On October 7th, the staff and I assisted one of our one of our Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM) members and one of our AWFS® members host hundreds of students during this year’s Manufacturing Day event. Reborn Cabinetry Solutions, from Anaheim, and DBS Drawer Box Specialties, in Orange, California, were the two manufacturers to open their shops to, what we hope will be, future members of our industry.
From a personal perspective, I attended the DBS event and came away extremely impressed at how well it was organized by our former board member, Jim Irving, and his team. The students were given a comprehensive tour of the shop, were treated to a catered lunch, and each student enjoyed participating in the construction of a wooden pencil holder as one of their numerous take-away souvenirs from the event.
Having interacted with a great many of these young individuals while helping serve lunch that day, I could see how much they appreciated the opportunity to venture out of their classroom and could see that many of them were very impressed with what they experienced inside of the manufacturing facility and how well they were treated by the DBS staff and the volunteers in attendance. With approximately 200 students attending that event (and nearly 400 at Reborn) students represented schools in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties.
Now, I would like to view the large number of students in attendance as a huge positive. It clearly showed that educators were proactive in working with each manufacturing facility and their individual schools, in order to take advantage of a unique educational opportunity. However, there is also an opposite side of this coin. Having to transport students so far out of their school districts is also an indication that shops in Southern California did not take advantage of a great opportunity to expose young people to a future career opportunity that they may not otherwise consider. In my opinion, this is one indicator showing how far we still must go for our industry to narrow the skills gap and ensure that our industry can develop a strong and highly skilled future workforce. This is especially critical when it comes to competing for young talent against other manufacturing sectors, with the automotive, metal working, plastics, and aerospace sectors coming immediately to mind.
Just recently, a member of the AWFS staff attended the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. Metalworking, Aerospace and Automotive make up three of their top five industry groups that this show serves. During that event, tours of the show floor were held for students in grades K-12 (yes, you read that correctly). Now, IMTS would be impressive to most of us that are already familiar with large, technology driven equipment. Imagine the impact that is being made on all those young people that are seeing the latest and greatest that these other manufacturing sectors have to offer, but that’s exactly what the wood sector is up against. Aerospace and automotive alone have clear advantages over the woodworking sector when it comes to industry “image” and have more organizational and financial resources in finding and developing their future workforce.
Now, AWFS, along with other industry organizations, have made strides toward addressing workforce development in a more proactive manner, through various initiatives such as the Wood Industry Resource Collaborative’s (WIRC) YouWood campaign, YouWood.com. However, for our industry to really make a significant and lasting impact, it will require an industry-wide effort on a local, regional, and national level (as I wrote in my Summer 2022 Suppliers’ Edge article). In my opinion, the fact that more shops in our area did not take advantage of Manufacturing Day is a microcosm as to where our industry falls short on a national level, when it comes to effectively developing a workforce that will ensure a strong future for wood manufacturing.
This is why I encourage everyone to get involved in next year’s Manufacturing Day, by either opening up your manufacturing facility or talking to and/or recommending a shop that would be a good candidate to host a Manufacturing Day event at their facility. It’s never too early to start planning. The AWFS staff would welcome the opportunity to inform anyone interested the steps needed to plan and host a successful Manufacturing Day event in 2023. As I have stated so many times in the past, workforce development requires a wholistic approach if we are ever going to truly make an impact on behalf of our industry. It’s going to require more manufacturers (and suppliers) getting involved in Manufacturing Day and other career development opportunities across the country. This is how we truly make an impact. Please think about this opportunity, as AWFS welcomes and encourages anyone looking to get involved in this effort to contact an AWFS staff member to find out more.
In conclusion, I would like to congratulate Jim Irving and the staff from DBS Drawer Box Specialties and Diana Ramirez and the staff from Reborn Cabinet Solutions, for doing such an outstanding job in hosting students at this year’s Manufacturing Day. The AWFS staff and I were honored to be part of this event and certainly look forward to doing it again next year!