Training Welders in Advanced Manufacturing Philosophies Nets Employability

As of September 2010, the U.S. manufacturing sector grew for the 14th consecutive month, leading some economists to speculate that, as with the Great Depression, American manufacturing will lead the economy out of the recession. It is a little bit of good news in a long stream of depressing employment reports. Career and technical educators contribute to the growth of this sector by training career-ready graduates for increasingly high-skilled manufacturing jobs. However, skills are not the only important aspect of career-readiness--so are work philosophies, like a commitment to continuous improvement. This article relates how one manufacturer, Dant Clayton Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, applied lean manufacturing philosophies to its welding shop, and describes how educators might incorporate lean philosophies into instruction in all skill areas. The author posits that continuous improvement philosophies could change career and technical education (CTE) instruction and training by making graduates with an awareness of, and training in, these philosophies more employable.