"Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) graduates about twenty students from its two-year Machine Tool / Tool and Die diploma program in a typical year," said Ed Janecek, Machine Tool / Tool and Die Instructor at WCTC. "At this point in time, there are more than 1,500 requests for graduates of our program." WCTC is one of sixteen similar colleges in Wisconsin. If each technical college graduates twenty students every year, the total is 320, still far short of industry's needs. "It is frustrating for the shop owners," Janecek said. "Their customers have work for them and the shops can not accept it because of skilled worker shortages."
To act on this need the state of Wisconsin, its manufacturing industry and its technical colleges have combined forces to address machinist training and apprenticeships. As part of this initiative, Wisconsin has introduced the Competency-Based Apprenticeship System of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS).
NIMS, an industry association in Fairfax, VA, was formed in 1995 by metalworking trade groups to develop and maintain a globally competitive American workforce. NIMS sets skills standards for the industry, certifies individual skills against its standards and accredits training programs that meet NIMS quality requirements. Among the 50 credentials that NIMS offers are CNC milling, drill press, screw machining, CNC turning and metal forming.
The NIMS Competency-Based Apprenticeship System is based on a simple principle - what metalworking skills does the employee have? To become a NIMS Certified Machinist, Toolmaker, CNC Setup Programmer or a Certified Journey Worker, an apprentice must earn NIMS credentials by demonstrating satisfactory performance in a required number of competencies.
Must Be 100% Right
Ken Heins, President and CEO of KLH Industries, a precision machining company in Germantown, WI, calls NIMS credentials essential. "A Wisconsin technical college student who gets 70% correct is allowed to move on to the next level of training or class," he said. "In business, we can not sell a part that is only 70% correct. NIMS forces the student to make a 100% correct part to earn the credential."
"A competency-based program means that employers can hire promising people and train them on the job. An example is Dylan Thiel, an Apprentice Machinist at KLH Industries, who is very enthusiastic about his work and his future," said Heins.
As Dylan Thiel tells it, "I started with KLH in high school just cleaning the shop and they noticed that I wanted to work on a machine, so the day after I graduated (July 1, 2012), I started working full-time. About a year later, KLH offered me an apprenticeship."
Thiel took basic shop in high school and knew welding, but he was hired with zero formal metalworking training. KLH Industries wants applicants to know the ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality management system; understand geometric dimensioning and tolerancing; possess a lean manufacturing skill set; and have personal qualities that help them thrive in a team environment. "After observing Thiel's working habits and attitude, KLH gambled on him and won," said a KLH spokesperson.
Since joining KLH, Thiel has worked in waterjet and electric discharge machining (EDM), changing departments every couple of months, wherever KLH needs help. "I just decided to stay in EDM because I liked it there," he said. "I am learning how to operate the EDM wire and drilling machines."
Thiel also goes to technical college and expects to get his Journeyman's card in no more than three years. He is in what he calls "a kind of hybrid program" that is made up of the NIMS program and on the job training.
"In school I am taking the normal first-year apprenticeship classes," he said, "but next year I will be learning more than just theory-based skills. I will actually have hands-on time running manual mills, lathes and CNC machines. I will have to make a project that is 100% correct on each machine to move onto the next machine."
Since 1911
"In 1911, Wisconsin became the first state to have an apprenticeship program," said a spokesperson. Karen Morgan heads the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards, which regulates apprenticeship statewide and provides technical assistance to employers who employ and train apprentices. She also chairs the Apprenticeship Advisory Council, a group with representatives from industry, labor, technical colleges and community-based organizations. The Council reviews Wisconsin's apprenticeship program activities, pinpoints successes and failures and advises technical colleges and employers on apprenticeship matters.
Wisconsin's traditional apprenticeship program is time-based, which means that an apprentice spends a prescribed number of hours in the classroom and years on the job before earning a Journeyman's card. "The NIMS program that we have in Wisconsin was set up as a pilot to see how it would operate within the context of the Wisconsin apprenticeship program. The big difference that we have in the competency-based program vs. the time-based program is that employers are looking at how well individuals do the job as opposed to how long they are in the program and the tasks that they are doing," said Karen Morgan.
Wisconsin Fast Forward
Employers are excited about Wisconsin Fast Forward, a program that was signed into law at the beginning of 2013 with bipartisan support. "Developing Wisconsin's workforce is a top priority of my Administration," said Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker. "The Wisconsin Fast Forward program plays a key role by targeting resources to demand-driven training that ensures that job creators can hire qualified people who have the skills needed for good careers."
The Fast Forward program will make up to $15 million in grants available to support employer-led worker training. Employers in several occupational areas including manufacturing and construction had applied for grants by the end of 2013.
Authored by Victor M. Cassidy
For the National Institute for Metalworking Skills
For more information contact:
NIMS
10565 Fairfax Blvd., Suite 203
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-352-4971
support@nims-skills.org