Often theoretical
training isn’t enough to grasp
what’s really going on when, for
example, a beefy industrial motor
couples into a gearbox that
weighs more than your car. The
real insights come from hands-on
work. Problem is, opportunities
to learn this way have been hard
to come by.
But learning opportunities are
on the rise thanks to a resurgence
in vocational education. One
perspective comes from Randy
Pearson who heads up training
for Siemens Machine Tool.
About five years ago an instructor
at a Wisconsin vocational school
asked Pearson for help putting on
a CNC programming course. The
relationship mushroomed into
involvement with a half-dozen
votech programs and inquiries
from several more.
“In the past instructors have
had trouble finding students to
fill these classes,” Pearson says.
“Today they have more pupils
than they know what to do with.
So classes run six days a week.
Vo-ed was traditionally populated
with troublemakers, and there is
still some of that. But now you see
guys with tattoos next to kids who
look like they could be in business
school.”
And what does Siemens get
out of this deal? “Probably some
brand recognition but not a lot
of direct sales,” shrugs Pearson.
“We also have the satisfaction of
giving kids skills that let them fill
in for old guys who are not being
replaced. In most shops, the
median age is about 45 for CNC
operators and programmers. You
don’t see 20-year-olds running
machines.”
Vo-ed training is great for technicians.
B.S.-level engineering
students may have a more difficult
time honing
practical
skills simply
because apprenticeships
for aspiring
engineers are
rare.
On that
score, we could use more people
like Willie Goellner. Goellner emigrated
from Germany in the 1950s
and founded Advanced Machine
& Engineering Co. For years,
Goellner has hosted an exchange
program that brings Austrian engineering
students into AM&E’s
plant for a few months. “We only
get the smartest ones,” he says. “The
dean over there uses our program
as an incentive for good students.”
Goellner has programs in place
for American students as well, but
“The Austrians have a practical
background that parallels their
theoretical training. There is little
you have to explain to them,” he
says. “The guys from the States
have the theoretical stuff but they
are lacking on the practical end so
they need help in applications.”
Goellner doesn’t just train engineers.
He also employs high
schoolers to do what he calls
“simple stuff —
mostly detailing
and change notices.” And he
thinks companies that don’t do
likewise are shortsighted.
“I am from the old country
where every company trains
people,” he says. “There we didn’t
worry about employees leaving
to go to competitors. We actually
encouraged it for the sake of
broader experience. In this country,
there are only a few companies
that train. The rest just steal
employees from everywhere else.”
That’s 180° away from the philosophy
at AM&E where Goellner
says he budgets some of his own
time to work directly with his
Austrian and American protégé.
— Leland Teschler, Editor