Welder-fabricator program launched at WCTC
The program is structured for four years, or 8,000 hours, including 7,560 hours of on-the-job learning.
Waukesha County Technical College says it has launched the first comprehensive welding-metal fabrication apprenticeship program in southeastern Wisconsin.
The program is structured for four years, or 8,000 hours, including 7,560 hours of on-the-job learning.
Currently, six students and four area employers are participating in the new apprenticeship, including GenMet Corp., Wisconsin Oven Corp., KHS USA and Fisher Barton Group’s Accurate Specialties.
Students enrolled in the program, which has been developed with the state Department of Workforce Development’s Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards, are on the path to become journeymen in the welding and metal fabrication field.
“A journeyman fabricator will be able to work in every work center at GenMet. They will be able to lead a group or lead a complete shift,” said Eric Isbister, CEO of the Mequon-based company.
The college says the welder-fabricator apprenticeship was created in response to the needs of manufacturers.
Wisconsin companies have complained about a shortage of welders, yet some large employers have laid off hundreds of people in the trade.
Addressing the issue, companies have created their own training programs. Area technical colleges also have offered various welding and metal fabrication programs, including a class paid for by a U.S. Department of Labor grant.
The welder-fabricator apprentices will be assessed on the job with a combination of hours worked and competencies.
One day a week they are attending classes at the college, in Pewaukee, studying welding and metal fabrication theory.
WCTC plans to expand the program through more employers.
“We continue to have a high demand for welders. We are definitely looking for more apprentices and more companies to get on board with this,” said Mike Shiels, dean of the college’s School of Applied Technologies.
“Modern manufacturing systems use robots, computers, programmable motion control devices and various other technologies. Advanced assemblers, fabricators and welders must be able to work with these new technologies, and the welder-fabricator apprenticeship provides this training,” Shiels said.
Wisconsin Oven Corp., in East Troy, selected two employees for the program.
The company makes industrial ovens used in a variety of industries and, like other manufacturers, wants to create a pipeline of skilled workers.
“Our next step is to do a youth apprenticeship program with high schools, so that students can get in here and see what we do, learn our processes and see what the job alternatives are,” said Laura Underwood, human resources manager.
Cole Sorg is one of the WCTC apprentices from Wisconsin Oven.
Sorg said his grandfather is a welder, and that inspired him to pursue the career.
“I just enjoy burning the wire, the smell, the whole experience. It’s a really good feeling for me,” Sorg said.
He completed basic and advanced welding and metal fabrication programs at Gateway Technical College, in Elkhorn, and worked at another company before he was hired by Wisconsin Oven about five months ago.
Sorg said he wants to stay close to welding and metal fabrication, but that he also sees his current job as a gateway to other positions at the company.
“I am just a really ambitious person. I am in no hurry to stop moving and grooving, and the further I get in life the better,” Sorg said.
Department of Workforce Development officials confirmed that this is the first welder-fabricator apprenticeship in southeastern Wisconsin that is in partnership with the agency’s Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards.
There’s a similar program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, in Marinette, that is training employees in the shipbuilding industry.
Isbister, with GenMet, said he and two of his employees worked with state officials on the apprenticeship standards.
“What I am trying to develop is a career path where a person can make the best out of themselves,” Isbister said.
GenMet also worked with Milwaukee Area Technical College to create a welding program at the college’s Mequon campus.
Isbister and others in manufacturing are worried about a wave of retirements that’s coming soon in the skilled trades.
He said one of his shop floor employees, Jim Giordano, received his journeyman credentials about 25 years ago and now mentors other employees.
“If we get a tricky job, usually Jim Giordano does it. Our estimating and sales department relies on him heavily. I am never going to let him retire,” Isbister said.