Workforce Education is Never Finished

The topic of workforce is one that is often looked to as one of the biggest problem areas in our industry. Almost every finishing shop you talk to faces the challenge of finding and retaining skilled operators. Rehashing these struggles can often sound a bit like a broken record — so rather than restating some of the challenges we face, let's take look at some of the great workforce development work that's being done in the industry today. 

Although progress might seem slow and the skilled worker shortage problem has yet to be solved, it is comforting to know that there are key players working behind the scenes to make surface finishing training readily available at little to no cost for experienced finishers and newbies alike. There are even initiatives dedicated to attracting youth and the unemployed population to the finishing industry. It is critical for the public to know that our workforce can be a rewarding career option with many benefits.

Products Finishing checked in with some of the top finishing organizations and associations to discover the latest initiatives in training that the industry is offering this year. The list includes online training, summer camps, electroplating curriculum, programs for women, and more.

CCAI offers online training, safety classes, summer camps

Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI), a professional organization that provides information and training on surface coating technologies, has a Finishing Education Foundation (FEF) that supports and creates programs to train industry professionals at any experience level. Among the latest training tools for both CCAI members and non-members available include new online training courses (in addition to the existing online courses that cover powder coating and liquid coating), Industrial Finishing Safety Seminars as well as finishing camps for middle school and high school students.

The new online courses include curriculum in pretreatment and system design. The Pretreatment course covers surface cleaning and conversion coating methods and technology used in finishing operations. The course also provides information on process issues that affect the cleaning and pretreatment process.

Covering the most common types of industrial finishing processes including powder coat, liquid, autodeposition and electrodeposition, the System Design online course includes the basics of designing a new system, determining the best coating process based on the substrate, volume, size and performance requirements. Students of the course will gain the knowledge to support an existing finishing operation and make recommendations for process improvements. The class includes a copy of CCAI’s “System Design for Industrial Finishing Applications (Sixth Edition)” training manual and an industry expert as the instructor.

“Online classes are a great way for companies to offer training to their employees so they can participate at their own convenience,” says Sheila LaMothe, V.P. of strategic initiatives for CCAI. “There are quizzes, assignments and a final project that must be completed within a certain amount of time. They have the flexibility to do the classes from their office or at home, whatever fits best with their schedule. And they also can interact with the instructor.”

Member and non-member registration fees are required, and group discounts are available. LaMothe recommends registering on the association’s website soon because the online courses are popular and can fill up quickly.  

The CCAI Industrial Finishing Safety Seminar, which is held annually every spring, is a day-and-a-half program that focuses on safety specific to finishing operations. The seminar includes guest speakers that explain safety issues that occurred in their own facilities, how the events impacted them and what they’ve done to rectify the problems. The first seminar, held in April 2024 at Graco’s Dayton French Lake Training Center in Minnesota, focused on NFPA 33, the standard for spray application using flammable or combustible materials.

Finishing Camps are another new initiative presented by CCAI FEF. Designed to attract middle school and high school students, the camps are part of the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation’s Summer Manufacturing Camp Program. The series of summer camps that introduce young people to the finishing industry by using hands-on learning are held primarily at universities and technical colleges.

The week-long camp features speakers who discuss different aspects of finishing and possible career paths, as well as a manufacturing plant tour that shows a finishing process. LaMothe adds that many camp locations do not have finishing equipment on-site, so the camp relies on videos, experiments and hands-on opportunities during the plant tours that help students understand the coating process.

“One experiment involves a plastic spoon, which the students rub on their pants, and then they hold it over a pile of black pepper,” LaMothe explains. “The pepper attaches to it, so this kind of gives them an idea of how powder coating works.”

With the help of a grant from PPG, the CCAI FEF is expanding the program from 2023’s four camps to seven camps this year. The grant enables the program to increase its geographic reach and number of camps over a two-year period.

This year, the finishing camps are offered at State College of Florida (Bradenton campus), Mississippi State University (2 camps), Triton College (Chicago area), DeWys Metal Solutions (Marne, MI), Madison Area Technical College (Ft. Atkinson, WI campus).

Besides providing opportunities to welcome the next generation to the industry, CCAI is diversifying by starting a Spanish language chapter, which is virtual and open to anyone who speaks Spanish. LaMothe says the initial steps began at Fabtech Mexico last year, and the chapter is popular.

“There were three webinars in Spanish that took place prior to the 2024 show,” LaMothe says. “We’ve had an overwhelming response, and not just from Mexico, but Columbia, Spain, and other Spanish speaking countries.”

For more information on these educational events and to register, visit ccaiweb.com.

Women in Finishing scholarships 

Women in Finishing (WiF), a group within CCAI, provides women in this industry the availability of a scholarship. Established to honor the memory of one of the group’s first members, the Elizabeth Teska WiF Forum Scholarship Program enables more women to participate in the annual professional development conference created specifically for women in the finishing industry, by covering registration fees and accommodation costs for selected applicants. The Teska scholarship benefits from annual support from BASF|Chemetall along with other donations. Recipients are selected by the CCAI FEF board of directors, which awarded two scholarships the first couple years and then three last year, according to LaMothe. This year, however, because of additional funding, the foundation awarded seven scholarships.

Visit Women in Finishing’s website at womeninfinishing.org for more information.

Simplifying curriculum to attract new workers

Targeted to the unemployed and underemployed looking for a career in metal finishing, the METAL (Master Electroplating Through Applied Learning) program is a metal surface finishing curriculum promoting metal finishing as a viable, long-term career. The curriculum, which is in the developmental stages, will be practical and straightforward, offering real life hands-on applied learning of finishing methods. The program will teach the basics of metal finishing which include the four main aspects of finishing including cleaning, deburring and electroplating with a brief understanding of heat treating. Learning will be both classroom, online and hands-on that will include the basics of safety, quality and lean.

“There will be career opportunities discussed that could lead to advanced positions in sales, estimating, production, quality, engineering, waste treatment and analytical lab,” says George A. LaCapra Jr., president, UniMetal Surface Finishing LLC. “This class will be entry level and teach the basics — simple and straightforward.”

The consortium of metal finishers group, called METAL (also the name of the program), is funded by the Regional Sector Partnership (RSP). The RSP is a federally funded industry-driven initiative being administered under the auspice of the Northwest Regional Workforce Board (NRWIB) which covers roughly 41 towns in Northwest Connecticut. Participation includes hiring at least two students per year who graduate from the program. Eventually, the goal is to make the curriculum a part of the high school experience in Connecticut.

“It was important for us to create this now,” LaCapra explains. “The market needs skilled workers, and people are looking for ways to grow in their careers. The skills offered through this class are highly transferrable.”

The program, which is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2024 at the Manufacturing Alliance Service Corporation center in Waterbury, Connecticut, will teach theory (need, opportunity and finishing’s key role in the future), science (the fundamentals behind the art of transforming metals) and applied learning (skills for applying finishes and launching a career in the industry).

“Metal finishing is currently not taught in the school system, so there is no viable career path or trade that this industry follows, making it very difficult to attract quality workers,” LaCapra says. “This program will hopefully bring awareness to the industry and the opportunities in the metal finishing field.”

For more information about this initiative, visit nrwib.org/news/gang-rivals-come-together-educate-next-generation.

Paint Line University

For companies or individuals looking for quick surface pretreatment training videos that can be hand-picked, with no strings attached, Paint Line University, powered by Circle-Prosco (CPI), could be the answer. The company’s Solution Squad, comprised of experts in the pretreatment field, has created online curriculum designed for engineers who are new to pretreatment as well as more seasoned professionals who could benefit from practical guidance on troubleshooting issues.

The program features video series of approximately six videos, each about 10-minutes long. Topics include pretreatment chemistry, rinsing, sustainability and cost-saving hacks, all delivered through a modern, app-like, mobile-friendly user interface that is designed to engage all generations, especially young talent.

Users of this free of cost portal have the benefit of participating in a broader pretreatment community where they can ask questions, share experiences and connect with colleagues, if they choose. There is also “Office Hours” where a Teams call is available for anyone to ask questions to the Solution Squad.

“One member told me in Office Hours that he became the subject matter expert of his paint department by watching these videos,” says Morgan Fraga, director of customer service and solutions at Circle-Prosco, and a member of the Solution Squad.

For large companies who use the portal, it can be gated for only those employees, Fraga explains. So, a corporate paint center could see a question posted that can also be seen by the Solution Squad; therefore, everybody can jump in and help at the same time, she says.

Visit circleprosco.com/paintlineuniversity to join the community of 70-plus members.

The National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF) is another source for education in the industry. It provides web-based courses, classroom courses and home-study courses that cover the basics of metal finishing as well as the latest developments in every specialty within the field. Find more information on its website at nasf.org/education/.

To find an ongoing list of educational webinars and events from many different sources within the industry, visit PF’s website at pfonline.com/webinars and pfonline.com/events.