Tag: Biggest Challenge Is Finding Skilled Talent

What Does The Precision Machining Shop Of The Future Look Like?

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What will our shops look like in 2020?

2020 is only 7 years away.

I think that it is going to be a lot different than just the “More Automation” trend we’ve been seeing for the last few years.

Over the last eight years, our shops have been adding automation to better compete against low labor cost manufacturing abroad and to improve shop capability.

I know, because at the end of 2003, we took a mission to China to see how we could better compete with the emerging dragon that was Chinese manufacturing.

What do the next 8 years hold in store for us? What will be the forces at work to reshape our shop as we know it?

Have a look at these two graphs from BLS:

This tells me something important-almost three quarters of all employees will be over 55!
…and this is how we get there…

Not looking so good for adding younger talent according to these charts.

The projected labor force growth over the next 10 years will be affected by the aging of the baby-boom generation; as a result, the labor force is projected to grow at a slower rate than in the last several decades

Here’s my  (tongue in cheek) artist’s conception of the shop of the future.

Two old supermachinists wired in to operate 18 machines via remote CNC

I hope you have a better vision than mine!

BLS Graphs

What is your vision for the shop of the future? 25 words or less please for Round 1. Thoughtful, shocking, and compelling visions will be considered for  an expanded treatment in a future post. Post your comment below.

PMPA Member Darlene Miller Appointed to White House Jobs and Competitiveness Council

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Darlene Miller, Chief Executive of Permac Industries in Burnsville Minnesota, was named last week to President Obama’s 22-person Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

 
 


Permac Industries' Darlene Miller visits the White House Thursday February 24, 2011.

 

The council was created by President Obama last month to advise him on economic issues, and is focused on jump starting employment recovery and other issues. Other members of the panel include the heads of American Express, Intel, DuPont, and leaders from labor unions, economists, and others.
In her comments to the President and the Council, Miller focused on the need for talent and skills, not mere labor- “The biggest challenge, even though there is huge unemployment, is that we don’t find skilled labor. In our shops we need people with talent and skills. We really don’t have any unskilled labor jobs.”
Miller’s comments were picked up by national media including the Washington Post, and the Minneapolis StarTribune. 
Her comment about the need for skilled talent resonated with the committee and the President who mentioned the need for skilled talent in his remarks.
Miller also discussed the especially heavy burdens that regulations place on small businesses like her precision machining shop, which produces precision machined components for almost all industries including medical, aerospace, food service equipment and many more. 
Ms. Miller has been an active member of the PMPA since 1997, where she has been a member of the board and served on several committees and currently chairs the Statistical and Financial Resources Committee. 
PMPA is proud that our member was selected to serve on this important council and is confident that Ms. Miller will carry the message from Main Street to the White House that “Small and medium enterprises are the key to job creation and economic recovery. Identifying and acting on issues that prevent smaller companies from operating effectively will be positive for both job creation and economic recovery.”
Permac Industries
Small Business of the Year