An Ohio Successful Manufacturing Pipeline Model
By Ritch Ramey —RAMTEC Ohio Coordinator— rramey@tririvers.com
The collaboration between Tri-Rivers Career Center, Marion Technical College, National Robotics Challenge (NRC) (click to see NRC Video) and Honda North America in Central Ohio has successfully created 21st century careers for many Marion area students. More than 30 Honda associates volunteer at the 2015 National Robotics Challenge (NRC) in Marion each April. Honda has committed many resources to make this event successful and also to help recruit future technicians from the more than 1200 participants in grades 3-16 each year into the many exciting and high paying careers available to these future technicians and engineers.
Honda is spending $1 million on a new educational project, which includes scholarships, mobile labs and an educational video game, among other things to promote manufacturing in Ohio. Marion Technical College and Tri-Rivers Career Center (RAMTEC center) have created a program that enables students to leave high school with as many 20 college credit hours. Students then are able to attain part-time co-op jobs in maintenance and engineering while in college at the Honda of America facilities in the region.
The four Honda associates on the billboard are all 2011-2012 Tri-Rivers Career Center Engineering Technologies and Marion Technical College 2014 graduates. Each of the students were able to make great wages working part-time at Honda while finishing their Associate Degrees at Marion Technical College. They then earned full-time maintenance engineering positions upon graduation. They were also judges at the 2015 National Robotics Challenge held at the Marion Coliseum where they also showcased their exciting careers at Honda helping to recruit future students into the pipeline.
Graduates were working on the same FANUC robots we have in our RAMTEC training facility. They are shown in the billboard above with MTC Director of Engineering Matt Farson and their Tri-Rivers Instructor and RAMTEC Ohio Coordinator Ritch Ramey. Many more graduates of TRCC and MTC have earned Engineering and Maintenance technician careers at Honda.
Marion Tech and Tri-Rivers collaborated on the new Robotics Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative (RAMTEC) facility. More than 30 RAMTEC high school students have earned FANUC Handling and Tool Operations 64 hour certification course through certified instructor Mark Edington. Students will also earn Yaskawa Motoman Robotics, Parker Hydraulics, Allen-Bradley PLC, Lincoln Robotic Welding and Mitsubishi PLC credentials while still in high school.
This will enable graduates to hit the ground running in the high demand high paying manufacturing careers. The future for manufacturing is bright in Central Ohio. Through a $15,000,000 Ohio Straight A Grant 8 more RAMTEC centers will be opening up throughout Ohio.
