Paving the Way to a Highly Skilled Workforce
Aztalan Engineering welcomed Senator Ron Johnson to their Lake Mills, WI facility on May 27, 2014. The focus of the senator’s visit aimed to discuss how Aztalan and other global manufacturers are attracting young professionals at a time when meeting the demands for a skilled workforce present challenges for a competitive hiring marketplace. Aztalan continues to expand their growing team, seeking candidates who are excited about moving the company forward. During his on-site Aztalan visit, Senator Johnson took a few minutes to discuss the national debt and solvency of social security, while stressing the need to scale back on heavy federal government intervention. He also addressed innovative ways manufacturers can meet their needs of acquiring skilled laborers through heightened community and local education involvement. Aztalan Engineering appears to be a big step ahead of the curve, embracing these ideals with programs they have put into place themselves over the past few years.
Dirk Maroske, CEO of Aztalan Engineering, had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Senator Johnson while touring the Aztalan grounds. “Senator Johnson encouraged us in our continuous efforts to reach out to our educational institutions, working jointly on developing our highly skilled workforce of today and tomorrow to develop a competitive edge over our global competition”, said Maroske.
Aztalan is committed to providing an educational experience through a summer internship for students enrolled in any of four different disciplines at a four year university or college. These include Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial), Production/Operations management, or Industrial technology management. Aztalan Engineering is in its 5th year of the summer internship program. A total of seven interns have been a part of the program, with two most recently entering on May 19, 2014.
Aztalan Engineering’s internship program provides a real world experience for students new to the engineering career path. The program is directed to students that have completed their first or second year of college. Throughout the course of the internship period Aztalan provides the intern with a vast level of educational experiences.
1. Manage one main project, where the intern develops, manages, or improves a current process. Common examples of projects are managing and creating tool drawings or creating annotation drawings and improving the process.
2. Learn and implement manufacturing and machining processes while spending one to two days a week with a machinist on the manufacturing floor, gaining real life experience.
3. Support various projects in quality, programming/engineering services, and operations.
Aztalan also offers an apprenticeship program through the State of Wisconsin with two apprentices having been hired as full-time employees. Both are currently working on their first of four year program. In order to obtain well-rounded training and necessary qualifications as a skilled worker in the trade, the apprentice works in all areas of the machine shop. The instruction and experience gained gives the emerging professional the qualifications needed to become a skilled machinist. Upon completion of the program, Aztalan apprentices are state certified.
In addition, Aztalan Engineering is also participating in the Middle College Program for the first time this summer (2014). This program is a collaborative project of Madison College, Moraine Park Technical College, and the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin. It is designed to help students ladder into technical college education training and gain experience during and after high school to pursue their career. A student from Lake Mills has been selected for this summer’s program and is expected to begin in July. He is reportedly looking forward to his experience and hands-on learning.
Aztalan is committed to being a good partner with the government and a good corporate citizen. “Having Senator Johnson visit Aztalan was important, as we wanted to introduce him to the influence we have as a global leader in precision machining. We also take a great interest in learning about issues at the state and federal level in consideration of what Aztalan Engineering can do as a company to help”, said Kirk Kussman, Director of Sales and Marketing. Aztalan’s commitment to education and training is important both in our community and organization.
As Aztalan continues to grow, Quick Response Manufacturing and Feature Based Quoting will help to continue the delivery of high quality parts while remaining cost competitive globally, ensuring they will be able to meet the demands of an ever-changing global marketplace.
About Aztalan Engineering, Inc.
Aztalan Engineering is an “Employee Owned” manufacturer of precision machined parts. Aztalan serves customers around the world with most parts being used in critical applications including the medical, aerospace, energy, and defense industries. Aztalan is certified to the ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and AS 9100 quality standards. Aztalan Engineering provides OEM’s with solutions that help them deliver great products to their customers.
For more information, please visit:
www.Aztalan.com
Or call:
920.648.3411
