Local machine tool builder will host hundreds of young people at its production campus to promote career opportunities in manufacturing
FLORENCE, Ky., Sept. 12, 2013 – As part of its ongoing commitment to keeping U.S. manufacturing strong, local machine tool company Mazak Corporation will open its factory and technology center doors to well over 200 area students during its Mfg the Nxt Genr8n event. The one-day event will help promote and generate interest in manufacturing as a viable and lucrative career path and show students that the products used in everyday life – from airplanes to laptops and surgical knee implants to washing machines – all originate from today’s high-tech factories.
Scheduled for Oct. 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the event centers around tours of Mazak’s Florence, Ky., production facility and its National Technology Center and Center for Multi-Tasking and Manufacturing Excellence. Mfg the Nxt Genr8n also kicks off Mazak’s huge DISCOVER 2013 technology and education event – starting the same week – that will host thousands of manufacturers from across North America from Oct. 8 – 16 in Florence, Ky.
Several high schools from Kenton and Boone county school districts, along with Gateway Community and Technical College and Cincinnati State College, will have students attending Mfg the Nxt Genr8n. During the event, visiting students will experience, up close, a modern working factory, as well as some of the industry’s most advanced, computerized and sophisticated machines and automation in action.
“The fact is that U.S. manufacturing is constantly being underrated and under supported and, as a result, is in dire need of skilled labor,” explained Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corporation. “The problem is real and won’t improve until we work together to change the impressions young people have about manufacturing. We also need to aggressively market the fact that careers in manufacturing are both lucrative and respectable. At Mazak, we continuously work to manufacture the next generation of skilled labor, and our strategies include hosting events such as Mfg the Nxt Genr8n in conjunction with working closely with the local technical schools and maintaining our own long-established Mazak apprentice program.”
To complement the factory tours, students will have ample opportunity to interact with some of Mazak’s current apprentices, as well as with a group of young applications engineers Mazak recently hired from local area technical training programs. Officials from the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and Gateway Community and Technical College will also be on hand to field questions and talk to students about preparing early for careers in manufacturing as part of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs.