Building a workforce pipeline
An executive with Caterpillar Inc.’s Houston plant Thursday discussed the initial results of a program that’s reaping interest in manufacturing among students from three local high schools.
The presentation by Jim Johnston, facility manager at the Houston plant, was part of a “Workforce Development Breakfast” at Penn Commercial Business/Technical School hosted by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Washington County Manufacturers Association. About 60 representatives from area schools, manufacturers and workforce development organizations attended.
Johnston noted the shortages in skilled trades that exist nationally, acknowledging the condition was exacerbated by a lack of communication between manufacturers and schools about promoting the industry as a career choice. He said when Caterpillar took over the local mining machinery manufacturing site in 2011 after acquiring Bucyrus International earlier that year, it received numerous applicants with a variety of skills, but the results were uneven and often less than stellar.
“We had a lot of culture shock, a lot of injuries, a lot of quality defects and a lot of attrition,” Johnston said, adding as plant manager, he was responsible for finding solutions.
Johnston began working on an idea in 2012 that ultimately became the plant’s “REAP” program, aimed at giving local high school students an opportunity to explore manufacturing as a career option.
He said the program’s title stands for Relevance, meaning it has to be applicable to real world experiences in the workplace; Excellence, in that it must meet Caterpillar’s values; Advantage, by allowing participants to benefit from Caterpillar’s competitive advantage as a leading global manufacturer; and Preparation, with a focus on providing students with the basics with regard to workplace safety as well as Caterpillar’s production system, which produces the machinery it sells.
One of the biggest goals was approaching local high school administrators, guidance counselors and technology teachers, as well as the students’ parents to get them interested in the program.
For Johnston, the first stop was Chartiers-Houston High School, which is directly across the street from Caterpillar’s campus in Houston.
For the first year, the company also worked with McGuffey and West Greene high schools, taking three seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and a number of freshmen from each school.
The five-month program had seniors visiting the plant once a week; juniors once per month; sophomores once a quarter; and freshmen receiving a plant tour.
Caterpillar employees served as mentors.
Johnston, who said Caterpillar will tweak the program for the upcoming year, hopes to eventually add more high schools, as well as the county’s career and technical schools that are already part of the local high schools.
A key to the program is the company offers two to five scholarships to area technical schools for participating students who successfully complete the application and interview process – with the requirement that upon completion of their education, the graduates will give Caterpillar a year of employment.
Johnston said the concept is a means to meet a goal of building a talent pipeline from local schools.
“This isn’t brain surgery,” he said, acknowledging concepts of the program could be adapted by others in manufacturing.
Johnston said the first year produced a completion rate of 96 percent. Of the seniors who participated, three decided to attend a four-year college; one was hired by Caterpillar; and three received scholarships to area technical schools.
Several students from Chartiers-Houston, who participated in the first-year program and attended Thursday’s meeting, said the experience opened their eyes about career possibilities in manufacturing.
“We did not realize what a great opportunity we had” by participating in a program offered by a major manufacturer like Caterpillar, said Jacob Cavallo, a C-H sophomore.
The importance of manufacturing and its ability to attract qualified people was underscored Thursday by Petra Mitchell, president of Pittsburgh-based Catalyst Connection, which works with small- to mid-sized manufacturers in the region to help them improve processes and become more competitive.
She noted U.S. manufacturing constitutes the world’s eighth-largest economy. To stay competitive, manufacturers must constantly introduce new technologies and equipment “that require (people with) new skills to operate and maintain the equipment,” Mitchell said.