Manufacturers! Hold your tools high, wear your grease stains with pride, and celebrate all your hard work, because today is National Manufacturing Day, and October is Manufacturing Month!
Didn’t realize that Manufacturing Day is a national holiday? It’s okay—it’s a relatively new holiday, as it was first declared on October 12, 2012. Only eleven years of celebrating an industry that has shaped America for hundreds!
The idea of Manufacturing Day was created back in 2011 in Rockford, Illinois, (but was officially recognized in 2012) as a way to break the industry’s stigma of hostile environments and labor-intensive work. The ultimate goal of the holiday is to shed light on how innovative and exciting manufacturing actually is, especially with the advanced technological skills and tools that have spurred the evolution of the industry, such as robots, computers, CNC machines, and more.
The manufacturing industry is one of the leading 10 industries in the United States, supplying 8.41% of the national workforce with jobs all over the country; that means roughly 12.5 million people work as or for manufacturers every year. In 2021, 149,000 people worked for manufacturing companies in Colorado alone, making up 5.36% of the state’s workforce. Yet even though the industry is one of the tops in America, the growing shortage of trained workers has begun to affect the industry, leaving big gaps of unfilled positions. These gaps then increase production time, lower company efficiency, and stunt industry advancement, which is why the breaking of stigmas and installment of internships and in-house training programs have become so crucial for recruiting the new generation of workers.
Here at James Engineering, we highly value learning opportunities and internship programs. Teaching the younger generation of manufacturing engineers about the industry advancements has been crucial for setting the stage for our future as a company, as well as their futures as individuals in the workforce. We provide our employees and interns with as much hands-on experience as possible, and we work together as a team to navigate the ever-changing world of manufacturing engineering. In Colorado, the top growing sect of the manufacturing industry is aerospace product and parts, which is what James Engineering, a Colorado-based company, has specialized in since being founded in 1980. We have become experts when it comes to aerospace part finishing, so much so that every plane in the sky has been touched by one of our machines. We know what it takes to succeed in the manufacturing industry, and we pass on our knowledge to those who are dedicated to further advancing our innovations.
Today it’s important to reflect on the impact the manufacturing industry has had on not only America, but the entirety of our world. The ever-developing industry has supplied millions of jobs to millions of people, and without these people, our planet would be a completely different place. Cars, airplanes, cellphones, medical equipment, even the clothes in your closet would cease to exist without manufacturing and all its astounding accomplishments. Here at James Engineering, we highly encourage those interested in the manufacturing industry to take any opportunity to learn more about its how’s and why’s, and to not be afraid to contribute their own original propositions. Manufacturing is no longer a dark-roomed, physically grueling industry that’s vicious on the body and mind—manufacturing is a technological, innovative industry nurtured by bright minds, inspiration, and passion.
For the rest of October, take a moment each day to observe the objects, equipment, and machinery around you that have been made possible by our world’s manufacturers. Take any chance you get to learn more about our mechanical surroundings, and push yourself to share your ideas with the world. You never know—you may be the next person to evolve the industry.
If you’d like to know more about the James Engineering impact, check out the rest of our website at https://www.james-engineering.com/. If you’re interested in joining our team, please send your resume or inquiries to Employment@James-Engineering.com, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!