Promoting Careers in Manufacturing

Alliance for Working Together
Roll-Kraft is proud to be an active member of the Alliance for Working Together (AWT). The AWT is a group of Northeast Ohio manufacturers who share a common mission: to change the misperception of American manufacturing, shape the next generation of manufacturing professionals, and promote careers in manufacturing.

A November 2010 study by the Brookings Institute lists the greater Cleveland area second in the nation in manufacturing job growth, behind only Youngstown as the nation’s leader. Ohio is leading the way, but to maintain this lead, new manufacturing professionals are needed to fill this growing job demand and replace retiring baby-boomers in skilled positions.

Public perception wrongly views manufacturing jobs as manual and repetitive. Jobs are assumed to require little skill and offer less pay. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, manufacturing is high-tech, highly-skilled, and high paying. Manufacturing is more than just assembly. It’s the entire lifecycle of the product, from the design and engineering, to the operation and support functions that include marketing, sales, finance, supervision, management, quality assurance, and human resources.
 

Manufacturing Education at Lakeland Community College
As part of its plan to achieve its goal, the AWT has partnered with Lakeland Community College to develop a new Associate of Applied Science degree in Manufacturing. Students will not only learn the skills necessary to succeed in a manufacturing career, but they will also build relationships with the AWT member companies to apply their knowledge in a practical setting.
 

For more details on the program, click here.

AWT RoboBots Event

The RoboBots competition allows teams of high school students to design and build their own working robots with help from manufacturing companies, such as Roll-Kraft. The students use equipment, such as CNC turning machines, turning lathes, EDM machines, machining centers, grinders, and CAD/CAM systems.

AWT hosted the  Lake County RoboBots competition at Lakeland Community College in April, 2014.

For more information, visit the following links:

• AWT RoboBot Facebook Page
• 2014 Event Recap

Working at Roll-Kraft
To learn more about working at Roll-Kraft, click here to view our current opportunities.