Editor-in-Chief
- FMA
- The Fabricator
- FABTECH
- Canadian Metalworking
Categories
- Additive Manufacturing
- Aluminum Welding
- Arc Welding
- Assembly and Joining
- Automation and Robotics
- Bending and Forming
- Consumables
- Cutting and Weld Prep
- Electric Vehicles
- En Español
- Finishing
- Hydroforming
- Laser Cutting
- Laser Welding
- Machining
- Manufacturing Software
- Materials Handling
- Metals/Materials
- Oxyfuel Cutting
- Plasma Cutting
- Power Tools
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Roll Forming
- Safety
- Sawing
- Shearing
- Shop Management
- Testing and Measuring
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Waterjet Cutting
Industry Directory
Webcasts
Podcasts
FAB 40
Advertise
Subscribe
Account Login
Search
Every day should be Manufacturing Day
- By Dan Davis
- October 11, 2014
Manufacturing Day, celebrated on Oct. 3, has come and gone. More than 1,600 companies opened their doors to students, teachers, guidance counselors, and the general public, allowing them all to see what modern manufacturing is like. At least 50,000 people in the U.S. and Canada took advantage of this one-day open-door policy.
“I had no idea what manufacturing was,” my 16-year-old son told me as we were winding up our tour at Super Steel, a contract manufacturer in Milwaukee, last Friday. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and nearly 180 guests attended the event. They all got to see how cutting, forming, welding, and assembly transform plain plate into the top section of a locomotive, one of which happened to be in Super Steel’s rear bay. The sections are made up of 12,000 separate metal parts fabricated at the company’s 450,000-sq.-ft. facility.
That’s what manufacturing is, and it was hard not to be impressed. I’m sure others had similar experiences at other events. For one day, manufacturing was in the spotlight, even capturing the attention of a sitting president.
But what about the rest of the year? Do manufacturers simply go back to work and wait until the 2015 edition of Manufacturing Day?
Some might, but others realize that the battle to win the hearts and minds of the next generation of manufacturing workers has to be fought on a regular basis. The strong memories of dirty and dank manufacturing settings and massive layoffs won’t be dispelled with an annual one-day celebration. A lifetime of negative memories has to be addressed on an ongoing basis.
J & D Tube Benders Inc., Schofield, Wis., realizes this and has reached out to other companies in the region to form a metal manufacturing alliance. For the last 18 months, the group has worked together to create a plan to promote the many career paths available in manufacturing.
The recent efforts have culminated in the tube fabricator’s participation in the Heavy Metal Tour. J & D Tube Benders hosted four groups of 38 students at its facility. In total, approximately 3,500 middle school students visited area manufacturing facilities.
“As the owner of a third-generation manufacturing company, my biggest fear is the third generation will struggle to find not only skilled workers, but general laborers as well,” Tom Felch, J & D Tube Benders president, said in an e-mail.
Hope isn’t a business plan, and it simply isn’t good enough to guarantee this country’s manufacturing prowess over the next 100 years. For that to happen, every day needs to be manufacturing day in the U.S.
subscribe now
The Fabricator is North America's leading magazine for the metal forming and fabricating industry. The magazine delivers the news, technical articles, and case histories that enable fabricators to do their jobs more efficiently. The Fabricator has served the industry since 1970.
start your free subscriptionAbout the Author
Dan Davis
2135 Point Blvd.
Elgin, IL 60123
815-227-8281
Dan Davis is editor-in-chief of The Fabricator, the industry's most widely circulated metal fabricating magazine, and its sister publications, The Tube & Pipe Journal and The Welder. He has been with the publications since April 2002.
Related Companies
- Stay connected from anywhere
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Welder.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Tube and Pipe Journal.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator en Español.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 04/16/2024
- Running Time:
- 63:29
In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Caleb Chamberlain, co-founder and CEO of OSH Cut, discusses his company’s...
- Trending Articles
Capturing, recording equipment inspection data for FMEA
Tips for creating sheet metal tubes with perforations
Are two heads better than one in fiber laser cutting?
Supporting the metal fabricating industry through FMA
Hypertherm Associates implements Rapyuta Robotics AMRs in warehouse
- Industry Events
16th Annual Safety Conference
- April 30 - May 1, 2024
- Elgin,
Pipe and Tube Conference
- May 21 - 22, 2024
- Omaha, NE
World-Class Roll Forming Workshop
- June 5 - 6, 2024
- Louisville, KY
Advanced Laser Application Workshop
- June 25 - 27, 2024
- Novi, MI