Major Tool and Machine

Seeing opportunity in the commercial jet-engine marketplace in the wake of World War II, Charles Davis launched Major Tool & Design with four employees. Today the company employs more than 400 workers providing large-scale milling and turning machining, welding, engineering and assembly for aerospace, defense and power generation industries.

The company’s growth could be seen as driven by two conflicting forces: a drive to embrace the latest advanced manufacturing technology and an obvious belief in the importance of hiring and keeping good people. Alongside Major Tool and Machine’s willingness to invest in computer-aided processes and robotics is a respect for a steady, reliable workforce. The company prides itself on the dedication and longevity of its workers. In fact, in recent years Major Tool and Machine has recognized two employees for 50 years of service by presenting each with a new Cadillac.

Of course, as Major Tool and Machine faces the same worker shortages plaguing others in the advanced manufacturing sector, the company recognizes that long-time employees begin as younger employees. As such, it puts energy and resources toward cultivating a crop of future team members.

While some employers might wonder if kids they welcome into their shops ever actually return as employees, Major Tool and Machine has living, breathing proof: several employees currently working at the company remember touring the plan in high school.

Obviously, Major Tool and Machine has for some time worked to reach potential workers well before they get into the workforce. Now the company is striving to reach young people even earlier, hoping to help them appreciate the career opportunities in advanced manufacturing even before they’re really thinking about careers.

One of the biggest challenges in this effort is replacing students’ and parents’ outdated ideas of what manufacturing jobs and worksites are like. Like many companies, Major Tool and Machine seeks to overcome this challenge by welcoming young people into its plant. For Manufacturing Day activities, for example, the company draws some 1,000 students to its facility over two days. The company also happily accommodates requests from schools to tour the facility, and it provides on-site training for young people ready to enter the workforce.

But this year the company sought to reach younger kids with a program that can also inform parents: a two-day immersive camp that turned manufacturing processes into fun activities and hands-on experiences. In early June, the camp not only gave kids who will be entering grades 7 to 9 exposure to the world of advanced manufacturing, it also invited parents to stick around for parts of the discussions and plant tours.

Launching this year with 22 campers, the camp opened with an overview of manufacturing, directly addressing common concerns and misperceptions, and then spent two days offering up-close observations of the plant at work and hands-on activities. Kids got to run a CNC machine and measure parts with gauges. They got to program a cobot and watch it execute a weld. They got to observe production lines at work and assemble parts that they then engraved with their name. Working from a schematic drawing, the campers created paper airplanes and then participated in a contest to see whose plane would fly farthest. All of these activities were linked to the various roles and activities involved in advanced manufacturing.

Finally, the campers participated in mock interviews, impressing the current Major Tool and Machine employees who served as interviewers. The questions the campers asked showed they had fully engaged in the camp and were excited about what they learned.

Marketed in large part through contacts established for annual Manufacturing Day activities but also through organic networks, the camp was planned and organized by a team from Major Tool and Machine. A $25 fee kept the cost of the camp manageable and offset some costs, and Major Tool and Machine employees volunteered to staff the camp.

Anyone who has worked with kids and parents knows that one of the best indicators of success is simple engagement. By that measure, the team at Major Tool and Machine feel they hit a home run. The kids participated eagerly throughout the camp, happily diving into activities, asking good questions and enthusiastically tackling new experiences.

But it wasn’t just the campers. Many parents stayed for the opening sessions, which included descriptions of modern manufacturing and dispelled common misperceptions. More than half of the moms and dads participated in a plant tour, and, at the end of the camp, several parents returned for closing ceremonies. Meanwhile, Major Tool and Machine employees were excited to have the kids in the plant, and volunteers already have asked if they can do it again.

As Major Tool and Machines’ summer manufacturing camp was ending, O’Brien asked the campers to follow the company on social media. In short order she received direct messages of appreciation with sentiments like, “Your camp was the best.”

While the camp was designed to provide a very basic overview of advanced manufacturing, the company is considering adding a second-level camp for next year, which would allow kids who participated this year to come back for a new experience. Having learned what the kids are capable of doing and learning, the organizers anticipate that next year’s camp will include a wider range of activities.