I continually hear the words "skills shortage / skills Crisis" in manufacturing on the internet and magazine articles. This shortage is more than apparent in my own day job of running a toolmaking company.
This shortfall spans all forms of manufacturing from high tech to lower tech products. If you take a typical engineer of a certain vintage they will have most likely started their career as a toolmaker of some sorts whether it be from the mould tool or press tool realm.
These are the "skills" that we are losing! These incredibly skilled time served people are edging closer to the retirement age. Without this back bone of base skills, we will have problems throughout all stage of manufacture from design concept right through to track issues. We need engineers at all stages of this intricate process that have been at grass roots level to appreciate "How" to make products.
This is not of course taking away from the new crop of engineers from the education system that are taking fairly senior roles early on. Their enthusiasm and dynamic approach to design etc. is crucial for products to have a future at all in the market place.
We need to ensure that our current manufacturers at the sharp end of producing tooling and parts etc. have the confidence to keep the wheels in motion (no pun intended). This is where tier one companies and OEM's look to recruit their process and tooling engineers, as it is this manufacturing experience that can make large impacts into reducing manufacturing costs.
Going forward I look at this from a fairly selfish stand point as I have a vested interest in the supply chain of large OEM's particularly in our superb automotive sector as this is where I do business day to day.
I believe we need this supply chain to be stronger with closer bonds to the OEM's and greater transparency. My contemporaries are always worried at the amount of business that we have lost to "lower cost" countries directed by OEM's to reduce initial costing of projects. Whilst I find this a bitter pill to swallow, I also accept that this is necessary with the volumes required and who would not want to reduce costs?
Unfortunately, if 100% of tooling goes abroad, we will eventually lose this vital industry altogether which (again in my opinion) would be disastrous for manufacturing at all levels, as the industry stands on the shoulders of these easily forgotten companies. The industry needs to understand that a constant stream of work needs to flow into the tooling industry to keep it moving. We need confidence to invest strongly in personnel and equipment. We have the knowledge we have the skills, what we need now is an amount of confidence to press forward.
The "march of the makers" would march no more without the legs which drive them!
Written by: Anonymous