Building the Manufacturing Workforce of the Future: Inside SME’s Workforce Pipeline Challenge

Manufacturing is at a turning point. Rapid advances in automation, AI, and industrial IoT are transforming the shop floor at a pace few could have imagined a decade ago. But with this innovation comes a pressing challenge: building a workforce ready to keep up.

That’s where SME’s Manufacturing Imperative Workforce Pipeline Challenge (MI-WPC) comes in. We sat down with Dr. Deb Volzer, SME’s Vice President of Workforce Development, to talk about how this national initiative is reshaping how community colleges, employers, and local organizations work together to prepare the next generation of manufacturing talent.

Why the Workforce Challenge Exists

For SME, which has spent nearly a century advancing manufacturing technology and education, the need is clear: America can’t stay competitive without a skilled workforce.

“Manufacturing is at a pivotal crossroad,” Volzer explained. “Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, and it threatens our workforce if we don’t address the pipeline issue head-on.”

Community colleges sit at the center of that solution. As the primary workforce training hubs in their communities, they’re uniquely positioned to bridge industry demand with local talent.

How the Program Works

The Workforce Pipeline Challenge partners with 25 community colleges across 17 states, each serving as a hub for employer engagement, training innovation, and community collaboration.

At the heart of the program are kickoff strategy sessions, during which colleges bring together employers, K–12 leaders, community-based organizations, economic development officials, and policymakers.

Using a “sticky storm” activity, a rapid-fire design thinking exercise, participants identify both barriers and opportunities to strengthen the local talent pipeline. The findings are distilled into strategic plans for each college and rolled up into a national impact report that highlights systemic workforce challenges.

“It’s all about aligning and braiding together community resources,” said Volzer. “When we do that, everyone wins: students, employers, and the broader economy.”

Piloting New Approaches

Beyond strategy, the initiative is actively testing solutions. One pilot used AI-powered chat tools to engage prospective students through targeted social media campaigns.

The pilot reached 226,000 individuals in 8–12 weeks in just three colleges, uncovering nearly 800 prospective learners in one small rural Virginia community alone. Many went on to enroll in manufacturing programs.

Other pilots focus on:

• Community support services to remove barriers like transportation or childcare.
• Industry engagement models that make it easier for small manufacturers to share workforce needs.
• Faculty pipeline solutions, from retirees serving as instructors to faculty-on-loan from industry partners.

Three Big Takeaways

From its first year, Volzer shared three critical lessons that are shaping SME’s ongoing strategy:

1. Targeted program marketing matters. Colleges traditionally market themselves as institutions, not individual programs. Focused campaigns for high-demand areas like CNC machining or mechatronics are showing stronger enrollment results.
2. Faculty shortages are a crisis. Even with student demand, programs can’t run without qualified instructors. Creative partnerships with industry and retirees are essential to address this gap.
3. Industry must stay at the table. With technology moving faster than curricula, colleges and employers need continuous dialogue to ensure that programs prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s manufacturing roles.

Stronger Together

Perhaps the most powerful element of the Workforce Pipeline Challenge is the collaboration it fosters. Colleges are sharing best practices, solving policy hurdles together, and connecting with state manufacturing associations to align efforts.

“Cross-collaboration is what’s really going to move the needle,” Volzer said. “Together we are stronger.”

Looking Ahead

As SME continues to refine and expand the initiative, one thing is clear: the Manufacturing Imperative Workforce Pipeline Challenge is more than a project, it’s a blueprint for how communities can future-proof their workforce and keep manufacturing strong in America.

Catch the whole conversation with Volzer on the latest episode of Manufacturing the Workforce of Tomorrow.