View from the Floor: Education for all

By the time you’re reading this column it’s likely that our first trip to Winnipeg with the Metalworking Manufacturing and Production Expo will have come and gone. I expect that many of our readers from the area will have made the time on April 7 to attend the event. Thank you, and I look forward to your feedback.

These free, day-long expos (the next one is in Coquitlam, BC, May 5th) are a great opportunity for us to meet and interact, but more importantly they serve as small team-building events for shops of all sizes.

When’s the last time a group from your shop floor had the chance to attend an industry-related event together where they could see and talk about technologies related to their day-to-day work?

A lot of importance is placed on the need to fill the skills gap in the manufacturing trades across the country. The demand for the next generation of workers is growing, and all levels of government together with industry associations are doing their part to create a greater awareness of the opportunities.

And national programs like Skills Canada are also encouraging not only involvement but also excellence among the next generation of skilled machinists, welders and many other manufacturing trades.

So while resources are being poured into the next generation, who’s making the effort to enhance the skills and development of existing employees?

In most small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies the only ongoing employee training arrives when a new piece of equipment lands on the shop floor. The Machining Center in Belleville, Ontario, a 16-person shop, took a refreshing approach when it involved its machine operators in the purchasing decision when it was buying a new machine tool (pg. 74). According to Paul Vreugdenhil, operations manager at the company, they make extra efforts to invest the time to challenge their operators and keep them involved. This level of engagement keeps the employees sharp and is great for team building.

Our small expos, and especially the larger industry trade shows (WMTS in Edmonton this June and CMTS in Toronto Sept./Oct.), are supported by numerous suppliers to the industry all looking to share their knowledge of the latest and greatest offering to improve production in shops of all sizes. Bringing your crew to events like this is a small cost-effective way to help your employees and your company grow.

Doug Picklyk, Editor

dpicklyk@canadianmetalworking.com