently unfilled.
For American manufacturing to be successful, employers need machinists that have the right skills, and they need those skills now. That is the impetus for a new, fast-track education initiative called Right Skills Now.
The program is an accelerated, 16-week training course for operators of precision machining equipment. It provides classroom and hands-on shop experience to prepare students for immediate employment. It also allows individuals to earn college credit and national industry certifications.
One of the founders of Right Skills Now is Darlene Miller, CEO and owner of Permac Industries in Burnsville, Minn. She helped launch the training program for CNC machinists in her home state. PMPA provides staff support to Ms. Miller’s PCJC work. Miles Free, Director of Industry Research and Technology helped develop an initial outline of the curriculum to assure relevance to today’s advanced manufacturing shops.
Darlene Miller Announces Right Skills Now At President's Job Council Listening and Action Session at Productivity Inc, in Minnesota
As a small business owner representing the manufacturing sector, Ms. Miller was asked to serve for two years on the President’s Council for Jobs and Competitiveness. The Jobs Council is comprised of citizens chosen to provide non-partisan advice to the President to help foster economic growth, competitiveness, innovation and job creation.
According to Ms. Miller, the first time she met with President Obama, she was asked to talk about the economy as it related to manufacturing and small business. “One of the things I said to the President was, ‘Not every student needs to go to college,’ she says.
“He had recently made a speech saying that every student should go to college. But he later agreed that while not all students must go to college, they do need some educational training beyond high school.
“I told him that in the precision machining industry, we have an urgent need for skilled people,” Ms. Miller continues. “We can’t afford to take just anyone off the street, provide some training and then put that person in a machining job.”
Despite the nation’s high unemployment rate, attracting workers with machining skills has been difficult for small manufacturers. “Because of the recession, we’re all strapped financially,” Ms. Miller explains. “We need people that have math skills. Our equipment is very high-tech, and our customers expect zero ppm performance so we can’t afford to hire someone that hasn’t had technical training.
“It is critical that new hires have the necessary math and safety skills to understand and operate the machines,” she adds. “There is so much more involved now than there was 10 years ago.”
Serving on the Jobs Council with Ms. Miller are some of the country’s top corporate leaders from GE, American Express and DuPont. After the council meeting with the President, the members were divided into sub-committees. Ms. Miller was asked to co-chair the High-tech Education Sub-committee with Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini.
The group held meetings and brought in two of Minnesota’s technical schools—Dunwoody College of Technology and South Central College. The sub-committee was also able to elicit help from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM); the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS); and American College Testing (ACT), the company that developed the testing for applicants. The program has also received funding from the Joyce Foundation.
“To make this work, there had to be a partnership between the business community, the technical schools and organizations like NAM, NIMS and ACT,” Ms. Miller emphasizes.
This photo shows a small fraction of the almost 200 attendees for the launch of Right Skills Now.
To be eligible for the program, applicants have to pass the ACT test, which is geared towards the machining industry. If an individual doesn’t qualify for the program the first time, there are remedial classes available.
“Problem-solving is huge part of the curriculum,” Ms. Miller says. “There is a mix of both classroom learning and shop time. After sixteen weeks, the student will intern at a manufacturing company for eight weeks.
“That person can stay with the company and continue his or her education in a specific field,” she adds. Some go into programming, Swiss machining or advanced CNC skills. Others may end up as operations managers, quality managers or even entrepreneurs.
“We intend to replicate Right Skills Now nationally,” Ms. Miller sums up. “It’s not just for CNC machinists. It can be used for nearly any job skill. The program is so well-defined and accredited, it can be tweaked very easily to train anyone from welders to healthcare technicians.”
