Senior Editor
- 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
Metal fabrication goes back to school
- By Tim Heston
- August 16, 2011
The idea has caught on. Moser was featured on the cover of IndustryWeek, and just before our conversation he was on the phone with a reporter from National Public Radio. The broader public, he said, is beginning to realize how valuable manufacturing is--and its comeback may help overcome the economy’s most obvious problem: high unemployment.
We’ll be covering Moser’s reshoring initiative in an upcoming print edition of The FABRICATOR, but Moser also touched on another problem: that elusive skilled worker. There aren’t enough of them, a painful truth our readers have lived with for years during good and bad economic times.
Moser offered a fresh perspective. GF AgieCharmilles’ Swiss parent organization has benefited from Switzerland’s apprenticeship system. Swiss teenagers follow one of two paths. Some attend university and the others start apprenticeship programs in various fields, from accounting to precision machining and metal fabrication.
They think college can be incredibly valuable, but it isn’t the only path to success. If you want to be a doctor, a chemical engineer, a biomedical researcher, or a professor, then sure, university is for you. But numerous professions, they feel, don’t call for a college education. Not going to college doesn’t imply you’re not intelligent. This attitude about college somewhat resembles the U.S. system 60 years ago, when fewer went to college, and fewer professions required a college degree.
Could this attitude work here again? I don’t think so, at least without better public secondary education. But what gets me is that even in our good public high schools (and they are out there), college is looked upon as the only way to success. If you haven’t already seen the documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” watch it and you’ll know what I mean.
How much college education do people really use in their careers? Higher education has become extraordinarily expensive, so I think the question is worth asking. Sure, I wouldn’t want surgeons to operate without an advanced education. The same could be said for various scientific and engineering disciplines, among other professions. But over the years I’ve interviewed plenty of savvy business owners in this industry, and not all of them have college degrees.
Two-year technical schools are an option, and they have turned the ship around for many students underserved by American public education. But a two-year technical degree seems to remain a second choice, a path for students who can’t get into a four-year college. Why shouldn’t such a technical education be a first choice?
Our education system isn’t entirely dismal. Certain high schools are educating children very well. But these top-performing institutions seem to be preparing kids for college--and only college. Many in manufacturing would kill for these well-educated, motivated individuals. They don’t’ all have to go to college. Apprenticeship programs--led not by academics but by experienced professionals--may help bring education closer to what industry needs.
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
Tim Heston
2135 Point Blvd
Elgin, IL 60123
815-381-1314
Tim Heston, The Fabricator's senior editor, has covered the metal fabrication industry since 1998, starting his career at the American Welding Society's Welding Journal. Since then he has covered the full range of metal fabrication processes, from stamping, bending, and cutting to grinding and polishing. He joined The Fabricator's staff in October 2007.
- 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...
- 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