Published 6/16/2021

Okuma America Partners with Community College for Machine Tool Training Academy

Partnership will provide technical training to Okuma customers, distributors and employees, with courses expected to commence in October 2021.

Workforce Development

Edited by: Grace Nehls

Senior Managing Editor, CompositesWorld

Leaders from Okuma and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College stand in the new Okuma Machine Tool Academy at the Rowan-Cabarrus ATC. Pictured left to right: Craig Lamb, VP of corporate and continuing education at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College; Tim Thiessen, VP of sales and marketing at Okuma; Natalie Rogers, training program manager at Okuma; and Dr. Carol Spalding, president at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. Photo Credit: Okuma America Corp., Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Leadership teams from Okuma America Corp., a CNC machine tools, controls and automation systems builder, and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC, Rowan-Cabarrus) announced a corporate training partnership between the two organizations.

The Okuma-Rowan-Cabarrus partnership will reportedly provide technical training to Okuma customers, distributors and employees at the new Okuma Machine Tool Academy (OMTA) located within the college’s Advanced Technology Center (ATC) on the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. The Okuma Machine Tool Academy is expected to house several Okuma flagship products, including an Okuma LB3000 EX II horizontal lathe and an Okuma GENOS M460V-5AX five-axis vertical machining center. Courses are planned to start in October 2021 and will be offered in three focus areas: electrical maintenance, mechanical maintenance and programming and operations. All courses will be led in-person by a full-time instructor, and online and hybrid course offerings will be made available in the future.

The ATC opened in 2019 and is more than 53,000 square feet in size. It provides various classrooms, collaboration spaces and lounges. The Okuma Machine Tool Academy, according to Okuma, was built specifically for industrial machine tool training and is equipped with overhead utilities and six-inch level concrete floors to support flexible machine layouts and configurations.

The Okuma Machine Tool Academy is located less than 30 minutes away from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Program participants also have the option to incorporate a visit to tour Okuma America Corp.’s headquarters, and to visit Welcome, North Carolina, to experience the campus of Okuma’s official NASCAR partner, Richard Childress Racing.

Future updates about the training courses will be shared at okuma.com/training. For more information about this program, please contact Okuma's training program manager, Natalie Rogers, at nrogers@okuma.com or 704-504-6040.