The year 2017 is coming to a close and manufacturing executives are looking toward the possibilities of the year to come. We recently spoke with senior vice president of operations of The Raymond Corporation, Rick Harrington, on manufacturing workforce development and how companies can rise to the challenge.

IMPO: What are the biggest challenges manufacturing companies face today regarding their workforce?

Rick Harrington: There are two big challenges facing today’s manufacturing companies: lack of new employee’s basic manufacturing skills and the desire for flexible work environments.

More and more, new employees who are starting manufacturing jobs are lacking basic mechanical skills. These skills range from the ability to use a torque wrench to how to use measuring devices. In the past, these types of skills were much more prevalent in the manufacturing workforce. Today, however, developing these skills is just not part of everyday life anymore.

Read the entire article in IMPO.com here.