Students examine a high-end service truck on display for Manufacturing Day at Summit Truck Bodies.Photo: Summit Truck Bodies
This past October marked only the second time that Kansas-based Summit Truck Bodies has participated in Manufacturing Day (MFG Day). But it has already become an important event for the company, said plant manager Chris Walter.
Summit, headquartered in Wathena, got involved in MFG Day, as the occasion is known, through the chamber of commerce in nearby St. Joseph, Mo., of which Summit is a member.
“They’ll start having meetings with some of the other manufacturers in the area that are interested,” Walter said. “From there, they’ll get lists of all the local kids and schools and tech schools that are going to be participating. They’ll work out the logistics and the amount of kids that will be coming to each location.”
The National Association of Manufacturers created Manufacturing Day in 2012 as a national effort to promote the manufacturing industry. It is held the first Friday in October.
Breaking down barriers
MFG Day is intended to address common misperceptions about the industry and to demonstrate what the industry actually is, as opposed to its public image. Walter said the industry has evolved over time, even if the larger public hasn’t necessarily noticed the changes.
“I try to break down that barrier,” Walter said. “I tell them that manufacturing in this day and age is completely different than it was for your father, your grandfather, your great-grandfather. It’s not a dark, dingy environment. There are several opportunities, whether you’re interested in welding or painting, all the way up to human resources to purchasing. It’s not just welding and painting and turning wrenches that everybody, in my opinion, assumes that is manufacturing.”
Tony Farmer, collision repair and refinish instructor at Hillyard Technical School, noted that a visit to the facility can be eye-opening — even for students studying to be a part of the industry.
“When you walk in there to these facilities, and they’re clean and organized, it’s just unbelievable,” Farmer said. “When a student walks into that, they’re in awe. That’s probably the biggest thing, is just getting them into the facility to see what else is out there.”
Students have a choice of manufacturing outfits to visit, depending on their interests or or what they’re studying in school. Students interested in welding, painting, and assembly might visit Summit, while those interested in stamping and machining might visit another manufacturer in the area.
Opportunities abound
Summit’s most recent MFG Day efforts began with a presentation on the history of both the company and the event. That included a pitch from Walter about the opportunities in the industry. From there, the students were assigned guides to take them through tours of the plant.
“We showed them the raw material that came in the plant and what we eventually turned it into,” said Brent Thompson, product development designer and tour guide. “We walked them through step-by-step what the material went through — the design process, the metal forming, the brake work, the laser-cutting, into the weld bay to assemble all the components. Then over into final assembly where they could actually see all the components being bolted on to the truck.”
Among Summit’s products are hydraulic cranes for use on service bodies. After the tour, students could visit a crane station set up, complete with electronics and software that the students could test out — under the careful supervision of several trained operators including Thompson.
“They had an opportunity to run the product that we were actually building, and to see the cranes in action,” Thompson said. “Those cranes are designed and built here in-house and installed in-house, so that was another aspect where they could see everything from the start to finish and then operate it after it was done.”
For the visiting students, MFG Day provided a chance to see the practical application of what they have been learning. That experience can be invaluable, Farmer said.
“We had just completed refinishing,” Farmer said. “When they walked in, they started hearing terms like mill thickness, spraying techniques, one coat/two coat coverage, different mixing ratios — they knew exactly what they were talking about. It put a lot of value in what we teach. All their schooling, it’s all starting to make sense now. Now you know why we do what we do.”
An employee’s market
Farmer noted that it is currently an employee’s market – with body shops, manufacturers and painters all desperate to find the right people. To that end, MFG Day acts as an effective workforce development program for Summit, which also has an internship program. MFG Day provides a direct way to let students learn about it.
“It’s a great opportunity for everybody,” Walter said. “It’s very rewarding. I would encourage everybody to get involved with their chamber or whoever is putting that on. You could go and do it yourself too if your local chamber of commerce isn’t up to participating.”
Thompson added that vocational trades have become increasingly valuable in the last 20 years or so.
“The immediate value you can get out of going through a trade school and getting into the manufacturing industry is a lot higher than it used to be. It’s good to see program like MFG Day that actually get kids’ eyes opened up to it.”
— Matt Jones
Matt Jones is a freelancer writer based in Fredericton, N.B.