May 2023 Volume 5

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

Education at the Speed of Industry: How Community Colleges Can Help Small to MediumManufacturers Fill theWorkforce Gap for Advanced Manufacturing By Lori Baukus

Finding workforce for advanced manufacturing jobs continues to be a top priority and concern for today’s manufacturers. The drive toward the adoption of new technologies to improve efficiency and safety, manage processes, and enable better quality was only accelerated by the global pandemic. Supply chain issues exacerbated the need for the technologies, pulling job demand forward and widening an already chasm-sized gap. “Without making changes to the skills composition of the workforce, manufacturers could leave up to 2.1 million jobs unfilled between 2020 and 2030, impacting everything from productivity to innovation and competitiveness to GDP”1 (Wellener et al., 2021) Within the Department of Defense, this need has guided a push to support projects that accelerate solutions. Air Force Prime Contract No. F48650-16-D-5524, Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies (MITS), Task Order J: Regional Fabrication and CertificationTraining Labs, anAir ForceManTech projectmanaged by ARCTOS Technology Solutions, is piloting new models and training practices to accelerate Advanced Manufacturing training to meet industry needs. In partnership with Lorain County Community College (LCCC), Sinclair College (SCC), and Clark State College (CSC), this pilot has focused on three key technology areas: Automation and Robotics (LCCC), Digital Thread (SCC), and Laser Materials Processing (CSC). ARCTOS Technology Solutions chose to work with community colleges to offer the most immediate impact to their regions, but to also develop models that

training instructors, a key to eliminating the workforce shortage in Industry 4.0. For nine months, instructors from high school through university level participate in a hybrid training that pulls forward key technical components needed to teach robotics and programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s). During those nine months, instructors earn three industry credentials and three certifications.These credentials and certifications are key to ensuring that every instructor trained by the program is capable of the highest quality of instruction in the classroom, ensuring a consistency of quality regardless of where employers may be hiring. Initially based on FANUC Robotics and Rockwell Allen Bradley PLC’s due to the industry demand, this model can be adapted to other technologies and vendor specific credentials based on the needs of the region and industry. The training has already been adapted as a non-credit offering to industry partners, allowing key training customization for their end use applications, such as deburring or laser de-painting. Another way LCCC is training the workforce for advanced manufacturing is through their newly launched SMART Industrial Automated Systems Engineering Technology Bachelor of Applied Science. This degree was developed in partnership with regional employers and industry partners like FANUC and Rockwell Automation to ensure it wouldmeet the needs of industry nowand in the future as new, innovative technologies become relevant. LCCC’s students learn from hands-on lab work on industrial equipment and participate in Earn and Learn, where their classes are compressed

to two days a week and they work at a local employer three days a week, gaining valuable job experience. These graduates will be able to work with Industry 4.0 technologies from day one on the job, as well as help employers in their adoption and implementation of these technologies.

were vendor and technology agnostic, replicable to other education training partners, and applicable to both non-credit and short-term academic training programs. This project had a great start in automation and robotics due to the foundational work started by ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing - arminstitute.org) at their Solutions Summit in 2019. This was followed by the development of an Industry 4.0 Roadmap for educators in the State of Ohio by the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association

“Industry and academia working together ensures employers get the employees they need and students get the jobs they want. It’s never too soon to get started” – Lori Baukus, Director, Training, Education and Outreach ARCTOS Technology Solutions

Similarly, Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio has proposed a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Integrated Systems Technician designed to meet the needs of individuals interested in careers working with the “industrial internet of things” (IIoT). This

(ohiomfg.com) Automation and Robotics Task Force. From this foundation, LCCC , located in Elyria, Ohio, was able to implement a key accelerated training model for pilot in 2021 and is currently facilitating their third cohort. The model initially focused on

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