A Remarkable Parallel Course

When manufacturers need CNC machine operators, they want employees who are well trained and can be productive quickly. They often find these qualities in recent graduates from CNC machining programs that offer “real-world” instruction that strives to emulate workplace conditions. These programs produce graduates who are better prepared for a job, and require less time to get “up-to-speed.” Few college CNC labs, however, can faithfully parallel the job conditions found in a real manufacturing environment.

To more closely match the working atmosphere of a commercial job shop, the Precision Metals program at Northern Maine Community College (NMCC, Presque Isle, ME) takes CNC training a step further. Rather than using the typical student machining projects common to most technical schools, the NMCC program instructs students using real jobs making real parts for real customers. The jobs are non-revenue-generating, and the school takes scrupulous care to avoid competition with commercial shops.

“The goal is to develop the student’s skill-set to closely parallel what industry is looking for,” explains Dean Duplessis, NMCC’s Precision Metals instructor. “Many career technical education programs seem to miss the point with ‘canned’ machining projects. I’m not trying to take away from the value they bring, but in this instance, it is not just about making chips, or the project; it’s about the whole experience. We emulate the full, real-world production environment.”

That training begins with first-rate instruction. Duplessis has an impressive background, with 10 years as an instructor at NMCC, extensive experience as a manufacturing engineer and designer, and a stint on the Northern Maine Development Commission. NMCC is also a Haas Technical Education Center (HTEC), so the Precision Metals students get up-to-date CNC training on high-tech Haas CNC machine tools, as well as support with educational materials from the HTEC worldwide network.

At the heart of NMCC’s program are two Haas CNC Mini Mill vertical machining centers, a Haas SL-10 CNC turning center, and a Haas ST-20SS CNC turning center. “The Haas machines are great,” Duplessis reports. “They are very reliable and accurate, and the control is terrific. All the functions are there, and it is well thought-out and logical, so it is simple and easy to use. The Haas machines are great for instruction and production.

“The first-year students learn the fundamentals on manual machines in labs,” Duplessis continues. “They transition to the Haas CNC machines in the second year. Everything students do in the second year is what we call ‘live.’ They work on real products, holding to real schedules, and facing the real challenges of manufacturing. Of course, students do the actual machining, but they also participate in discussions about economy of resources, materials, and making or reusing fixtures – everything facing a real shop.

“Students plan jobs using best practices learned from previous jobs,” Duplessis adds. “They learn the importance of documentation and procedures. But even more than that, students are involved when we look at a job, take on the job, purchase the raw materials, buy the tooling, program the machines, run the part, perform the final first-article inspection, and ship the item.

“There are many instructional opportunities in this environment,” he explains. “For example, we have discussions about better workholding: Do we use this old tooling again, or make better tooling for this repeat job? Maybe we should think about dedicated tooling: eliminate an edge-break procedure and build everything into a form tool. We learn from previous classes, and improve processes from one year to the next, so documentation is critical for optimization. These are issues that confront job shops every day. Our program offers students, within reason, the experience of the entire manufacturing process.”

But what do manufacturers think about the program? “Local manufacturers and other shops in Maine give us strong support, because of our whole-process, non-revenue-generating, non-competitive approach,” says Duplessis. “We take jobs like making unique tooling that a company would normally do in-house, very small runs of a commercial product, or a component that would usually be purchased from overseas.

“We are not a business threat, so we have a number of manufacturers who donate to the program,” Duplessis adds. “In most instances, their contribution to this work is raw materials, shipping, dedicated tooling, coating, or outside services. They are supportive of what we are doing, because our goal is to provide an education: a skill-set parallel to industry needs. NMCC is providing the type of operators that manufacturers will eventually use in their own shops. They have input into our program, and to a large degree, the practical skills required by these stakeholders drive the curriculum.”

“I have been very impressed by the experience I’ve had with the Northern Main Community College’s live project program,” reports Dieselgeek, Inc.’s Jim Royston. “As a small business owner, I need my machined parts to be exactly right, with on-time delivery, and that is what I have received. I get a ‘warm fuzzy’ that I’m helping the next generation of machinists.”

John Harper of Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, LLC, agrees. “It is always refreshing to know that we have been able to kill two birds with one stone,” he says. “Coby Smith from HFO Trident informed us about the program at NMCC, and we have been able to get quality parts, fast service, and also peace of mind, knowing that we are helping students get real-world experience. We have been very satisfied with the attention to detail that Dean and his program have paid to the small runs of parts we have asked for.”

“The difference here is that instead of making a canned product, like a dead-blow hammer or a set of vise jaws,” Duplessis points out, “students make something that someone is actually going to use. We put this live work – these real jobs – in the hands of the students, and they experience all the problem-solving that goes into making a product for market. At the end of the day, they may login to a customer website and say: ‘Wow! I made that part,’ or, ‘I made the fixture that secured those parts.’ That gives a sense of pride, of craftsmanship, and that’s part of the trade.”