Workforce Development

Workforce Development 25 Apr 2020

A Job Shop Approach to Automation

Through patient research and smart investing, this job shop has slowly grown its capabilities and is moving toward lights-out manufacturing for prototype work.

Workforce Development 18 Apr 2020

In a Machine Shop, the Labor of Lean is Data-Driven

Approximating single-piece flow in a job shop environment requires an ongoing commitment to analyzing and acting on evidence.

Workforce Development 17 Apr 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Issues Alert to Help Keep Manufacturing Workers Safe During Coronavirus Pandemic

Suggestions include social distancing, shift staggering and providing sanitary equipment.

Workforce Development 16 Apr 2020

OEMs and Job Shops See Metal Additive Manufacturing Differently

When should a machine shop consider production metal 3D printing? Part of the answer might be when that machine shop also does design. Cobra Aero is a small shop thriving with AM, because it’s also an OEM.

Workforce Development 15 Apr 2020

At Purdue University, Emergency Production of PPE and Ventilator Fittings

After campus had largely shut down, several labs and departments at the venerated engineering school organized with local hospitals to manufacture critical parts needed to fight the coronavirus.

Workforce Development 13 Apr 2020

Mastercam Joins NCATC as Strategic Partner

The NCATC supports a higher education and industry network that promotes advanced technology applications in workforce development programs and services.

How Job Shops Can Generate Accurate Estimates in Minutes

New geometry-driven quoting technology lets job shops generate estimates in as little as 15 minutes. It enables them to respond faster to RFQs, drastically reduces time wasted on jobs they don’t get, and lets them focus on more profitable work.

Basics 17 Mar 2020

How to Practice Stage Two Thinking in Your Machine Shop

Responsible decision-making requires thinking beyond the initial benefits to consider how a change ripples throughout the machine shop’s operations and culture.

Workforce Development 11 Mar 2020

For This CNC Machine Shop, Growth is Both Wonderful and Hard

JD Machine’s sales have nearly doubled since 2013 when it was a Top Shops winner. Developing a workforce to support that growth is a challenge the shop is meeting head-on.