The Whitewater Career Center near Hoosier Feeder Company provides high school students with real-life experiences, skills and knowledge to be successful in the students’ future careers. When they were looking to upgrade their welding equipment, Hoosier Feeder stepped in and provided updated materials and machinery.

Pearson Packaging Systems was looking for ways to support local educational institutions – like Saint George’s – while continuing to bring visibility to careers within packaging and processing.

Like many packaging and processing companies, JLS was having a difficult time finding various levels of skilled labor while simultaneously hiring at a high rate. In addition, JLS was seeking interns with the hope they would be good candidates for full-time jobs.

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) needed to create a combination service and training system for people working on modern packaging equipment. This system uses a rolling toolbox for portability and a selection of mechanical, electrical and measuring equipment suited to packaging equipment. The mobile nature of this system allows it to be used on campus or at off-campus sites. 

Pearson Packaging Systems, based in Spokane, Washington, was dealing with trades labor shortages in their community. Through community partners, including Spokane Area Workforce Council and Greater Spokane Incorporated, Pearson Packaging Systems created a three-week manufacturing academy to highlight careers in manufacturing.

R.A Jones was experiencing a labor shortage as a result of record growth. To make matters worse, multiple companies in their local Cincinnati area also increased their presence creating a very competitive labor market for R.A Jones. The technical schools R.A Jones previously relied on to recruit and develop skilled labor became inundated with many companies seeking new talent. 

Additionally, demand for unskilled labor was experiencing record highs. These activities combined with increased unemployment payouts posed significant challenges in recruiting and retaining new employees. 

LinMot found it was challenging to take care of day-to-day critical tasks and one-time projects, such as tradeshow demos, sales rep demos or periodic YouTube training videos. These tasks required dedicated workers but were not enough to justify a position – nor were they needed on a daily or weekly basis.

ITW Hartness wanted to partner with a local high school robotics team to show students the industry first-hand – with the hope it would lead them to consider a career in packaging manufacturing.

After hearing complaints from external customers about their employees’ professional communication skills, Marchant Schmidt, Inc. needed to find appropriate non-technical training. Marchant Schmidt, Inc. identified PMMI’s Fundamentals of Field Service course as the best option for employee training.

The tightening job market, combined with the Delta ModTech’s continuous growth, posed a challenge in finding skilled workers. The PMMI U Skills Fund allowed Delta ModTech to sponsor several robotics teams at the FIRST® Robotics Competition in Minnesota this past March.