The Manufacturers’ Association

The Manufacturers’ Association is on a mission to ensure that our region’s manufacturing sector not only survives but rebounds stronger than ever! We exist to ensure that critical knowledge is preserved, expanded, and shared with the manufacturing professionals of tomorrow. Founded in 1906, we are the voice of the industry for hundreds of member & non-member organizations in southcentral PA & northern MD. We support manufacturers with the knowledge they need to operate, hire & train smarter!

  • Membership Based Organization
  • Networking and Business Development
  • Training and Education Courses
  • Advocacy for Manufacturing Issues
  • Insurance Programs
  • Youth Education Programs

Manufacturing in Southcentral PA

  • $13 billion annual economic impact
  • 18% of employment
  • Over 115,000 employees
  • Average Annual Wage: $57,460 (not including benefits)
  • 2,400 manufacturing establishments

Manufacturing Trends & Challenges

Technology/Automation

  • The digital and physical worlds are converging within manufacturing
    • Internet connected industrial machinery will add $10 trillion to the global GDP in the next 20 years – General Electric
  • The path to manufacturing competitiveness is through advanced technologies
    • predictive analytics
    • the Internet-of-Things: like smart products and smart factories
    • Automation and Robotics
    • new and advanced materials and processes like 3D Printing

Talent, Talent, Talent

  • Manufacturing jobs typically provide excellent benefits packages bring total compensation above $75,000 /yr.
  • Continued capital investment and productivity improvements can support continued average compensation growth over next decade.
  • These same changes require increased technical skills among our advanced manufacturing workforce.
  • Talent remains number one on Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index – as “the most critical driver of global manufacturing competitiveness”

Talent (or lack of…) 

Hard to find skilled trades. Can’t get enough employees which     leads to lots of overtime.”

  • Two million positions in the US manufacturing industry will likely go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers over the next decade
  • Manufacturers Association:
    • 60% of manufacturers surveyed in SC PA will be increasing employment in the next year,
    • 43% of the respondents have experience difficulty in hiring

When retirements are considered, the number of new and replacement workers needed state wide increases to 10,856 jobs for machining related occupations, and 24,293 for maintenance related occupations in the next 10 years

Mfgs’ Association: Apprenticeship Consortia

  • Registered Apprenticeships:
    • Unique, flexible training system that combines job-related technical instruction with structured on-the-job learning experiences
    • Opportunity for employers to build a qualified workforce to fit the needs of the individual company.
  • On May 25,2017, the MASCPA was approved by the state of Pennsylvania as a State Non-Joint Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor.
  • Approved for Machinist and Tool & Die Maker trades
  • Pending additional trades:
    • Maintenance Mechanic and
    • Maintenance Technician.
  • Future Trades:
    • Quality Technical
    • Industrial Maintenance/Mechatronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT -2 year*)
    • Automation/Robotics

Pre-Apprenticeship Program:

  • Online training modules – Certified Production Technician credential from Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC)
  • Pathway to Industrial Manufacturing Technician 2 year apprenticeship

*  Industrial Manufacturing Technician

The IMT is a nationally recognized apprenticeship registered with the U.S. Department of Labor that trains front-line manufacturing production workers in skills manufacturers look for—in settings as diverse as food processing, foundries, plastics and bio-medical production.

WHAT IS THE IMT?   The IMT hybrid registered apprenticeship provides production workers with the knowledge and competencies needed in the advanced manufacturing environment.  The 18-month or 3,000-hour apprenticeship trains workers to:

  • Set up, operate, monitor, and control production equipment;
  • Help improve manufacturing processes and schedules to meet
    customer requirements;
  • Understand manufacturing as a business system that integrates
    multiple disciplines, processes, and stakeholders;
  • Efficiently and safely manage time and materials.