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| The key to the CERT program is the
certification by FANUC Robotics of the schools via the
instructors |
The way for North
America to stem the tide of jobs lost overseas, and to restore
its economy, is by investing in manufacturing technologies
that make companies more competitive in the world market.
Unfortunately, we are suffering from what has been called the
“skills gap,” where there are more high-tech jobs available
than workers trained to do those jobs. FANUC Robotics’
Certified Education Robot Training (CERT) Program strives to
put better-trained robot operators in the
field.
Why are high-tech
jobs important to North America? According to the American
Youth Policy Forum, there are currently 1.3 million
engineering technology jobs available in the
U.S. without
trained people to fill them. By 2020, there will be a shortage
of 13 million to 15 million skilled
workers.
“The companies in
our area are having a hard time finding qualified employees to
bring in for maintenance, technician and quality control
jobs,” says Charles Peter Straman, an instructor at
Central
Piedmont
Community College in
Charlotte,
NC.
“It’s a real
problem,” echoes Jeff Carney, Chairman of the Building,
Engineering and Technology Department at Ferris
State University in Big
Rapids, MI. “The
current technical workforce is getting near retirement age and
students are not entering those same technical fields being
vacated.”
Further evidence
of the skills gap comes in an aptly named report by the
National Association of Manufacturers. More than 80 percent of
respondents in NAM’s most recent Skills Gap Report indicated
they are experiencing a shortage of qualified workers overall.
A full 90 percent of respondents indicated a moderate to
severe shortage of qualified skilled production employees.
Some 83 percent of respondents indicated these shortages are
currently impacting their ability to serve customers.
High-performance workplace requirements have significantly
increased as a result of the skills gap and the challenge of
competing in a global economy, according to nearly 75 percent
of NAM report
participants.
Skills shortages
are having a widespread impact on manufacturers’ abilities to
achieve production levels, increase productivity, and meet
customer demands the report concludes. “This human capital
performance gap threatens our nation’s ability to compete in
today’s fast-moving and increasingly demanding global
economy,” wrote Phyllis Eisen, Jerry J. Jasinowksi and Richard
Kleinert in the study’s introduction. “It is emerging as our
nation’s most critical business issue. Clearly this situation
calls for urgent action by both public and private
stakeholders.”
Gordon Belt, Lead
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering Technology Programs at
Lansing
Community College in
Lansing,
MI, says: “The
companies that are here and will stay here and be competitive
have embraced technology. You can’t rely on the old ways and
some of the old ways include manual labor. The jobs have
changed because the environment has changed. That’s the
evolution of business.”
Compounding the
problem for users of robotics, the Robotics Industry
Association (RIA) says North American-based robotics suppliers
posted gains of 24 percent in new orders to North American
manufacturing companies in the first nine months of 2007. RIA
estimates that there are 178,000 robots now at work in
U.S.
factories, placing the U.S. second only to
Japan in overall
robot use. Yet, there are not enough qualified workers to
operate these robots.
State governments
are making efforts to ease the skills gap. In November 2007,
the New York State Assembly passed the High Technology
Manufacturing Workforce Development Act, authorizing the State
University of New York to create a high-technology job
training program at community colleges to explore the
feasibility and benefits of retraining displaced manufacturing
workers and other initiatives. Michigan, Missouri, North
Carolina, Kansas,
Illinois, Minnesota and other states
have published educational and worker-retraining initiatives
targeted at eliminating the problem.
The FANUC Robotics
CERT program supports what the state projects intend to do –
help high school, trade school, community college and
university students acquire the skills necessary to thrive in
today’s and tomorrow’s manufacturing environment. “It does so
by certifying educational institutions to train students to
program and use FANUC robots through the development and
implementation of new courses of integrated instruction, and
project based activities designed to prepare students for a
workplace that will find a pervasive use of robotic
automation,” says Peter Varbedian, a Senior Staff Specialist
at FANUC Robotics.
“It’s absolutely
critical for corporations to support educational institutions
in an effort to turn out the best possible graduates,” Carney
says. “It’s to the companies’ advantage. Students become
familiar with their equipment and that’s what they will tend
to purchase when they get into positions where they make those
decisions.”
Key Is
Certification
The key to the
CERT program is the certification by FANUC Robotics of
the schools via the instructors. The instructors receive
train-the-trainer classes and FANUC Robotics issues
certification to the school as teachers of the FANUC Robotics
system. In class, the program integrates hands-on experience
with robotic automation with the current curriculum to help
teach design and manufacturing concepts. Students who pass the
defined testing will receive a certificate that is issued
jointly by the educational institution and FANUC Robotics,
stating they are a certified robot
programmer.
CERT Mobile Training
Unit
The FANUC Robotics
CERT Mobile Training Unit is a compact, portable,
self-contained robotic educational laboratory that allows
students to learn how to program a real robot, in real time,
in a safe and controlled environment…anywhere it can be
rolled. (Optional table-top mounting is available.) It comes
with the following:
·
Camera and vision
system with calibration
·
ROBOGUIDE for
offline programming, which is ideal for today’s digital
learners
·
Collision
protection and singularity avoidance
·
Handling Tool
software
Motivation for
Schools
Bridging the
skills gap is going to take a concerted effort between
industry and academia, partnering to create new courses and
project-based activities to prepare students for a workplace
that will find an ever-growing use of robotic
automation.
“When students
come in and see the actual environment they’ll be learning in
and the equipment they’re going to be working on, that could
certainly be a draw,” says Ferris State’s Carney. “Real
world applications in the classroom is what we’re all about.”
Typical degrees
and programs that are currently integrating robotic within the
curriculum are:
·
Industrial,
mechanical and manufacturing engineering or
technology
·
Digital
manufacturing, lean manufacturing and manufacturing
management
·
CNC (Computer
Numerical Control) technology
·
Inspection and
quality control technology
·
Operations
management
·
CAD/virtual
prototyping
“In a corporate
setting, FANUC provides high-level training over three or four
days. Students, and even people looking to be retrained, don’t
have the kind of resources required for that level of
training,” says Lansing CC’s Belt. “Now they can get it here
over a 16-week semester. With partners like FANUC, we can
bring in the latest equipment, and we’re ensured that we’re up
to date on our software and instructor
knowledge.”
FANUC Robotics
America’s products
are utilized in many industry segments and are applicable for
many academic purposes. Therefore, the FANUC Robotics
CERT program liaison works with each educational partner to
develop a program plan especially suited to the school’s
needs.
Click
here for more information on the CERT
Program.
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