Helping Others Help Themselves

Several students verify their work in front of a Doosan Lynx 200LM at Symbol Job Training Inc., Skokie, IL.In today's world of high unemployment and under-qualified employees, Doosan Machine Tools is working with many different educational facilities to help train those people who desire a career as a skilled laborer.

Symbol Job Training Inc., a Chicago, IL-based educational organization, works on building partnerships between businesses and students while providing education and hands-on training in programming, setup, and operation of computerized numerical control (CNC) machines.

In order to provide these students with the education that they need, Symbol Job Training's Director of Business Operations, Tom Peters, decided to work with Dave Fahlgren of 520 Machinery, an exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools.

When asked why he decided to go with Doosan machines, Peters states, "As a learning institution that prides itself on real world hands-on training, we find it essential that our students train on machines that they will experience on the shopfloor. It is a great introduction to the real world and a lifelong career as a machinist."

Peters also comments on the additional training provided by Doosan saying, "Doosan has helped train our instructors with specialized assistance through their own trainers."

Akron CNC Training Center Doosan MV3016LDAnother institution that found great success with Doosan is Akron CNC Training Center, Akron, OH. Laurie Norval, director of the state-approved training center, found that the Doosan equipment has served their training center and students very well since the purchase of their DNM400 and Lynx 200 for their training facility. The centers instructors are well-qualified machine operators and programmers who combine their experience and knowledge with a desire to teach. This combination provides the instructors with the machine tools to educate those who desire a career in manufacturing.

Norval explains, "This is a hands-on skilled trade. It is imperative that students learn to run equipment found in the workplaces where they will land a job. The up-to-date technology is definitely a bonus for the students learning experience."

Tim Blizzard, manufacturing and machine technologies teacher at Westminster, MD-based Carroll County Career & Technology Center's worked with Michael DeMarti from MDMachinery in a recent purchase of four Doosan machine tools (one DMV 3016 and three MV 3016LD's). According to Blizzard, this purchase helped make them the first NIMS accredited school in the state of Maryland. "Doosan representatives from MDMachinery worked closely with our MET-TEC committee to help in purchasing the correct equipment, as well as helping to assure the accreditation," Blizzard states.

However, Blizzard comments that the reason they chose Doosan machine tools was that they were looking for a machine that was current with industry standards, needed little maintenance, is extremely reliable, and was bulletproof for students with absolutely no machining experience.

With the help of Doosan, Carroll County Career & Technology Center’s Manufacturing & Machine Technologies class received the NIMS accreditation in June 2011.
With students working in all types of shops – doing everything from machine operator to actually programming and setting up their own machines – Blizzard wanted to make sure that his students were prepared for their life in manufacturing. Many of Blizzards former students, who trained on Doosan machine tools, manufacture parts for companies such as NASA, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and The Department of Defense.

When asked about the importance of training on Doosan machine tools, Blizzard spoke about one student in particular that works for a company just north of Baltimore: "He started doing his own programming and setups within a few months of gaining employment with a company that works with many different types of exotic materials."

He recently informed Blizzard that he never knew he would learn so much in such a short period of time, saying that, "Working on the Doosan's at school made me very comfortable with the machines and controls at my new job."

Asking Jim Shiner, director of sales and marketing, Doosan, about Doosan's beliefs in supporting our educational systems garners pride. "We have a special school incentive program that allows our distributors to place machines into public education institutions. We feel it is our duty and responsibility to do everything possible to facilitate the education of tomorrow's workforce today," Shiner explains. "Even with the current high unemployment rate in the United States, there is still a shortage of skilled machine operators. We need and want to get students in front of high technology equipment, show them that there are opportunities out there, and demonstrate that operating a CNC machine tool is not the old 'get your hands dirty' job; it is a highly skilled technical job."

Even with the current unemployment rate at 9.1%, many companies are stating that they are unable to find qualified employees. However, with the help and support of companies, such as the lead Doosan is taking, those companies should start to see an influx of qualified employees.

Doosan Machine Tools
Pine Brook, NJ
infracoremt.com

Akron CNC Training Center
Akron, OH
akroncnc.com

Symbol Job Training Inc.
Skokie, IL
symboljobtraining.com

Carroll County Career & Technology Center
Westminster, MD
maryland.schooltree.org/public/ Carroll-County-Career-Technology- Center-038406.html