A new workforce needs new skills

By Bob Vavra, CFE Media September 3, 2018

As Plant Engineering prepares to announce its 2018 Engineering Leaders Under 40 on Sept. 17, it further calls attention to the serious worker shortage in manufacturing. The issue goes deeper than sheer numbers; there needs to be retraining for existing workers on new technology to leverage its benefits and stem the tide until the next generation of workers are ready to lead. Training was a topic in the Mid-Year Report, as industry leaders talked about the challenges of training in a time of technological flux. “More virtualized training environments will be able to walk people through safety issues without the actual situation happening,” noted Paul Galeski of MAVERICK Technologies. “They can also simulate an operational environment for testing and training before going live with the process.”

Bob Vavra, content manager, Plant Engineering, CFE Media, bvavra@cfemedia.com.