Training Topics Include:

• General Electrical Safety Information
• General Electrical Safe Work Practices
• Common Hazards
• Permitted and Non-permitted Uses
• Arc Flash
• Energy Control Procedures (ECPs) & Lockout/Tag-out (LOTO)

This NO COST training is available to workers and employers covered under the OSH Act of 1970, SEC. 4, codified at 29 U.S.C. 653 (Appendix B). This also includes multiple small businesses and temporarily unemployed workers who are planning to reenter the workforce in a position covered by the OSHA Act within the next three months. Unemployed and high school and college students within 3 months of employment are also eligible for this training.

The trainer is a CHCM, DSM, CHST, OSHA Consultation Program Consultant and has been the trainer for over 100 OSHA 10- & 30-Hour training programs.

To schedule Electrical Safety Training at YOUR location or to be added to the list to receive information on open enrollment classes, please contact Lauri Moon at (570) 329-3200 or by email at laurim@imcpa.com.  Visit IMC’s Events page for all scheduled open enrollment opportunities.

This four-hour program honors the late Susan Harwood, former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment, who died in 1996. During her 17-year OSHA career, she helped develop federal standards to protect workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

The training material was produced under grant number SH-39128-SH2 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

IMC Business Advisor Rick Terry used the Lego Airplane Simulation Factory to introduce students to manufacturing flow and key concepts during the 2024 Remake Learning Days STEM to the Skies program on May 14 and 16. Now in its third year, this northeastern Pennsylvania initiative offers hands-on learning experiences for youth, families, and educators to explore creative and fun ways of learning. In addition to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the program emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration.

Manufacturing in Focus Magazine May 2024

IMC is excited to share our inclusion in the May issue of Manufacturing in Focus Magazine along with Central PA manufacturers Curry Fluid Power, Chicago Rivet & Machine Co. and Architectural Precast Innovations.

To discuss how IMC can partner with your Central PA manufacturing company, give us a call at 800-326-9467.

Manufacturing in Focus Magazine May 2024

IMC is proud to announce online voting for the 4^th year of the Central Susquehanna “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) student video contest. Voting will commence Tuesday, March 26, 12:01AM, and remain open until Thursday, March 28, 11:59PM, on the Central Susquehanna contest page at https://www.whatssocool.org/. The winner will be announced during an awards event to be held April 16^th.

Central PA school districts participating in this year’s video contest include Bloomsburg, Central Columbia, Huntingdon, Mount Carmel, Southern Columbia and Williamsport. These school districts videos will highlight these “cool” manufacturers in Central PA: Bloomsburg Carpet, GAF, Gardners Candies, Great Dane, Press Enterprise and West Pharmaceutical Services.

Student videos compete for the most votes to win the coveted “Viewers’ Choice Award.” The videos will also be reviewed by a panel of judges for awards in three other categories, including Outstanding Overall Program, Outstanding Team Spirit and Outstanding Brand Placement.

“We are excited to see our school districts and communities participate and support the hard work the students, teachers and manufacturers have put into this program,” said Lauri Moon, Co-Manager of the Central Susquehanna WSCM regional contest. “Online voting affords everyone the opportunity to participate and see the videos while further spreading the message about cool career opportunities in Central Pennsylvania manufacturing.

The WSCM program was created to generate excitement that draws students toward STEM education opportunities and to consider manufacturing career paths as they engage with local manufacturers, recording and presenting their experiences in an educational and “cool” way through documentary video production.

WSCM Central Susquehanna will choose two videos to represent the region in the Annual Statewide “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Awards May 15^th in Harrisburg.

According to data voluntarily provided by 575 small and mid-sized manufacturing firms across Pennsylvania throughout 2023, the statewide Industrial Resource Center (IRC) initiative, the Commonwealth’s flagship program for strengthening the competitiveness and resiliency of smaller industrial firms, generated significant positive results among users of their services. Over the past 12 months, manufacturers that utilized IRC professional services avoided 7,197 layoffs while adding 1,462 full-time workers to their rosters. They also realized $796.8 million in retained sales and secured $256.4 million of new customer orders as results of their IRC advisement and engagements.

In addition to growing their workforces and increasing their top-line revenue numbers, companies that performed consultative projects with their regional IRC reduced their non-personnel operating costs by $187.1 million over the past 12 months, avoided $36 million of unnecessary expenditures, and invested more than $376.8 million in new equipment, facility expansion, advanced technologies and workforce training.

Pennsylvania’s IRC initiative consists of seven affiliates across the Commonwealth including the IMC.

The revenue, cost savings, regional investment and job impacts reported by 575 IRC clients was gathered by an independent market research firm and confirmed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Click here to View the IRC Network 2023 Client Engagement Impact

The Innovative Manufacturers’ Center (IMC), Inc. is thrilled to announce its recent recognition by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a SHRM Recertification General Provider. IMC is now authorized to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

As a SHRM Recertification General Provider, IMC’s SHRM approved training programs will qualify for SHRM Professional Development Credits. These credits are specifically designed to enhance HR knowledge and competency in alignment with the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge™ (the SHRM BASK™).

Dennis Gilbert, President of IMC, expressed his enthusiasm about this recognition, stating, “IMC is excited that our approved training programs and events will be able to provide SHRM Professional Development Credits to our manufacturing clients. Small and mid-sized businesses, including manufacturing, face a special challenge in attracting, selecting, onboarding, engaging, and retaining workers today, and IMC continues to add programs and services to assist our clients in addressing these concerns, including our 5 Module webinar series, ‘Meeting the HR Challenge.'”

About SHRM: The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a leading professional organization dedicated to advancing the practice of human resource management. SHRM provides resources, tools, and networking opportunities to HR professionals globally, aiming to elevate the HR profession and contribute to organizational success.

Rockland Manufacturing Co., located in Bedford, PA with approximately 250 employees, is a medium-sized manufacturer of bulldozer blades, loader buckets, beach cleaning equipment, and land clearing equipment. Rockland primarily serves the crushing, aggregate, and log loading markets.

Rockland was beginning to implement a major change to their long-established production methods. In fact, the current flow had been in place for well over 30 years. The major change was to create a combined production method/department from two formally standalone functions. The change required changes in supervision, ERP tracking, production planning and scheduling, and manufacturing engineering processes.

The change is driven by the need to improve efficiencies, specifically by reducing the amount of handling and transportation of certain products. By combining production functions for several of their product lines, both assembly and finish welding functions will be accomplished at the same workstation. Formally, a product would be assembled at one location in the plant, then transported by overhead crane to be staged at the second location until that department had capacity to work on it.

Rockland had already conducted experiments to prove that the change to the production flow would be successful in improving efficiencies, but since the change had far reaching affects throughout most departments within the entire company, management felt that specific training of key stakeholders was needed to help build unified momentum for implementation.

Change Management training sessions were conducted to train key personnel in the need for change, and how to manage it in their workplace. The training also focused on how to anticipate the implications of change, how to monitor and adapt to change, how to communicate through it, and how to keep changing and improving. The goal was to prepare the workforce through education and interactive exercises to help them be more comfortable with the new changes to their workflow, break down potential barriers to implementing change by improving communication, and really focus on the importance of positive changes in production.

Management reported that the training was successful in helping their workforce understand the need for changing their production methods. Particularly, they pointed out that communication about the change improved. The interactive exercises in the training helped break down communication barriers and improved teamwork. The momentum for moving forward with the production change was achieved, and since then the new assembly/weld function is established and becoming an accepted part of the company’s culture.

Host an Open House During October to Celebrate Manufacturing Day 2023  

Join manufacturers across the United States to showcase modern manufacturing and attract your future workforce.

MFG Day, celebrated the first Friday of October, reshapes perceptions of manufacturing and fosters a robust future workforce. MFG Day is dedicated to diversifying, strengthening, and enhancing the manufacturing workforce, promoting opportunities, and driving industry growth in the United States.

While October 6th is the official MFG Day, events are held all month long so don’t let that stop you!

Watch the video overview to see what MFG Day is all about, then contact IMC.  We’d love to help promote your event.

Can you help? We are interested in learning about your career path in manufacturing, and your thoughts on how to communicate opportunities in manufacturing to young people and prospective employees. Below is a link to a short survey. It will take just a few minutes and will help students in the region as they think about life after graduation.

Click here to complete the Bedford County PA Manufacturing Awareness Survey

IMC, in partnership with The Manufacturers’ Association, is bringing No-Cost Electrical Safety Training for General Industry to Central PA.

This opportunity is available through a grant provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  Open enrollment classes will be offered, and companies are also able to host training sessions onsite with a minimum of 10 participants.

Training Topics Include:

• General Electrical Safety Information
• General Electrical Safe Work Practices
• Common Hazards
• Permitted and Non-permitted uses
• Arc Flash
• Energy Control Procedures (ECPs) & Lockout/Tag-out (LOTO)

This NO COST training is available to workers and employers covered under the OSH Act of 1970, SEC. 4, codified at 29 U.S.C. 653 (Appendix B). This also includes multiple small businesses and temporarily unemployed workers who are planning to reenter the workforce in a position covered by the OSHA Act within the next three months.

The trainer is a CHCM, DSM, CHST, OSHA Consultation Program Consultant.  He has been the trainer for over 100 OSHA 10- & 30-Hour training programs.

To schedule Electrical Safety Training at YOUR location or to be added to the list to receive information on open enrollment classes, please contact Lauri Moon at (570) 329-3200×8085 or by email at laurim@imcpa.com.  You can also visit IMC’s Events page for these and all our open enrollment classes.

This four-hour program honors the late Susan Harwood, former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment, who died in 1996. During her 17-year OSHA career, she helped develop federal standards to protect workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

The training material was produced under grant number SH-39128-SH2 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.