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Community Involvement Educational Development
April 17, 2015

Precision Plus’ Barry Butters Continues His Outreach to Area Schools by Promoting Manufacturing to Elementary Students

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Michael Reader

On February 23, 2015 Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, visited Gaston Elementary School in Beloit to talk to second and third grade students. Then, on Wednesday, March 18th, he made the same presentation to the second grade classrooms at Westside Elementary School in Elkhorn. Both of the schools are participating in Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch Curriculum.

The presentation included sharing the story of manufacturing with the students, and how people who are strong in the STEM arts (science, technology, engineering and math) are the ones who can change the world. Butters also talked about the engineering design process as it is introduced in the PLTW curriculum.

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“It is so cool to see the excitement of these young students holding parts and bar ends. It cannot be too early to plant the seeds of a potential career in the manufacturing field with these young students,” said Butters.

Learn more about Project Lead The Way Launch Curriculum here.

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Company Updates
April 15, 2015

Mike Reader of Precision Plus and Dr. Bryan Albrecht of Gateway Technical College Featured on 91.1 FM “Morning Show” with Gregory Berg

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Michael Reader

On April 13, 2015, Mike Reader, president and owner of Precision Plus, and Dr. Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College (GTC) were guests of “The Morning Show,” hosted by Gregory Berg on 91.1 FM WGTD in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The topic of “manufacturing” was central to the interview, and both Albrecht and Reader discussed the eminent improvements, which are coming to Gateway Technical College Elkhorn Campus, and the definitive positive impact it will have throughout the community.

Albrecht, who is a regular guest of the show, updated the audience with news about the Elkhorn facility’s physical and academic expansion, which is due to take place over the next few months. Of most importance to this conversation, was the announcement of a new manufacturing center to be built at the campus.   Albrecht acknowledged the contribution made by area manufacturers, but especially that of Precision Plus whose support has gone beyond a substantial monetary contribution, but also whose role has been indispensable for providing connections with equipment manufacturers, rallying up local support, and implementing a cohesive plan to bring awareness to manufacturing on all school levels.

Reader was asked to talk about his company, the industry, and the biggest threat faced by manufacturers, or lack of highly skilled professional candidates for available positions. He also explained in detail the cost of doing “nothing,” and how Precision Plus was inspired to roll out an awareness campaign, which, as evident by the changes coming to the area, is beginning to make a difference in creating a viable career pipeline in manufacturing.

Listen to a recording of the show. Click here for a PDF transcript of the program.

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Industry News
March 21, 2015

Precision Plus’ 360-Degree Holistic Approach to Closing the Manufacturing Skills Gap

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Michael Reader

Faced with the reality of a shortage of qualified individuals with high manufacturing technology skills, Precision Plus of Elkhorn, Wisconsin launched a 360-degree holistic initiative to address this deficit from all angles–or a game plan to create a pipeline of next generation machinists.

With all the attributes of a David vs. Goliath-type story, the initiative seemed futile at times. However, two years into the undertaking, the David in the story has become an amalgamated and tenacious force of educators, students, manufacturers, organizations, associations, and legislators who are bound to make a difference and close the skills gap.

The video above features a slide presentation created by Barry Butters, Director of Training and Education at Precision Plus In this presentation, Butters lays out the thirteen steps currently in place at Precision Plus which make up the “Playbook for Workforce Development.”

Please contact Barry Butters via email or phone to arrange a presentation at your facility, or to tour our plant and classrooms and learn more about this initiative.

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Community Involvement Industry News
January 15, 2015

2015 Manufacturing Career Panel To Be Held on February 18 at Elkhorn Area High School

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Michael Reader

The third annual Manufacturing Career Panel will be held on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at Elkhorn Area High School. In partnership with Elkhorn Area H.S., Precision Plus will lead a panel of manufacturing experts who will talk to an audience of over 200 students from area high schools about bright and challenging manufacturing career possibilities. The event will take place from 1:00 to 2:35 p.m.

This year, four manufacturing industry leaders will participate as panelists, with Mike Reader of Precision Plus as  Master of Ceremonies. All four panelists have demonstrated their tenacious spirit to succeed and will share their experiences and insights with the students.

Dawn Tabat, Chief Operations Officer – Generac. Ms. Tabat, currently oversees manufacturing, logistics, global supply chain, quality, safety, information services and human resources. She began her career at Generac with a summer job on the assembly line. Tabat credits her corporate success to welcoming and making the best of opportunities as they presented themselves—a trait, which she strives to pay forward. With 2013 revenues of $1.5B, Generac Power Systems is a manufacturer of backup power generation products for residential, light commercial and industrial markets.

Geoff Martin, Principal and Senior Leader – GE Healthcare Partners; Service Line Leader for GE’s Hospital of the Future Solution. Mr. Martin leads implementation teams who provide transformational solutions for organizational redesign and governance enhancement of healthcare institutions. GE’s Solutions focuses on increasing access, decreasing costs, and improving quality in healthcare through a combination of consulting and technology.

Dennis Giesler, General Manager- Parker Hannifin’s Quick Coupling Division. Mr. Giesler has led the Quick Coupling Division—the world’s largest manufacturer of quick couplings–since 2008. The company also produces hydraulic and pneumatic couplings in a variety of sizes, materials, and end configurations to accommodate a broad spectrum of design requirements as well as offering hydraulic swivels, check valves and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment.

Rick Lofy, Lean Six Sigma Instructor at Gateway Technical College, and Coordinator, CNC Summer Youth Boot Camp held at IMET Center in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Mr. Lofy will explain the boot camp program, and the benefits for students with regard to  skills and knowledge,  and work experience.  Additionally, he will address the boot camp’s expectations and hours.

Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus  Mr. Reader who has presented on our first two panels and is the chief organizer of the event. He along with Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus, have dedicated themselves to bringing the world of manufacturing to students of area schools through field trips, job shadows, internships, youth apprenticeships, and informational panels.

This event attracts high-caliber students who are up for the challenge offered in today’s high-tech manufacturing arena. Fourteen high schools have been invited to participate:

  • Badger High School (Lake Geneva, WI)
  • Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI)
  • Big Foot High School (Walworth, WI)
  • Burlington High School (Burlington, WI)
  • Delavan Darien High School (Delavan, WI)
  • East Troy High School (East Troy, WI)
  • Faith Christian School (Williams Bay, WI)
  • Richmond Burton High School (Richmond, IL)
  • Union Grove High School (Union Grove, WI)
  • Waterford High School (Waterford, WI)
  • Westosha Central High School (Salem, WI)
  • Whitewater High School (Whitewater, WI)
  • Williams Bay High School (Williams Bay, WI)
  • Wilmot High School (Wilmot, WI)

For more information about the event, please contact Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus via phone or email.

Manufacturing helps to drive Wisconsin’s economy as a top contributor to the state’s real GDP ($50 billion in total output in 2013) and by employing16 percent (465,000) of the state’s workforce. While manufacturing was hit by the recent recession, it is making a fast-paced recovery. Reports indicate that the sector has recovered at least half of its jobs initially lost in the downturn, with the latest economic forecasts predicting continued employment growth and recovery into 2016. Manufacturing is expected to add nearly 19,000 jobs by 2020 (Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin).  Many of these jobs will require skills to support the technologically evolving and lean operations of manufacturing companies.

Manufacturing in Wisconsin will continue to be a prime source of employment as we have more workers in this career field than any other state. In addition, the manufacturing sector provides some of the best-paying non-managerial jobs, particularly for those with less than a 4-year college degree.

To view recaps of previous events, please click on the year: 2013 – 2014

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Educational Development
December 11, 2014

Precision Plus Continues to Support Area High Schools and Technical Colleges by Being Part of their CTE Advisory Committees

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Michael Reader

Precision Plus currently serves on several career and technical education (CTE) high school and technical college advisory committees. Typically, the committees include advisors from area businesses, educators, and community and professional associations, who strive to strengthen curricula as well as the partnership between all of those involved.

On December 9, 2014, Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus and Barry Butters, the company’s Director of Education and Training attended a CTE meeting at Beloit Memorial High School. At this regularly scheduled meeting, school representatives appraised their business partners on the status of courses, curriculum and overall participation by the students, while manufacturers reviewed workforce related issues and suggested course offering revisions that would help to address these issues.

On December 10, 2014, Butters and Reader attended two CTE committee meetings: the Elkhorn Area High School meeting, and the Gateway Technical College Elkhorn Campus meeting.

At the Elkhorn Area High School CTE committee meeting, school representatives also sought the input of their business partners to develop a curriculum that best addresses key industry needs.

These changes are being discussed in anticipation to a major remodeling of the technical education facilities at the high school. Chris Trottier, their principal, led these discussions, explaining the school’s goal to prepare students to take full advantage of new industry opportunities as they become available. On December 15, 2015, Barry Butters will be part of a presentation to the School Board on the committee’s recommendation.

Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus, who also serves on the Facility Advisory Committee for the Elkhorn School District, confirmed that a recent survey shows overwhelming support by the community for this remodeling project and the technology education opportunities that could be derived from this undertaking.

At the Gateway Technical College Elkhorn Campus CTE committee meeting, advisors convened to take action on a grant proposal for nearly $500,000 to expand the CNC offerings at the Elkhorn campus. Currently the CNC offerings are only at the Racine campus. A successful outcome, would result in the remodeling of the technical education wing to host equipment for CNC machining. The results will be known in March.

The CTE committee meeting was also attended by three representatives from Haas Automation, as well as a number of representatives from area manufacturers.

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Educational Development
November 7, 2014

To Celebrate Manufacturing Month, Precision Plus in Elkhorn, Wisconsin Welcomed Five Area High Schools for Plant Tours

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Michael Reader

One hundred and forty-one students and eleven chaperones from five area high schools visited Precision Plus of Elkhorn, Wisconsin during the month of October 2014, to celebrate Manufacturing Month and learn about the industry and the company. MFG DAY 2014 held earlier in October, had kicked off the month-long event. The schools in attendance were Delavan Darien High School and East Troy High School on October 16th, Elkhorn Area High School and Lake Geneva Badger High School on October 23rd, and Tenor High School on October 27th.

The tour began at Precision Plus’ classroom with personnel introduction, a PowerPoint presentation about the history of the company and the role of a contract manufacturer, followed by a demonstration of the software used at Precision Plus, and a video showcasing the trajectory of a part from concept to completion. After a question and answer session, the students took a plant tour. Upon returning to the classroom, students had another opportunity for Q&As and received a PMPA pen/flash drive with information about CNC training and career statistics.

Precision Plus received several notes from the schools, reiterating the importance of such opportunities for students who are evaluating their future career possibilities.

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Industry News
October 15, 2014

Blackhawk Technical College Relocates Its Advanced Manufacturing Center to Milton, Wisconsin

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Michael Reader

From the moment someone walks through the doors of the new facilities of Blackhawk Technical College’s Advanced Manufacturing Center in Milton, Wisconsin, there is no question that it will be an awe-striking experience.

Subtly reminding visitors that the perception of ‘dark and dirty manufacturing’ is clearly a thing of the past, the entire facility gleams with impeccable setups for students to learn different aspects of the art of manufacturing.

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Precision Plus is proud to support this organization and its endeavors. Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training, serves on the Blackhawk Technical College Career and Technical Education Committee. The committee is required to meet twice a year and the meetings are open to the public. One of the main focuses of the committee is to develop curricula that is flexible enough to support work/study schedules. In addition to being able to complete a two-year degree with a variety of manufacturing specializations, students can return at later points to add certifications.

A prime example of how Blackhawk is addressing the work/school balance is student Brad Pearson, who was a Precision Plus apprentice last year and continues to work for the company on a part-time basis, but is also attending Blackhawk Technical College pursuing a CNC Technical Degree.

Precision Plus congratulates Blackhawk Technical College on launching such as state-of-the-art facility.

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Industry News
August 19, 2014

2014 Manufacturing Matters! Conference Videos Featuring Governor Scott Walker as Keynote Speaker

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Michael Reader

Last February 27, over 400 Wisconsin manufacturers came together to participate in Manufacturing Matters!, a conference dedicated to manufacturing leadership.

Precision Plus is happy to share two videos from the conference, courtesy of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP).

The first video, features opening remarks by Buckley Brinkman, Executive Director and CEO of WMEP, followed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s keynote speech.

The second video, showcases WMEP 2014 Manufacturing Matters! speakers Jim Perras and Rich Meeusen.

The next Manufacturing Matters! Conference is scheduled for February 26, 2015.

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Industry News
July 3, 2014

Building a Nation of Makers: Six Ideas to Accelerate the Innovative Capacity of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises, or SMEs

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Michael Reader

In their Executive Summary, the members of the Milstein Commission on New Manufacturing proposes the following actionable ideas to accelerate the pace of America’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers:

  • Talent Investment Loans to Expand Human Capital
  • Upside-Down Degrees to Connect Classroom Learning with On-the-Job Learning
  • A Skills Census to Build a More Efficient Skilled Labor Force
  • A National Supply Chain Initiative to Fully Map America’s Manufacturing Ecosystems
  • Up-Skilling High School Students with Expanded Technology an Engineering Certification Programs
  • A “Big Trends-Small Firms” initiative to Diffuse the Latest Technologies to Manufacturing SMEs

–Find a detailed explanation of these ideas can be put into action at the end of this post

“By almost any measure, the American Dream is in peril, and it has been for some time…” With these opening remarks, Gerald Baliles, Director and CEO of the Miller Center of the University of Virginia and former governor of the State, began a news conference at the National Press Club on June 13, 2014 to release a report by the Miller Center’s Milstein Symposium: Ideas for a New American Century.

This was the first commission of a multi-year initiative by the Milstein Symposium whose goal is “To find and implement practical nonpartisan solutions to pressing economic concerns in the areas that include manufacturing, entrepreneurship, education, and infrastructure.” Its laser-focused vision is “To determine the next steps our nation must take to continue to vitality of the American Dream in the 21st century, and most importantly, to find the way to put those steps into place.”

Twelve eminent thought leaders convened to draft six practical, nonpartisan and actionable ideas to foster the growth of manufacturing SMEs.

Howard Milstein, a philanthropist and entrepreneur, remarked that with “changes in technology, logistics and global economic conditions,” the U.S. can experience a manufacturing renaissance. However, as a nation, we have to have “the fortitude to make the right decisions now” for it to happen.

Here are the six ideas that were proposed by the members of the Milstein Commission on New Manufacturing aimed to accelerate the pace of innovation for America’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers, as they appeared on their Executive Summary:

Click to see a larger image.

VIEW THE FULL REPORT
WATCH A REPLAY OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE

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Employee Spotlights
June 28, 2014

Precision Plus’ Barry Butters Is Certified to Teach Project Lead The Way’s Engineering Design and Development Capstone Course to High School Students

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Michael Reader

Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus spent two full weeks at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in June to complete intensive training to enable him to teach the course ‘Engineering Design and Development’ (EDD) to high school students. The course is a capstone course of the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) curriculum.

As per the description of the capstone course on PLTW’s website, “Engineering Design and Development (EDD) gives students the opportunity to work in teams to solve problems of their own choosing.  Under the guidance of a community mentor, teams employ all the skills and knowledge gained through previous coursework to brainstorm, research, construct and test  a model in real-life situations (or simulations); document their designs; and present and defend the designs to a panel of experts.”

Butters participation was sponsored by the Elkhorn Area School District. Beginning in fall 2014, he will be teaching Elkhorn Area H.S. students as well, as other students from local school districts, the EDD Course at Precision Plus’ classroom.

The instructors’ training at Milwaukee School of Engineering teamed up the participants to go through a simulation of the EDD program, which they will be teaching during the school year. Butters collaborated with Phil Winegar, Technology and Engineering Instructor at Menomonie High School, and Brent Siler, Technology and Engineering Instructor at Middleton High School.

The mission for the teams in the training course was to come up with a problem, a solution, develop three design models to implement the solution, and, after choosing one, present their project to a panel of engineers.

Butter’s team pursued a solution for preventing young children from chocking on food. The team focused on the development of a consumer device that would check the softness of food. It was not so much about having a working solution to the problem in two weeks, but rather about understanding how to approach the entire engineering process to come up with a solution.

After a great deal of brainstorming and a decision matrix, three possible prototype solutions–a spring-loaded plunger, a collapsible knife, and an elastic cutter–were printed on a MakerBot 3D printer.

Next, the team selected one potential solution and the solution was tested through experimentation. In the image to the left, butters tests the selected model for its ability to detect the softness of food consistency.

Finally, the results of their entire project and engineering  process were presented to a panel of engineers for scrutiny and recommendations. Pictured on the image to the right are Butters and his teammates Phil Winegar and Brent Siler.

Upon completion of the course, Butters and all the other participants received certificates from PLTW Master Teachers Sharon Tomski and Denise Kimblern, PLTW Affiliate Director Steve Salter, and MSOE V.P. of Academics, Dr. Frederick Berry.

All the training course graduates were looking forward to teaching this program in the fall.

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