5 Events Your Company Can Organize for National Manufacturing Day Written by Lindsay Gilder on 9/18/2024.

On Friday, October 4, industry will celebrate Manufacturing Day. The first official Manufacturing Day was held in 2012, and its popularity has grown every year since then. The event serves as a great opportunity to educate youth and future members of the workforce about all the opportunities available in industry and STEAM.

As a result of the decade-old holiday, the public perception of careers in manufacturing has changed dramatically. Students who attended Manufacturing Day events in the past are reportedly 81% more motivated to pursue careers in the field, which is a huge step toward closing the skills gap in the industry.

If you’re unsure of the best way to showcase your company for Manufacturing Day 2024, here are some ways to spread the word around your community.

1. Host a Tour of Your Manufacturing Facility

What better way to help students understand the exciting world of manufacturing than with a tour of a local facility? A tour is a great way to get students, parents, and educators involved in manufacturing by allowing them to see exactly what a day on the job is like and offering students a chance to get out of the classroom and learn in a unique setting.

If your facility is planning to host a tour, remember to tell attendees about required safety protocols before entering your facility so they wear appropriate clothing and closed-toed shoes. When they arrive, provide them with any necessary safety equipment like hard hats or safety goggles.

Basic safety equipment can also make great gifts for attendees; swag helps them remember the time they spent at your facility, and matching gear can make for a great group photo opportunity to showcase on your company’s social media profiles or blog.

2. Plan a School Event to Teach Students About Manufacturing

If students can’t take a tour of your facility in person, bring the facility to them!

Working independently or collaborating with other local manufacturing businesses, your company can partner with local schools to teach students about the value of manufacturing and industry. Use the event as an opportunity to showcase the different career paths and opportunities available for students looking to pursue a future in manufacturing.

A school event can also expose educators to the potential in this field and encourage them to integrate it into their future lesson plans and hands-on learning projects. Bring examples of past projects, materials, and tools used in your facility or anything students can hold or interact with to better grasp what your company manufactures.

Finally, designing and distributing pamphlets or flyers helps attendees remember your company’s name and contact information, which is especially helpful if you’re meeting with older students interested in pursuing open roles or apprenticeships at your facility.

3. Organize a Manufacturing Jobs Fair or Career Fair

Job fairs cater to students interested in pursuing an industrial career. They bring a number of local companies together to showcase their employment opportunities to students about to graduate. By offering students a chance to speak to current employees about their experiences, better understand the skill sets industrial roles require, and network with local businesses, job fairs are a great way to showcase the manufacturing industry and support local student success.

Similarly, career fairs offer students an opportunity to learn about roles in the manufacturing industry but specifically cater to those still early in their career planning process. For students still in middle or high school and not yet formally preparing for life after graduation, a career fair gives them a chance to learn more about the industry and determine if a manufacturing career might be the right option for them. The event focuses more on education than networking or job placement.

If your team includes millennials or other employees still in the early stages of their careers, encourage them to attend the job or career fair! Students often connect more easily with young professionals closer to their age, which makes students more comfortable asking questions about how they knew manufacturing was the right career path for them and what steps they took before graduation to secure a job.

4. Plan an Alumni Day Spotlighting Manufacturing Careers

One of the easiest ways to teach students about career opportunities in manufacturing is to have them hear from former students who previously attended the same school and now work in the industry.

Familiar faces are a great way to introduce a new career path, especially if the alumni truly enjoy working in their chosen field. Seeing young professionals, especially those with whom students have a connection, makes the industry and the people working in it more approachable for questions, corrects misconceptions, and helps students see a realistic career progression for someone their age who has already successfully entered the workforce.

A manufacturing-focused Alumni Day also supports networking, fosters mentorships, and opens the door for shadowing opportunities for students looking to dip their toes into manufacturing to see if it’s a good fit for them.

5. Create an Interactive, Kid-Friendly App or Game

The Manufacturing Institute created a free Smart MFG app that allows anyone to be a creator using augmented reality (AR). On the app, users can design and manufacture a drone and "place” the drone in their current location, tilting the phone to see it move.

A few years ago, Rockwell Automation and PTC teamed up to create a smart manufacturing comic book app to introduce kids to the modern world of manufacturing. The free app combines a comic book-style design with augmented reality to give kids the feeling they’re inside a manufacturing plant solving real challenges in IIoT and additive manufacturing. The premise of the app is that superheroes are trying to build a drone, and app users need help performing repairs, making product design decisions, and retooling the factory.

This new approach is a great way to introduce young kids to the world of manufacturing by communicating with them in a language they already understand: apps and digital gaming.

You can discover other MFG Day events around the U.S. here.