Community Colleges Offer High-Tech Training
New program designed by industry trains dislocated workers and combats skilled-worker shortage.
By Mollie Romano
"Employers are looking for employees who are cross-trained with electrical, electronic, and mechanical skills,” explained Arturo Caballero, a graduate of the Advanced Manufacturing/Integrated Systems Technology (AM/IST) training program. “The AM/IST training prepared me with the basic technological skills needed for my new career.”
All learning is multimedia based and self-paced, so students learn lessons through a computer program and take quizzes and hands-on skills tests when they feel prepared.
In January 2003, after a few months of unemployment, Caballero enrolled in an eight-week AM/IST training program through Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, IL. The program runs 200 hours and teaches entry-level skills for operating, troubleshooting, and maintaining high-tech equipment. Upon completing the program, Caballero was hired as an industrial electrician technician at Rock/Tenn Co. in Aurora, IL, and now is working for Clear Lam Packaging, Inc. in Elk Grove Village, IL.
Because so many skilled workers who understand high-tech equipment are retiring, many industries are looking for entry-level workers who can fill those advanced manufacturing positions. The shortage of skilled workers combined with the abundance of dislocated workers caused by a weak economy led to the implementation of AM/IST. “When students finish the program they are qualified for an entry-level position in industrial maintenance,” said Charles Raimondi, AM/IST program director at ECC. “We give them the core material they need in order to fit in at an industrial setting.”
With leadership from Caterpillar Inc., the program was designed by industry representatives who recognized a need for a new generation of skilled workers who understand today’s rapidly changing technologies. In 2002, four community colleges in Ohio and four in Illinois began offering the program.
Having completed their training goals for dislocated workers, the colleges now are developing and implementing programs for incumbent workers, apprentices, and individuals seeking an AAS degree in advanced manufacturing. The AM/IST training programs are coordinated through the National Center for Integrated Systems Technology (NCIST) based at Illinois State University in Normal, IL.
Each facility has approximately $1 million worth of equipment and curricula, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor/Education and Training Administration. The program utilizes hands-on skills training and simulates actual industrial environments.
Classroom learning
Typical students who enroll in the program are recruited through one-stop centers, or unemployment offices. Students come with a range of skills—from no experience (one student had worked only in the travel industry) to some experience (several students have been line workers) to skilled (students who need to upgrade skills to understand the changing technologies). The only requirement is that students have basic math, English, and computer skills. Classes are small, serving a maximum of 14 students at a time.
Students learn about electrical systems for 3 weeks, mechanical systems for 3 weeks, and programmable logic controllers for 2 weeks (see accompanying text “AM/IST Curricula”)—the focus of all classes is on industrial maintenance. They learn how to use deductive thinking, understand current equipment, and log and document information.
Each of the sections (electrical systems, mechanical systems, and programmable logic controllers) contains several lessons that are completed with written and hands-on skills tests. Students must acquire an 80 percent proficiency level before they may move on to subsequent activities.
Most instructors for the program have industry backgrounds. They are continually offered professional development by NCIST in seminars that focus on instructional methods. They also improve upon their teaching by discussing classroom issues through an intranet on the NCIST’s Web site. The intranet also allows instructors to ask questions about curricula and training equipment.
AM/IST training is multimedia based, taught through the use of computer technology, which helps to teach, quiz, and record students’ progress; learning activity packets (LAPs), which are manuals that supplement each lesson; and around $1 million worth of equipment, which allows students to develop hands-on skills.
All training equipment was designed by industry representatives. “When manufacturers visit the training labs they are very surprised at the capabilities of the program,” said Toni McCarty, executive director of NCIST.
Program development
The curricula for AM/IST was developed under the leadership of Caterpillar Inc., who after making a significant financial investment in task analyses to determine what new workers need to know, took the information it had learned to AMATROL, a manufacturer of learning systems for technical training. Along with several other major industry players, such as Goodyear, IBM, General Motors, and Miller, Caterpillar and AMATROL developed the program through a seven-step process:
• Design learning modules around critical goals.
• Determine appropriate student outcomes for the learning modules by reviewing all information and data currently available.
• Convene a development team to create the learning modules.
• Address the needs of all learners by using a variety of instructional methods.
• Incorporate a comprehensive, real-time electronic management system that instructors can use to continually assess student outcomes.
• Assure that the learning modules are continually being reviewed so that any necessary updates and improvements can be made.
• Assure that year-round professional development is available to instructors so that they may continually upgrade their skills and teaching methodologies.
In cooperation with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA) provided training and employment grants to one-stop centers and community colleges. These grants are part of the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative for Advanced Manufacturing.
These sites were chosen because labor market information indicated that these areas were experiencing skilled labor shortages. “The AM/IST project was funded by the USDOL because it represents a true employer-driven initiative,” McCarty said. “This program was designed to meet the needs of employers experiencing skilled labor shortages.”
Program success
Although anyone can enroll in the program for a fee, dislocated workers who are recruited by one-stop centers go through the training for free. Once training is completed, the colleges and one-stop centers work together to place the students in jobs. The NCIST posts students’ resumes on its Web site, www.ncist.ilstu.edu, for potential employers to view.
AM/IST gives students practical information and skills that will help industry. “These students are going to have to be able to get out there and troubleshoot this equipment—repair it in a timely fashion. In this program we teach them how to do that, how to use the tools, how to apply the safety. It’s all a part of training them so companies can hire our students and say, ‘Yes, this is what we’ve been looking for. Now we don’t have an unskilled labor force any more. We had a skilled labor force that left, and now we have another skilled labor force we can bring in.’ That’s what our job is,” Raimondi said.
To date, 186 manufacturers in Illinois and Ohio have hired AM/IST participants, with an average starting wage of $14.32. Companies have been so pleased with the students they hired that several have employed multiple program participants. The target for both Illinois and Ohio is to train and place 288 students in manufacturing jobs.
For more information on the AM/IST program, go to www.ncist.ilstu.edu or e-mail ncist@ilstu.edu
Mollie Romano is a former assistant editor for Maintenance Technology.
aM/IST Curricula
Electrical curriculum
Electrical control circuits
Residential/commercial wiring
Electrical motor control
Industrial electrical wiring
Industrial power distribution
Electronic curriculum
Programmable controllers
Mechanical curriculum
Hydraulics
Pneumatics
Pneumatics maintenance
Piping systems
Electro-fluid power
Electronic sensors
Hydraulic troubleshooting
Basic mechanical drives
Light duty V-belt and chain drives
Heavy duty V-belt drives
THE FUTURE OF MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY
WORKFORCE 2020: THE FUTURE OF MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITYby:Robert Williamson
The future of many businesses depends on the reliability of their equipment and processes. They depend on equipment running as it should the first time, every time. This reliability will depend largely on the people who operate and maintain the equipment. However, the workforce of today, and well into the 21st century, may not be prepared to meet the challenges unless we take action now.
What does the future hold? Some insights are provided in a study by the Hudson Institute, Indianapolis, IN. The Institute's economists, educators, and policy researchers explored trends that go well beyond their prior landmark study, Workforce 2000, published in 1987. The results are collected in their latest publication, Workforce 2020.
Among the trends leading up to the year 2020 will be a shrinking labor force caused by slow population growth and the retirement of the baby boomers. However, many of the baby boomers may work well past the traditional ages of retirement for financial reasons or because they enjoy their professions.
Employers would do well to find ways to retain their high levels of experience and transfer their knowledge to younger workers.Economic growth depends on increased levels of productivity. Increased productivity depends on the skills and knowledge levels of the workforce. Education and training focused on improving performance will be required, and the ability to learn quickly will be essential among those in the workplace.In their book, Hudson Institute researchers offer suggestions for rising to the challenges. Among their suggestions are some key insights. For example, the number of dangerous, monotonous workplaces will shrink. Technology must not be feared: machines will do the worst jobs and people will keep the best ones. Certainly, people will lose their old jobs, but better jobs will be available for those who are prepared.
In general, employers must find ways to promote upward mobility through education and training. However, employers cannot do this without help from educational institutions, government entities, and communities.What do all these ideas mean for the future of maintenance and reliability? Here are a few thoughts.
New job roles related to maintenance and reliability have been steadily emerging since the early 1980s. Among them are operator-performed maintenance, team-based maintenance, and total productive maintenance.
In some equipment-intensive industries, the future will lean more toward maintenance-based operation because we can no longer afford a wide gulf between skilled and unskilled plant-floor employees. Imagine, skilled maintenance employees operating the critical equipment and tending to its needs on a regular basis to prevent or eliminate unplanned downtime. Does this scenario mean more preventive maintenance? Absolutely. Does it mean more equipment-specific, process-specific training? Absolutely. The costs of all of these changes will be more than offset by the increased throughput of the plant.
What should we do to prepare for maintenance and reliability Workforce 2020 today? Hire entry-level employees who show a willingness to learn and who have a mechanical/electrical/computer aptitude.
Staff at sufficient levels to allow all preventive maintenance and training to be done during the normal work week.Focus on results in ways that change behaviors along the way. Base all training, rewards, recognition, employee involvement, and other improvement on specific, measurable results--results that people on the plant floor can actually affect. Position equipment reliability and performance, rates of quality, on-time delivery, and improvements at the top of your list.
Develop apprenticeship-type programs to train your own skilled employees.
Be creative with inhouse learning, partnerships with vocational and technical schools, and other proven training programs. But avoid the traditional approaches to apprenticeship training in favor of performance-based learning that applies immediately to the workplace, and the business.
And above all, be willing to break with traditional ways of recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining employees. After all, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always had. Now is the time to make some serious changes. Your near-term and long-term future depends on it.
--Robert M. Williamson, e-mail: sws_inc@compuserve.com
Robert Williamson of Strategic Work Systems, Inc., Mill Spring, NC, is an author, workplace educator, and consultant with more than 27 years' experience in improving the people side of manufacturing and maintenance with many Fortune 500 companies.
