Workforce Development Benchmarking Session Between Oberg Industries and The South African Government

FREEPORT, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oberg Industries, a world leader in providing precision manufacturing solutions, recently hosted an international delegation from South Africa to discuss the importance of workforce development through apprenticeships and continuing education of current employees.

“There is a growing trend toward credentialing of employees within industries here in the United States and to have this opportunity to share our successes and failures with the government of South Africa is a positive step forward in improving the skills of workers in skilled trades worldwide”

Mr. Herman Pienaar, Curriculum Program Manager and Mr. Peter Lategan, National Program Manager for the National Tooling Initiative Programme (NTIP) of South Africa, along with Mr. James Wall, Deputy Director of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) met with Mr. Gregory Chambers, Director of Corporate Compliance, Mr. Neil Ashbaugh, Senior Marketing Specialist and current Chair of the Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, and Mr. Jason Falkner, Apprentice Supervisor of Oberg Industries. Along with a tour of the Oberg facilities, a discussion ensued to discuss how to entice young people to choose careers in advanced manufacturing and how to select, motivate, and manage employees enrolled in training programs.

“There is a growing trend toward credentialing of employees within industries here in the United States and to have this opportunity to share our successes and failures with the government of South Africa is a positive step forward in improving the skills of workers in skilled trades worldwide,” stated Mr. Chambers. “The efforts of the government of South Africa to find, motivate, train, and reward those workers are no different than what Oberg Industries faces today in fulfilling their needs for a skilled workforce. While Oberg’s goal is to improve their nearly 700 employees, Herman and Peter have been tasked to improve the training system for their entire nation. Oberg is honored to be a small part of that goal,” concluded Mr. Chambers.

NTIP is looking to use best practices in training the nation of South Africa. They have achieved a four-fold increase in enrolled students in metalworking skills training from 2009 to 2010 and are looking at how to maintain this growth by benchmarking companies like Oberg Industries.

NIMS is America’s only ANSI accredited developer of advanced manufacturing skills standards and competency assessments. NIMS stakeholders account for over 6,000 American companies.

Oberg Industries, Inc. is a world leader in providing precision manufacturing solutions. With nearly 700 employees and facilities located globally, Oberg has had U.S. Department of Labor approved apprenticeship programs for more than 50 years. NIMS credentialing is part of all Oberg Apprenticeship Programs.

For more information about Oberg Industries, or for interviews, please contact David Getty at [e-mail] or 724-295-2121. Corporate information may be obtained also via our website www.oberg.com

For more information about the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, please contact Catherine Ross at [e-mail]. Information about NIMS maybe be found at www.nims-skills.org

For more information about the National Tooling Initiative Programme of South Africa, please contact their organization at www.ntipweb.co.za.