October 3, 2024 Manufacturing Day 2024

Since 2012, Manufacturing Day, a national grassroots effort to promote interest in manufacturing careers, has been held on the first Friday of October.

By David Soyka, Senior Editor, Industry Today

This year, Manufacturing Day is on October 4, kicking off a month-long series when more than 1600 manufacturers and schools across the country host job expos and presentations, open houses and shop floor tours, and other creative showcases designed to reshape perceptions and inspire the next generation of the manufacturing workforce.

Initiatives such as Manufacturing Day are all the more critical in these challenging days of workforce shortages. The Manufacturing Institute, the workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) that organizes Manufacturing Day events, notes in a new report co-written with Deloitte that while U.S. manufacturing is experiencing strong growth, workforce challenges remain a prime concern. “The net need for new employees in manufacturing could be around 3.8 million between 2024 and 2033. And, around half of these open jobs (1.9 million) could remain unfulfilled.”

This is why it is essential for companies to get involved with their communities and depict what manufacturing looks like today rather than what it used to be. While Manufacturing Day provides students, educators, and community influencers with a peek into modern manufacturing careers, it is also an opportunity to recruit veterans and others in the labor pool to upskill their career paths.

“National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity to highlight the pivotal role manufacturing plays in driving progress and shaping the future of our economy,” says Bryan Christiansen, CEO and Founder of Limble CMMS. “It is a day to celebrate the unsung heroes that keep the world moving, and come together to address the greatest challenges facing the industry today.”

One of these challenges is related to Industry 4.0 adoption and the rise in cyber attacks. According to Donovan Tindill, Director of OT Cybersecurity at DeNexus, ““Since 2022, manufacturing has been highlighted as one of the top three industries in various threats, attacks, and insurance claims reports from cybersecurity and insurance providers.” And as Craig Jones, Vice President of Security Operations at Ontinue, notes, “The Manufacturing & Industrial sectors have seen a dramatic rise in cyberattacks in the first half of 2024, accounting for 41% of cyber incidents. This was a large increase of 105%, which sat at only 20% in 2023, according to recent research examining the trends shaping the cyber threat landscape in 2024… manufacturing still has a long way to go in securing its cyber defenses and protecting the sensitive data it holds.”

The result, as Chris Carlson, Chief Product Officer at Critical Start, points out, is that, ““The rapid digitalization of manufacturing has created an urgent demand for cybersecurity professionals. Pursuing a cybersecurity career in manufacturing offers the opportunity to safeguard critical infrastructure and protect the backbone of our economy. The complexity and importance of this work makes manufacturing cybersecurity a challenging, yet highly rewarding career path.”

Industry Today has been covering Manufacturing Day almost since its inception. While the initiative’s longevity indicates its continued value, we in manufacturing must remain vigilant in continuing to promote ourselves as a rewarding high-tech industry. The underlying importance of Manufacturing Day is to emphasize that the industry is a high-tech workplace. Anyone interested in pursuing an IT career can find a place in manufacturing. By partnering with schools and communities to promote STEM careers, recruit students, and create robust training programs to build a larger, more skilled workforce, manufacturers can not only close the labor gap, but develop vitally needed expertise to protect its intellectual and physical assets.

As Mark Edwards, a spokesperson for Manufacturing USA points out, “The fourth industrial revolution is rapidly changing our world. New advanced manufacturing technologies bring about whole new careers, requiring a skilled workforce interested in pursuing them. From bioengineers to data analysts to robotics technicians, and all of the operations in between, there is a place for everyone in manufacturing!”

Professional organizations such as ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) offers multiple program pathways in K-12 STEM education to more than 70,000 students annually.  Alongside global education technology leader Discovery Education, ASME helps inspire students through Career Connect, a platform connecting employees with teachers and K-12 students in the classroom, as well as an educational program called Engineering Dreams offering K-12 students free STEM resources. The cornerstone of all ASME K-12 programs is a commitment to showcasing real-world stories and related in-class experiences to help students think like an engineer.

ASME and Discovery Education efforts to prepare our future workforce are featured in the latest issue of our digital magazine. We hope it provides a useful resource for you during this month when we celebrate our industry together.

Happy Manufacturing Day!

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