Page 96 - MetalForming October 2014

Tooling by Design
By Peter Ulintz
A 4-yr. Degree—The Road Less Traveled
According to manufacturing consultant Tim Pearson (Great Glen Solutions, Cleveland, OH), a dramatic imbalance exists in the way the United States prepares future generations to compete in the global marketplace. And in no sector is the divide more apparent than manufacturing.
Manufacturers require highly skilled, educated and adapt- able workers willing to constantly retrain and update their skills to keep pace with evolving technology. These workers generally emerge from company- and government-spon- sored apprenticeship programs. However, the roughly 398,000 U.S. apprenticeships are dwarfed by the nearly 20 million uni- versity students, whose advanced degrees are devalued by the sheer number of graduates.
Some college-bound students may be missing out on a rewarding and financially more advantageous path to an exciting and fulfilling career that skilled trade apprenticeships can provide. Contrary to job-search challenges and student- loan burdens facing many college graduates, graduates of 4-yr. apprenticeships have been gainfully employed—usually full time—throughout their training program.
Pearson also recently rebuked a common misconception that apprenticeships no longer are available (Machine Design, May 2014). In Ohio, he cites as an example, workers select from 86 apprenticeship options, and in Northeast Ohio the production of fabricated-metal parts and machin- ery involves 86,000 of the region’s 264,000 manufacturing- sector employees. In the greater Cleveland area alone, according to the article, there are 45 sponsors for tool- and-die apprenticeships and 16 sponsors for machinist apprenticeships.
Among the career paths where a skilled workforce is lack- ing are professional trades such as advanced design and CNC automation programming for manufacturing cells. Welders and welding engineers with skills and experience in advanced high-strength steels, stainless steels and aluminum are needed. And automotive repair shops will have to adapt to these new materials as well.
Peter Ulintz has worked in the metal stamping and tool and die industries since 1978. He has been employed with the Anchor Manufacturing Group in Cleveland, OH, since 1989. His background includes tool and die making, tool engineering, process engi- neering, engineering management and product devel- opment. Peter speaks regularly at PMA seminars and conferences. He is also vice president of the North American Deep Drawing Research Group.
Peter Ulintz pete.ulintz@toolingbydesign.com www.toolingbydesign.com
New materials often require new process technologies, and the skilled technicians to implement, optimize and support those technologies. Composite sheet forming and additive manufacturing, technologies in their infancy, will quickly become increasingly prevalent. And, as fuel-cell technology, hybrid and electric-powered cars continue to enter the mar- ketplace, specialized skills will be needed not just for their production, but also for their maintenance and repair.
Challenges for Metalformers
Tool and die apprentices require training to become met- alforming specialists, not programmers, machinists and assemblers. Manufacturers will no longer require the skills of a “traditional” tool and die maker; instead, metalforming spe- cialists will be in high demand.
The die-buyoff process no longer consists of a run-at-rate test and the production of dimensionally correct parts. Met- alforming specialists must ensure that strain distributions and thinning gradients in metal stampings correlate well with their computer simulations. They establish blank-edge draw- in parameters, thinning strain limits and springback mag- nitudes at specific locations on a part that are statistically con- trolled to ensure a stable manufacturing process. Common tools used by a metalforming specialist include circle grids, tensile-test data, strain distributions, thickness strains, form- ing-limit curves, forming-limit diagrams, ultrasonic thickness gages and friction-test data.
Where will the skilled workforce of the future come from?
Maintaining and funding apprenticeship programs will serve little good if qualified students cannot be attracted into the program. To stimulate interest, recruiting students should begin in middle school or high school. I remember when many schools offered industrial arts classes, but this no longer is the case.
The Boy Scouts
One place where metalforming professionals can work with young students and potentially recruit the skilled work- force of the future is the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Among the merit badges Boy Scouts can earn are Metalworking, Mining in Society and Welding.
Says Joe Stocchero, BSA senior development director for the Chicago Area Council: “We are looking for welding coun- selors. The shortage of welders affects a lot of trades.”
Earning merit badges helps to introduce boys to careers and hobbies. Stocchero says that many young men go on to enjoy careers specifically due to the merit-badge program.
Having served as a scout leader in the past, I know this to
94 MetalForming/October 2014
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