November 2025 Volume 7

BLACKHAWK TECHNICAL COLLEGE’S MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION CELL (MAC) PROJECT IS SHAPING TOMORROW’S WORKFORCE By Bryan Coddington FORGING RESEARCH

W hen the forging industry looks to its future, two themes dominate every conversation: workforce and technology. On one hand, companies across the country face severe shortages of skilled labor as experienced technicians retire and too few new workers enter the field. On the other, advanced manufacturing continues its rapid evolution through automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0 technologies. These pressures, labor scarcity and technological advancement, form both the challenge and the opportunity of our era. At Blackhawk Technical College (BTC) in southern Wisconsin, these realities came together in the form of an ambitious initiative known as the Manufacturing Automation Cell (MAC) Project. Conceived in partnership with Scot Forge and supported by Finkl Steel and the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation (FIERF), the MAC Project set out to design, build, and integrate an advanced automation cell within BTC’s new Innovative Manufacturing Education Center (IMEC). More than just a collection of machinery, the MAC is a living laboratory for preparing the next generation of advanced manufacturing technicians. Today, with the project’s first phase complete, the results speak volumes, not only about what a technical college can achieve with vision and industry support, but also about how the forging industry can actively shape the pipeline of talent it desperately needs. Building the Bridge Between Classroom and Industry The MAC Project was born out of necessity. Like many regions across the country, southern Wisconsin has seen strong growth in manufacturing paired with shrinking pools of qualified workers. Employers like Scot Forge voiced a clear need for graduates with not just classroom

knowledge, but also hands-on experience working directly with the types of automation technologies increasingly present in forging plants and advanced manufacturing facilities. BTC’s response was to create an automation cell from the ground up, involving students, faculty, and industry partners in every stage of its design, assembly, and integration. The cell would incorporate conveyors, forming equipment, a robotic cell, along with the sensors, machine vision, and PLC programming required to provide an automated production environment capable of training the technicians of the future, allowing the forging industry to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of the marketplace. But the MAC was never intended to be just a piece of equipment. It was envisioned as a catalyst for curriculum innovation, a tool for immersive work-based learning, and a tangible bridge between the classroom and the real-world demands of modern manufacturing. Now complete, the project demonstrates what can happen when education and industry align. It shows how forging companies can play a direct role in shaping the next generation of technicians and how colleges can modernize to meet the needs of today’s high-tech shop floors.

Figure 1: Manufacturing Automation Cell (MAC) Project

Industry Collaboration at the Core To keep the project aligned with real-world needs, BTC convened a Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) that included Scot Forge and eight other local companies. Beginning in December 2024 and meeting every one to two months through the spring of 2025, the BILT provided input on both equipment design and course content. Students weren’t left on the sidelines. BTC intentionally included student workers in these meetings whenever possible, giving them exposure to the strategic side of manufacturing and ensuring their education reflected actual industry expectations.

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2025 59