Advanced manufacturing companies use work-based learning to help workers become productive experts in the technical aspects of advanced manufacturing machinery and processes.
Apprenticeship and other forms of work-based learning have helped manufacturers respond to multiple staffing and talent challenges, including an aging workforce, constantly changing technologies, and a lack of standardized training. When companies are unable to overcome challenges like those, their workforces become less productive, their profits decline, and they begin to lose their capacity to innovate. But if they have well-designed work-based learning programs, they can attract new workers and provide current employees with opportunities to learn new skills and stay up to date on the latest technological advances.
Our recent study showed that employers who implemented the Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) apprenticeship program had a 48 percent return on investment.
As this chart illustrates, apprenticeship programs exist for a range of manufacturing occupations:
