By Liz Stevens, writer, The American Mold Builder

Workforce recruiting is a perennial task for mold builders, and stark numbers back up the claim. For just one category of jobs – machinists and tool and die makers – more than 1/4 million job openings are estimated over the next eight years. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Overall employment of machinists and tool and die makers is projected to decline 2% from 2024 to 2034. Despite declining employment, about 34,200 openings for machinists and tool and die makers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.” 1 Knowing this, mold builders like Dynamic Tool take workforce recruiting as seriously as any other aspect of its business, approaching it strategically to address the workforce gap.
 
Dynamic Tool Corporation, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, builds high-productivity injection molds for medical, packaging, personal care and industrial applications, supporting all phases of plastics injection mold builds. Its expertise stems from its industry-specific workforce, including engineers, designers, programmers, toolmakers, machinists, quality control specialists and mold maintenance specialists. In an industry that continually faces recruiting challenges, Dynamic has used apprenticeships to meet its recruitment needs since 2020, when it formally organized an apprenticeship program. John Berg, Dynamic’s director of marketing, shared insight with The American Mold Builder about the company’s program.
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“Workforce development has long been a foundation and focus of Dynamic,” Berg said. “The offshoring mindset of the early 2000s dealt a near-fatal blow to interest in manufacturing careers in southeast Wisconsin. The stories of lay-offs and plant closures had our home market convinced that we couldn’t competitively make products here anymore.” As a result, enrollment in trades education dropped significantly. “Where there once was a waiting list to enroll in the tool and die program in our region’s technical colleges, there now were more empty seats than full ones,” Berg said. “This led to the big age gap in tool shops and machine shops. There was a good base of 50-to-65-plus-year-old workers, very few in their mid-30s to 40s, and a small number in their 20s to 30s.”

Growing a Workforce
For Dynamic, the first step was recognizing that a mold builder cannot successfully grow the shop’s innovative capabilities without new talent and ideas. With veteran toolmakers retiring at that time, Dynamic didn’t want to grow its business at the expense of other shops by soliciting their talent. “While our culture, growth and performance reputation has attracted local toolmakers as new team members, we focused on growing our own,” said Berg, “by seeking candidates while they were in high school and even late grade school.”

The apprenticeship concept was not new to the company, as Dynamic has been a strong proponent of apprenticeships from its earliest days. “Several of our company’s senior toolmakers, project managers and company leaders served their apprenticeships at Dynamic decades ago,” Berg said. But a more concentrated and consistent approach to apprenticeships began in 2020, when Steve Eberle, Dynamic’s president, became majority owner. “Steve recognized the challenge our industry faces with the shortage of toolmakers, machinists and designers,” Berg said. “He created a team to manage the monitoring, engagement, growth and potential of every apprentice
and intern.”

Wisconsin’s Apprenticeship Program 
The state of Wisconsin supports its manufacturers with an apprenticeship program. Dynamic’s office manager, Tracy Rhyner, is the apprenticeship liaison and makes certain that the company’s program is compliant with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. “The state’s apprenticeship program is extensive; it covers nine different classifications/career applications,” Rhyner said. “Wisconsin tool shops and machine shops are in the industrial and manufacturing registered apprenticeship category, which has 21 areas of focus. Our apprentices generally fall under the tool and die or machinist programs. We also have developed our own apprenticeship program for mold design, which is not affiliated with the state.”

Scott Matenaer, Dynamic’s chief development manager, is a mentor and one of the company’s apprentice program leaders. He described the value of the Wisconsin apprenticeship program. “The team and system behind the state’s program have a long history of success,” he said. “The program continues to grow and improve; it has a solid online presence explaining the options available, and it provides support and guidance needed by the student and the employer.”

The Team Behind Dynamic’s Apprenticeship Program
Dynamic Tool built its apprenticeship program with a firm understanding of the requirements for success and sustainability. In Wisconsin, a company’s main responsibility as an apprenticeship sponsor is to provide on-the-job training to an apprentice under the supervision of skilled workers. For the moldmaker apprenticeship, the specified 10,400 hours of learning activity requires thousands of hours of support from a shop’s mentoring and administrative side. At Dynamic, several people dedicate time to apprentice-related activities every day.

Michael Welnak, mold manager at Dynamic, is the lead apprentice program manager, ensuring that each apprentice receives the needed support. “Dynamic chooses mentors based on their desire for the role and their ability to communicate and teach,” Welnak said. “We have program mentors with a general perspective, and we have process mentors to teach the details of particular operations, like hard-cutting, graphite machining and sinker and wire EDM.”
 
Matenaer described aspects of an apprenticeship. “Using a tool and die apprenticeship as an example,” he said, “we have a seven-phase, 10,400-hour program. In the first 1,000 hours, an apprentice learns about and manufactures gibs, wear plates and simple mold components. During this period, an apprentice begins reading prints and learning basic CAD functions.” The next 1,000 hours challenge an apprentice to perform simple core and cavity preparation tasks, as well as post-heat-treat grinding and squaring. “This increases apprentices’ CAD skills, and they then will start working on job timelines,” Matenaer said. “The responsibilities, as well as the depth and breadth of the studies, increase with every phase of the program. An apprentice meets regularly with the management team and department mentors for feedback on progress and support.” Currently, Dynamic has two apprentices, two interns preparing for apprenticeship and four interns who are attending school. One Dynamic apprentice earned his journeyman certificate this summer, and four others became journeymen in the last year.

Matchmaking: Dynamic Tool + Apprentice
It takes a good judge of character to choose a candidate who will make a good apprentice. While Dynamic’s involvement in workforce-cultivating activities – school tour events, open houses and participation at school recruiting fairs – yields potential apprenticeship candidates, Matenaer said that the initial interview is a critical step. “Before Dynamic considers any prior experience or exposure to machining, we look for certain attributes,” he said. “We seek candidates with an innate interest and understanding of mechanical properties and actions of engineering. Are they good at math? Do their hobbies (e.g, cars, cycles, ATVs, boats) involve maintenance activities? Did they grow up in an agricultural environment, regularly repairing and maintaining equipment? Do they have a passion to devise engineered solutions?”

Matenaer described Dynamic’s aim with an apprenticeship. “Our goal is to monitor, support and provide opportunities to interns or apprentices to become their best at whichever focus resonates with them,” he said. “During the five-year tool and die program, apprentices gain experience in project planning, materials procurement, team collaboration, machining process phases, mold assembly and component documentation. By the end of the apprenticeships, they become accountable, responsible members of our mold building teams.”
 
Making It Happen
John Berg shared best practices for recruiting and apprenticeships. “The key is to have members of the company’s team involved with recruiting, engagement and execution,” he said. “Recruiting includes defining the shop’s role requirements and the attributes of the team members being sought.” Company introspection also is needed, including these suggested topics: Is the company recruiting from another company or a shop in its area? Is a company willing and able to grow its own new talent? Are there high schools and technical colleges in the area with strong trades curricula? “Next comes communicating with the target audience,” said Berg, “such as engaging with the local educational resources and educating them about career opportunities in mold building. Also, participating in school career fairs and hosting career fairs at the shop and introducing the company to the community – to students and to parents, too.”
 
What’s Possible: Apprentice to President
Dynamic Tool’s President Steve Eberle began his career at the company as an apprentice. He credits the apprenticeship for the mold building knowledge that equipped him to succeed and eventually take the helm at Dynamic. Eberle offered advice to mold builders on the search for talent. “Toolmakers are retiring at a higher rate than people entering the moldmaking trade,” he said. “Unfortunately, most school systems don’t understand the thermoplastics industry – so they don’t encourage students to consider our industry as a solid career path. We need to educate school leaders and show off our industry’s opportunities.”

Eberle underscored that moldmaking and mold design are great career choices. “There are opportunities to learn and advance throughout a worker’s entire career, including gaining in-depth technical knowledge and sophisticated skills. The opportunities in mold building include learning to operate an array of equipment and IT tools, and gaining understanding of many principles.” To wit:

• Operate advanced machining practices and processes on state-of-the-art equipment
• Learn effective, efficient manufacturing principles and procedures
• Learn how to develop and execute detailed schedules
• Master multiple mold building technologies and techniques
• Make use of multiple CAD/CAM systems
• Understand the characteristics of thermoplastic resins and their applications
• Practice Engineering for Productivity and Design for Manufacturing
• Become proficient in mold sampling and testing
• Apply metrology at the highest level for steel and plastic parts

Eberle stressed that Dynamic has made the commitment and allocated the resources to hire its next generation of ‘makers.’ “We need all companies servicing our industry to invest in the future of thermoplastics in America – to promote, educate and train,” he said. “We at Dynamic are passionate about providing opportunities and support for the next generation of moldmakers, designers, programmers and machinists.”

Dynamic Tool demonstrates how mold building companies can approach apprenticeships strategically, implement successful programs and make an investment that pays dividends for years to come.

More information: www.Dyntool.com

References
“Machinists and Tool and Die Makers,” Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/machinists-and-tool-and-die-makers.htm