Walk through any modern manufacturing facility and you’ll see it immediately: the machines are smarter, the systems are more connected and the pace of innovation never slows. Just as technology has evolved, so too has the need for the people who keep it running.
I hear this message often when I meet with regional employers. The story is consistent: the traditional siloed maintenance roles of the past no longer fit the realities of Industry 4.0. Equipment now blends mechanical systems, electrical components and PLC-driven automation. That means the workforce must do the same.
This shift makes sense. It’s simply more efficient and affordable to hire individuals skilled in the various areas — electrical, mechanical and automation — that have combined to create the manufacturing industry we know today. At Lorain County Community College (LCCC), an institution that prides itself on keeping a continuous pulse on our local industry, we heard loud and clear the need for multicraft maintenance workers. And we responded.
Applying the Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) methodology, a nationally recognized proven approach to employer engagement in curriculum development, we launched the Multicraft Industrial Maintenance program this fall. The new program, which offers students stackable credentials through two certificates and an associate degree, combines three pre-existing degree programs — electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and automation engineering — along with a few specialty courses such as welding. By combining these three pathways, we ensure graduates can perform journeyman-level work in installing, repairing, maintaining and testing a wide variety of industrial systems.
Our manufacturing partners, from Beckett Thermal to Ridge Tool Company to Lincoln Electric, were clear about their need for multicraft technicians. Many served on the advisory committee, helping us develop the program curriculum and committing work-based learning opportunities to our students. But the need for skilled workers in this space extends well beyond the walls of manufacturing facilities. Companies across any industry that utilize complex facilities can find value in this training within their ongoing facilities maintenance, whether it’s water treatment, energy systems or data centers. In fact, we’re already seeing regional hospital systems interested in how graduates of this program can help maintain their infrastructures, which are more connected and comprehensive than ever.
At LCCC, we are committed to scaling this program and related manufacturing fields as we continue our work to meet the workforce needs of Industry 4.0. In doing so, we are helping Lorain County bend the curve toward prosperity and ensuring the entire region has a trained and ready manufacturing workforce. ●
Marcia J. Ballinger, Ph.D., is President of Lorain County Community College
