Brian White’s Manufacturing Story is An Inspiration for New Generations Coming Up Through the Ranks

October 16, 2013

Brian White’s Manufacturing Story is An Inspiration for New Generations Coming Up Through the Ranks

Brian White, dream it do it, Elkhorn, employer, GE Energy's Waukesha Gas Engines, Manufacturing Alliance, manufacturing., Mike Reader, plant your, Precision Plus Inc., video, Waukesha County Business Alliance, WCBA, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

By Mike Reader
About a year ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Waukesha County Business Alliance (WCBA) Manufacturing Alliance panel discussion on workforce development issues and meeting Brian White. Brian, President of GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines, was one of the panelists and he spoke frankly about manufacturing and the privilege of employing about 700 Wisconsinites.

In September of 2012, and under Brian’s leadership, GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines had announced the hiring of 115 employees, following a $3.1 million investment into its engineering center.

Brian is a brilliant leader, but his story is not your typical rise-to-the-top story, because Brian didn’t go to college after graduating from high school. As a matter of fact, he didn’t know what to do with his life, until he found the opportunities that manufacturing presented to him—opportunities which he did not hesitate to pursue.
In May 2013, Dream It! Do It! Wisconsin, featured Brian in a video titled “Upward Bound – Wisconsin Manufacturing Careers.” In just a few statements, Brian tells us about his early life, and gives anyone looking into a career in manufacturing the assurance that anything is possible.

Last night, I attended another WCBA meeting, hosted by GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines, which included tours of the engine assembly area and featured the Dream It! Do It! Wisconsin video featuring Brian. I was pleased to connect with Brian again. We had a very good discussion about what each was doing to address the skills gap and looked forward to collaborating in the future.

Company Updates

October 6, 2013

Manufacturing Day Highlights from Precision Plus’s Day-Long Event On October 4, 2013

2013, Certified Power, dream it do it, Elkhorn Area High School, Elkhorn Walworth County Economic Development Alliance, event, Gateway Technical College, Hudapack Metal Treating, Manufacturing Day, manufacturing., MedPlast, October 4, Precision Plus, WCEDA, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Nearly one hundred visitors, the majority area high school students, toured Precision Plus’s facilities on October 4, 2013, to celebrate National Manufacturing Day, a nationwide initiative.

The purpose of the open house and plant tour was to create awareness about the possibilities that are available with careers in manufacturing. The event featured plant tours of four area manufacturing facilities: MedPlast, Certified Power, Inc., Hudapack Metal Treating, Inc., as well as Precision Plus’s. The students also toured Gateway Technical College. The event was sponsored by Dream It Do It Wisconsin, the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance, Inc., and Elkhorn Area High School.

Precision Plus wishes to thank all attendees and our great staff for engaging with the students to answer their questions. We look forward to a new generation of talent in manufacturing!

Company Updates

September 20, 2013

Precision Plus in Elkhorn, Wisconsin Kicks Off Manufacturing Month With a Plant Tour Open To Everyone

2013, CNC, education, Elkhorn, Gov. Scott Walker, Manufacturing Day, Manufacturing Month, manufacturing., Open House, plant tour, Precision Plus, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

In recent years, the possibility that a career in manufacturing could offer a great future, has become something of a well-kept secret. In spite of the downturn in the economy, jobs in manufacturing abound, but the skills gap continues to widen.

In October of 2012, a nationwide initiative by U.S. manufacturers was launched to showcase this industry which is the backbone of this country. The initiative was called “Manufacturing Day.” This year, the initiative continues to gain momentum. In Wisconsin alone, more than 450,000 careers are in manufacturing, and Governor Scott Walker has officially declared October, “Manufacturing Month.”

The initiative addresses the shortage of skilled professionals from many angles, with a focus on education and awareness.

Precision Plus is delighted to actively participate in this endeavor. To kick off Manufacturing Month, Precision Plus is hosting an Open House at its premises located at 840 Koopman Rd. in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on Thursday, October 3rd starting with an information presentation at 6:30 pm and a plant tour at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited.

On Friday, October 4th, Precision Plus will host several high school groups for tours and information on manufacturing.

As always, Precision Plus welcomes individuals, groups and organizations to tour our facilities. Please contact Barry Butters, Director of Education & Training at (262) 743-1700 to schedule a time, or email him at buttersb@preplus.com.

Employee Spotlights Industry News

September 18, 2013

Precision Plus Welcomes Barry R. Butters as Director of Education and Training

academics, Barry R. Butters, Director of Education & Training, education, Elkhorn, lectures, manufacturing., Precision Plus, primary, program, secondary, skills gap, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Precision Plus’ Efforts to Fill the Skills Gap: Third Installment.

In a continuing effort to stay ahead of a widening manufacturing skills gap, Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus has hired Barry Butters as Director of Education and Training.

Butters has been in the education field for 27years, teaching mathematics and engineering courses as well as serving as a high school principal. He has taught every course in the high school math curriculum including both Advanced Placement Calculus AB & BC and Advanced Placement Statistics. Butters has also taught Statistics at George Williams College. More recently, he began teaching a course called “Introduction to Engineering Design,” which is an engineering course in the “Project Lead The Way” curriculum. Project Lead The Way is a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program aimed to increase the numbers of engineers in the USA. The course work is designed to get high school students involved in real engineering work at a younger age and to attract more students to the engineering field. “I will be using best practice in education to bring employees up to speed as quickly as possible through a variety of training techniques,” said Butters.

Butters’ duties at Precision Plus include: new employee training for those with no machining experience, cross-training existing employees, developing educational platforms for the various CNC machines and measuring tools, and acting as ambassador for the manufacturing industry. Reader has repurposed a room at Precision Plus to serve as a classroom to conduct training. Butters has lofty goals for the training at Precision Plus His intentions are for the classroom to be used for:

To give employees, interns and students an opportunity to obtain certifications from the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC)
To establish Precision Plusas a testing center for MSSC certifications.
To teach employees, interns, and students the mathematics related to the machining industry.
To teach employees, interns, and students blueprint reading, including geometric dimensioning and tolerance.
To teach employees, interns and students the skills necessary to use measuring devices including all kinds of micrometers, drop indicators, gages, calipers, optical comparators, roundness testers, automated optical systems such as OASIS, and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs).
To train employees, interns and students in the use of the Part Maker program.
To train employees, interns and students in the use of 3D CAD software.
To offer a CNC Lathe class to local high schools students.
To offer the Project Lead the Way course Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) at Precision Plus for local high school students. The courses could be offered in the evenings as necessary.

Barry Butters, Director of Education & Training, speaks to a second grade class at Westside Elementary School class about the field of CNC Machining and Engineering.

Butters’ efforts to get manufacturing and its opportunities on the minds of the community and young people include organizing an open house to mark National Manufacturing Day. The open house will be held on Thursday, October 3^rd at 6:30 pm and is open to all. On Friday, October 4^th, National Manufacturing Day, Precision Plus will offer tours of its facility to local high school students.

In 2012, Mike Reader kicked off the first annual career panel, held at Elkhorn Area High School. “Our mission is to continue to expand this opportunity, and I think it speaks volumes to Mike Reader’s vision that manufacturers need to take an active role in promoting their own industry,” said Butters.

Butters will be visiting area schools to speak to students about manufacturing and promoting its opportunities. Most recently he visited a second grade class at Westside Elementary School.

You can reach Barry Butters at buttersb@preplus.com. He is willing to take any suggestions or simply talk about what is being accomplished at Precision Plus

Industry News

February 28, 2013

The Jobs are Here, Where are the Candidates? Wisconsin Manufacturing Stats.

$64M starting salary, 16% of Wisconsin works in manufacturing, 5600 manufacturing jobs available, Elkhorn Area High School, infographic, looking for the brightest, manufacturing., Mike Reader, Precision Plus, technical programs, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Let’s talk Wisconsin Manufacturing! 5,600 jobs are currently available in manufacturing in the State of Wisconsin and 0 qualified employees to fill them. Precision Plus’s infographic points out some startling information.

Community Involvement

February 26, 2013

T-1 to Elkhorn Area High School’s Manufacturing Career Panel!

Conference, Daniel Murphy Rem Sales, Darlene Miller, education, Elkhorn, Elkhorn Area High School, JoAnn Pella, John Murphy, manufacturing., Mocjael Reader, Morris Midwest, Olaf Tessarzyk, panel discussion, Permac Industries, Precison Plus Inc., Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Tomorrow, Wednesday 27, 2013 marks the launch date of the Elkhorn Area High School Manufacturing Career Initiative! The event will take place at the Wehner Auditorium at Elkhorn Area High School at two scheduled times: from 1pm until 2:30pm and from 7pm until 8:30 pm. Students and parents are welcome to participate. The event will feature a panel of manufacturing executives who will answer questions from the audience. The panel is comprised of these manufacturing executives: Daniel J Murphy, Regional Sales Manager for Rem Sales, LLC, Darlene M. Miller, President and CEO of Permac Industries, John T. Murphy, President of Morris Midwest, LLC, Michael J. Reader, President/Owner of Precision Plus, and Olaf Tessarzyk, Managing Partner of ZPS America, LLC.

The driving force behind this initiative, however, is Business Education Teacher JoAnne Pella, who understands the importance of manufacturing in the business matrix who insists in teaching it to her students and educating their parents about the possibilities of 21st Century manufacturing.

As of the end of the day today, more than 200 students are planning to attend this conference and we look forward to having two exceptional sessions.

For more information, please contact JoAnne Pella via email, or by phoning her at 262-723-4920, extension 1637.

The subject of the meetings will be skills gap occurring in manufacturing today

Industry News

February 19, 2013

Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch to Tour Precision Plus on Friday, February 22, 2013

2013, aerospace, aviation, Create jobs in Wisconsin, discussion, Elkhorn, Facilities, February 22, industry, Lt. Governor, manufacturing., Precision Plus, Rebecca Kleefisch, Reed Hall, Tom Thieding, Tour, WEDC, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Michael Reader

February 19, 2013, Elkhorn, WI – In a continued effort to increase Wisconsin’s in-state manufacturing, particularly in the aerospace and aviation sector, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch will tour the facilities of Precision Plus of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. She will be joined by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s (WEDC) Executive Director Reed Hall and Communications Manager Tom Thieding.

The purpose of this tour and discussion is to present Lt. Governor Kleefisch with a clear picture of Wisconsin’s manufacturing supply chain, showing how the State can benefit from developing additional manufacturing opportunities. By engaging State agencies in promoting advanced manufacturing targeting the aerospace and aviation industries, the State of Wisconsin can also benefit from the growth potential offered through this type of business development.

“We are excited to have the Lt. Governor and WEDC Executive Director tour our manufacturing facility,” said Precision Plus President Michael Reader. “It is critical to the State’s economy for us to work together in promoting advanced manufacturing as we offer great career opportunities and compensation packages for highly-skilled machinists and support personnel.”

Precision Plus is a high-precision machining and solution provider to numerous OEMs around the world. With over 8 million dollars spent on state-of-the-art machining equipment over the past 5 years, and a staff of highly-skilled machinists, Precision Plus has been recognized as a leading supplier of Swiss-type and CNC-turned components. The company was recommended to WEDC by a large aerospace group as a supplier well-positioned to help grow Wisconsin’s aerospace and aviation industries. Mr. Reader added, “Let’s put hard working Wisconsinites back to work in rewarding careers and grow our way out of this economic slump”.

The event will take place on Friday, February 22 from 3:45pm until 5:00pm (originally scheduled from 9:30am until 10:45am ) and Precision Plus cordially invites the news media and press to partake in the tour and discussion. Precision Plus is located at 840 Koopman Ln., Elkhorn, Wisconsin 53121. Should this tour need to be rescheduled due to anticipated weather conditions in our area, it will be announced on our social media channels and on this blog.

Precision Plus is devoted to bringing manufacturing back the United States through awareness and education and actively promotes its vision within the State of Wisconsin and the country.

For more information on this event, please contact Michael Reader at (262) 743-1700 x105 or via electronic mail.

Company Updates

November 14, 2012

Two New Miyanos Just Arrived at Precision Plus

ABX-TH3, Elkhorn, environmentally-friendly, high performance, lathe, lathes, manufacturing., Miyano, precision manufacturing, Precision Plus, U.S., Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Twice the fun!

We have just added two brand new Miyano ABX-TH3 lathes with magazine bar-feeders and high pressure pumps. These precision turning machines will accept bars up to 64 mm (2.51969″) diameter, have triple 12-station turrets and expand our lineup of ABX machines to a total of six.

[pb_slideshow group=”0″]

The left and right upper turrets are equipped with Y-axis functions and the lower turret is equipped with a long Z-axis slide traverse enabling complex processing simultaneously on the left and right spindles, for high efficiency. The ABX-TH3 lathes are designed to provide the most productive processing of precision parts to date. See the Miyano ABX-TH3’s full specs here.

Besides providing innovative technology, Citizen Machinery Miyano Co., Ltd., manufacturers of the ABX-TH3 lathes, also have a strong environmentally forward program in place that promotes energy and resource savings, recycling, and contamination prevention.

Our new Miyano ABX-TH3 additions have increased our manufacturing capabilities, and we look forward to continue to work with our customers to supply them with precision components to their specification.

Industry News

October 30, 2012

Manufacturing is the 4th Largest Employer in the U.S. – Did You Know?

4th largest employer in the U.S., hard facts, infographic, manufacturing., precision manufacturing, Precision Plus, U.S., U.S. Census Bureau, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Celebrating the first annual Manufacturing Day on October 5, 2012, The Census Bureau joined the celebration by presenting this hard-facts infographic.

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

Educational Development

October 20, 2012

Vocational Education and Training – The Swiss Answer To Unemployment

2.8% unemployment, bringing, education, Elkhorn, initiatives, manufacturing., Precision Plus, programs, Swiss, Switzerland, VET, Vocational Education and Training, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

With unemployment rate of 2.8%, the country of Switzerland is coming under increased observation by other industrial countries to discover its secret. The consensus of opinion seems to be that its unique educational system is the most likely answer.

Swiss industries in cooperation with the educational system have devised a program referred to as Vocational Education and Training (VET). The compulsory education for a Swiss child ends at nine years. After this, they have the option of continuing their education in two different tracks. Those children that want a career in academics can continue in the traditional school-based learning track, and those that are seeking a trade or vocation can enter into the VET program. This program is a combination of classroom work and apprenticeship programs. At present over 50% of the youth in Switzerland are choosing this track.

The VET program has the youth in the classroom for 1 to 2 days out of the week with the rest of the work week being spent at the host company of their apprenticeship. The course work at the VET schools is determined by the trade organizations that help run the schools. This keeps the studies in line with the skills that are most needed in the market place. These programs tend to last for 3 to 4 years depending on the field of study. Youth studying in these programs are then awarded a Federal diploma after passing their final exam. The youth that pass this test are also able to go onto a specialized university program in their field. One of the aspects that have been found as most intriguing is the use of other businesses to sign off on the work that the apprentice is doing for the host-company, offering a transparency in the industry as well as a cohesive manner of maintaining the standards for those particular industry apprenticeships.

The current statistics show that around 58,000 companies are providing up to 80,000 apprenticeships. These are presented to the lower secondary schools every year to enable the parents and students to know what is available. The result of the training and expense is that most of the youth can expect to enter into a vocation with a starting salary of $50,000 or more. Although this program is funded by the private sector, the output generated by the apprentices is seen to cover the cost and the end result is a trained labor force with the skills for the jobs that are available and needed.

1 2 3 4 5

Tag : manufacturing.