Wishing You A Happy Manufacturing Day!

September 26, 2013
Mary Isbister is the President of GenMet Corp., and the Vice Chair of the Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Council.

Making stuff is cool!

This is something manufacturers know very well. It is, however, a well kept secret and one that desperately needs to be shared with students, parents, educators, and our communities at large. Manufacturing Day, celebrated Oct. 4, 2013, is a fantastic opportunity for manufacturers to let the cat out of the bag, put themselves on display, and let the country know how important – and how interesting – manufacturing is.

GenMet will be sponsoring its second Manufacturing Day event at our headquarters in Mequon, Wisconsin. Our theme is “Making Stuff is Cool.”

We’ll host tours of our facilities to show our community what manufacturing is all about. Visitors will be able to interact with high tech equipment and highly skilled employees while they transform raw materials into everything from truck parts and wind turbine components to the retail displays that they see in department stores.

Not only will they witness manufacturing in real time, they will also see how much our team members enjoy the work that they do.

Manufacturer jobs are not what they used to be. It is no longer manual labor; it is technical work requiring a broad set of skills and the ability to understand lean manufacturing principles and advanced quality systems.

As technology continues to advance, manufacturing has evolved into a truly high tech industry. A stronger comprehension of math, excellent problem-solving skills, and computer literacy are essential. The next generation of manufacturing talent must be made up of the best and brightest students.

Manufacturing Day provides an important opportunity for us to help educate students – our workers of the future – on the full spectrum of diverse careers available in manufacturing. In addition to technical production-related careers, manufacturers need specialists in customer service, purchasing, marketing, information technology, and many other fields necessary to operate a successful business.

We at GenMet look forward to welcoming more than 350 students, teachers, and guidance counselors from the surrounding community to our facility. We view our Manufacturing Day events as an investment in the future of manufacturing and our economy.

I hope other manufacturers will consider hosting an event. Teachers, parents, and members of the public can use the Manufacturing Day site to find events in their area.

We couldn’t think of a better way to help people young and old understand what advanced manufacturing truly is than to have them see it for themselves in a real life, hands-on environment.

We want everyone to experience the feeling we have every day – that making stuff is really cool.

Thanks to all of you who are supporting American manufacturing, and happy Manufacturing Day!