GWAMA Student-Employer Profile

Prospective employers of the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy students should expect certain traits and employability skills from their employees. This academy offers training like no other in these areas.

 

Training for Innovation

• The capacity for innovation is the primary competitive advantage for U.S. manufacturers in the global marketplace. Therefore, manufacturers need workers who are continually focused on innovating products and services, as well as production and business processes. Workers need the basic academic, workplace and technical skills that will enable them to support the innovation requirements of an advanced manufacturing environment. Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy offers that.

Pipeline

• Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy offers advanced technical and manufacturing training for high school students. Attendees of the academy are expected to leave the academy at one of three exit points:
  • EXIT TO WORK
  • ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE
  • ADVANCED SKILL CERTIFICATES & DEGREES

 

Capacity Building

• GWAMA provides the curriculum, equipment, qualified instructors, tools, and business partners necessary to train the highly skilled workforce that advanced manufacturers need. Stakeholders (school districts, business partners, students, and parents) define the specific competencies and implement the career ladder and lattice models that will enable workers to continually enhance their skills.

 

The Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy implements new and effective ways to enable students to be successful employees of your companies. One way of skill set building is "Seminar Day" Fridays. All cohorted teams participate in exploratory activities in safety training, soft skills, Skills USA, life skills training, as well internship/mentorships with participating businesses.

National Association of Manufacturers "2005 Skills Gap Report - A Survey of the American Manufacturing Workforce"

• Technical skills are essential to the future of Advanced Manufacturing. According to a 2005 NAM survey on the advanced manufacturing workforce, 53 percent of respondents listed technical skills as the greatest need over the next three years. Additional skill sets include the ability to work in teams (47 percent), strong computer skills (40 percent), the ability to read and translate diagrams and flow charts (39 percent) and strong supervisory and managerial skills (37 percent).
• Jobs in the Advanced Manufacturing industry require a complete understanding and mastery of a variety of skill sets. Workers need the production skills to set up, operate, monitor and control the manufacturing process. They need the process design and development skills to continuously improve production processes. They need skills in health and safety to maintain a safe work environment. They need skills in maintenance, installation and repair to maintain and optimize complex equipment and systems. They need knowledge of supply chain logistics in order to plan and monitor the movement and storage of materials and products. Finally, manufacturing workers need skills in quality assurance and continuous improvement to ensure that products and processes meet quality requirements.