Need a machinist? So do a growing number of companies. The problem is, there are fewer and fewer of them available. Even under the current downturn of economic conditions, the demand for engineers, machinists and machine operators remains high. In fact, those three professions have made Manpower Inc.'s "Annual 10 Hardest Jobs to Fill" list for four years running.
But that pressure is not being felt as intensely in the Los Angeles area as a result of a series of training centers operated by the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA). Since the facilities opened in 1968, over 15,000 machinists and operators have used the centers to learn their trade.
NTMA's training centers are split into two campuses in Southern California, in Norwalk and Ontario. In the Ontario campus, there are over 80 computers, with shops featuring 53 manual machines, two wire EDMs and 19 CNC machine tools.
The training centers partner with machine tool manufacturer Haas Automation for its Haas Technical Education Centers (HTEC). The Ontario campus uses seven Haas vertical machining centers (VF-0, VF-2SS, three Mini Mills and two TM-1 Toolroom Mills) and eight Haas CNC lathes (TL-1 Toolroom Lathe, SL-10, three SL-20s, three Mini Lathes). Additionally, there are six Haas CNC control simulators for classroom instruction.
The instructors, facilities and technology offer students the chance to learn advanced skills on highly sophisticated machinery.
"Some of the students have never been in a shop before, and this is all new to them," says Jim Ragaisis, director of training for the NTMA Training Centers' Ontario campus. "In module one, we teach students with no knowledge of machining that 'this is a mill, this is a lathe.' When they finish all five modules -- which is 725 hours -- they're well prepared to start their careers."
In addition to instruction in manual and CNC machining, programming, software design and inspection, NTMA Training Center classes also place a heavy emphasis on math and blueprint reading.
"Right from the start, we emphasize application mathematics," says Ragaisis. "We tell students we're going to use a lot of math and trigonometry. That scares them a little, but they can get past that. We bring it to life for them. We show them the academic math, bring it into a technical arena, then take them into the shop and demonstrate how to apply the math and make it work for them."
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