A feasibility study for an Industrial Electronics Maintenance Certificate at Western Wisconsin Technical College

Abstract

This field problem studied the feasibility of an Industrial Electronics Maintenance Certificate Program at Western Wisconsin Technical College (WWTC). While manufacturing jobs continue to decrease across the nation as a whole, Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector continues to grow, demanding additional skilled workers. This study sought to document the need for a series of courses that would supply training in the areas of electronics/electrical, mechanical and fluid power at an industrial level as opposed to associate degree college courses. The effort would address the skilled worker shortage in the district by providing much needed training to both incumbent workers and potential new employees in the industrial maintenance field. The information gathered by the training needs survey was used to write a grant to obtain funding to support the effort. The population for this study was defined as all manufacturing companies with 20 or more employees in the eight-county area of the WWTC district. Each manufacturing employer was contacted via telephone prior to distribution of the survey to verify applicability to the study and to determine the most appropriate company contact. These phone conversations yielded a total of 170 subjects that agreed to receive the survey and constituted the entire population of appropriate district employers. However, possible omissions may have existed in the database and therefore the 170 companies must be viewed as a significant sample of the population as opposed to its entirety. One hundred and fifty-five replies were received out of the 170 mailed surveys for a response rate of 91.2%. Twenty-four of those replies indicated that the industrial maintenance activities at their company were performed by subcontractors and therefore were not applicable to the study. One hundred and twenty-nine completed surveys were returned. Input was received regarding topics for training as well as methodology and location preferences. The most requested topics included AC/DC fundamentals, AC motors and controls, and programmable logic controllers. These three topics were indicated as necessary by over 50% of the respondents. The most desired location for training was in La Crosse due to the overwhelming majority of businesses located in La Crosse County. The major methodology preferences were quite evenly split between one-day workshops, multi-day workshops, traditional lecture/lab courses and individualized open lab instruction. The next most popular choices were one-day and multi-day workshops on-site at the company. The highest demand for training outside the La Crosse area was in Tomah, followed by Mauston, Black River Falls, Viroqua, and Independence. Every respondent except one indicated a need for employee training on one or more of the topics listed in the survey. The data showed that between 420 and 661 incumbent workers in the district require this type of training over the next five years. In addition, almost 90% of the respondents indicated that they would hire an individual with the required industrial maintenance skill set regardless of whether they had completed a degree. The data showed that between 203 and 347 of these new employees would be required over the next five years. These two combined responses show a training need for between 623 and 1008 workers in the area of industrial electronics maintenance. These numbers provide substantial support for the program. Information was also gathered regarding current training options and new employee recruitment activities. Over 20% of the respondents indicated that they were unable to obtain new employees with industrial maintenance skills. Finally, over 40 % of the respondents indicated that they would be willing to take time out of their already busy schedules to provide assistance regarding curriculum development and delivery planning. This is truly a testament to the extreme need for this training.