Guiding Students Toward Manufacturing as a Career

I recently had the opportunity to travel with Chris Koepfer, editor in chief of Production Machining, to visit Pioneer Service Inc. in Addison, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. I’d met the company’s president and owner, Aneesa Muthana, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) last September, and we also crossed paths at the Precision Machined Products Association’s (PMPA) Annual Meeting on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in October, where she was named to the association’s board. During our visit, for a feature I’m writing on data-driven manufacturing, we were joined by Rose of Sharon DeVos, business development manager, Steve Brezwyn, vice president of operations, and Eric Smith, director of sales. 

We’d caught them at an interesting point in time, in terms of the company’s growth, in that they’d just installed a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system developed by Global Shop Solutions as a platform on which to build their data-driven manufacturing program, including machine condition monitoring. We look forward to publishing this feature in the coming year.

While there, Chris and I were impressed by the Pioneer team’s spirit of entrepreneurialism, commitment to continuous improvement, and community outreach. The latter includes a recent presentation made by Rose of Sharon to businesses, vocational and higher education organizations at the College and Career Day hosted by the Technology Center of Dupage. This is an excellent example of how a machine shop can actually get involved in addressing the skills gap, introducing students to the high-tech world of modern manufacturing. You can read about the experience on Pioneer Service’s website.

I also encourage you to contact PM if you have a story or tactic of your own you’d like to discuss. We are interested in your ideas and want to share them with our readers as part of our support for this important endeavor.