With the help of Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium, Air Way Automation received $2,320 in Going PRO Talent Fund to train 3 existing employees. Training included MasterCam Multi Axis and MasterCam 3D & 2D training. With staff trained in these areas, Air Way is in a better position to meet customer needs and it allows them to backfill positions, as senior employees move on to retirement.
“The Going PRO Grant awarded to our company helped Air Way to provide educational opportunities for a number of our employees,” states Jackie Toms, HR Manager with Air Way Automation. “These training classes allowed employees in Engineering and Machining to increase their knowledge for both job enhancement and promotion. We are then able to apply upgraded technological capabilities to our processes and the products we produce for customers worldwide. It’s a win-win for the company and for our employees.”
Jackie continues, “Many of our customers have additional applications they would like us to provide, but we are unable to satisfy those requests because we don't currently have those capabilities in-house. Training in those applications will allow Air Way to expand our business, and employees will gain skills in new technology.”
“Our CNC machinists are not just operators, but have become very skilled programmers. As Air Way has tried to fill new positions from the outside, we've had many candidates who could not meet these skills. If Air Way is to continue to grow, we need to provide training to bring new employees up to the level of our current machinists.”