How automation has changed the manufacturing career

Automation doesn’t just change how parts flow in the shop. It can change a shop’s organizational structure and, in turn, the entire manufacturing career path. Getty Images

This year’s FAB 40—a listing of some of the top U.S. players in custom and contract metal fabrication, featured in this issue—shows an industry in a rocketing recovery. A few exceptions aside, participants couldn’t have been more positive—except, of course, when it comes to hiring. Never mind finding skilled or experienced people; fabricators simply can’t find people, period. In fact, managers at some of the largest fabricators are saying the labor shortage (combined with material and supply chain challenges) is forcing them to turn down potential work worth millions of dollars.

The pandemic recovery has given the already acute labor shortage a one-two punch, with both customer demand and generous unemployment programs pushing entry-level wages skyward, even for those with no experience or relevant education. So, what can be done? Many fabricators are taking a two-pronged approach. First, they’re cross-training; second, they’re automating as much as they can. The two together, it seems, work better together than alone.

Consider the fabricator that focuses entirely on automation. What’s the entry-level worker’s day like? Well, he or she might spend it moving parts or working in assembly or shipping. Then one day some of the automation shuts down. As technicians rush to fix the problem, the plant is starved of work. That entry-level worker sees chaos around him. He doesn’t know how to program or operate a press brake, and he’s never lifted a welding torch in his life. After seeing the chaos repeat itself several times over the next several months, the assembler leaves for a job at Walmart.

Now consider a fabricator that doesn’t automate and relies entirely on the skill of manual labor. This can work in certain market niches; think of high-end welding and prototyping shops. But the story changes as volumes rise. In so many operations, automated machines boost throughput to such an extent, a shop can’t compete without them.

Still, automation has shifted the need for skill to different areas of the shop. In bending, the skill requirements are moving toward offline bend simulation and programming. And just like in welding, a brake programmer who knows how to operate a brake manually often makes better programs. But what if that talent is lost as the latest swath of baby boomer employees retire?

Here cross-training is playing an increasingly important role. In fact, cross-training has the potential to shift a shop’s entire organizational structure. Instead of a pyramid, the future org chart might resemble a bulb. A few entry-level employees might stay at the bottom of the org chart, but most who stay long-term become cross-trained and, hence, move up the pay scale quickly. They might have an area of concentration, but most probably won’t spend a career working in front of one type of machine.

Once they move their way up to the middle, they know enough to keep most work moving even when the unexpected happens. For instance, if bending automation fails or has reached its capacity limit, cross-trained workers know how to load a program and bend at least certain parts on a manual press brake. They can also help elsewhere as needed. Automation helps increase throughput in certain areas, but not all. It’s hard to find a fab shop with a fully automated assembly and packaging department. Automation doesn’t work everywhere.

The combination of automation and cross-training allows fewer people to produce more, which sends throughput and wages skyward. Still, to make this happen requires a deep bench of knowledgeable employees who know their way around the entire shop. This isn’t easy to develop. But with demand pushing entry-level wages higher, fabricators might not be able to afford a pyramid structure with a wide foundation of entry-level jobs filled with minimally trained people.

Of course, many probably wouldn’t want to work at a place full of people who clock in, do their job, and clock out, with little thinking in between. They’d probably prefer a shop full of curious, knowledgeable people, all of whom are paid competitively for their knowledge. Add the latest manufacturing technology into the mix, along with a shop culture that encourages people to think and question the status quo, and you have a recipe for a rewarding career in the automated fab shop.