Our future press brake operators

What’s the future of the bending craft? That depends on the nature of the job. Will shops employ knowledgeable operators or disengaged button-pushers? Getty Images

Over the last few months I have been discussing issues that new operators face and some of the common mistakes that inevitably occur. This month I will be covering the concepts that you, as the company president, human resources director, lead engineer, designer, foreman, or lead person, can bring to the table.

You can use these concepts to help your new employee become an efficient press brake operator and technician. These concepts also will add to your bottom line by reducing scrap and increasing production. Sure, some concepts might not apply to your situation, but they may spur you to think about some good ideas that could help your operation significantly.

Engaged Operators or Pedal-Pushers?

What kind of person do you want in your bending department? It’s one of the most important questions you can ask, and the answer isn’t as simple as you might think. Do you need a skilled operator or just a warm body to step on a pedal?

I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I’ve spent an entire day observing a bending operation only to report that not once did I see operators of any kind pick up a measurement tool or check a part. They simply loaded the program, ran a small batch, and moved on to the next part.

These operations tend to be original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that make the same product day in and day out. Quite often only one or two workers with essential machine knowledge and a lot of product expertise are necessary for the operation to run.

Then there are the job shops with a mix of products. Here, skilled operators and knowledgeable engineers produce a range of parts and material types. Throughout the facility, each worker needs to be an expert within his or her department. These shops tend to be staffed by folks with specific skills, such as those who know how to run punch presses, lasers, or press brakes.

Finally, there are the prototype shops, operations that require the highest employee skill level. These craftspeople need to do it all, from laying out the initial flat pattern through the finished product: layout, programming, punch, laser, forming, and finishing.

If you’ve been around the sheet metal business, you probably already know all this. So why am I describing these different operation types, and what do they have to do with employee training? Allow me to elaborate.

No Substitute for Experience

When a position at the press brake opens, where do you look to find someone to fill that post? Employment service? Newspaper? Online? Word-of-mouth? Regardless of where you look, you’ll find that these options usually are not worth the effort they take to pursue. Most of the time, it comes down to promoting from within.

Trade schools can help, as can training through the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA). For the most part, trade schools are great at teaching general shop practices. Students learn a little about all the different machines they’ll likely encounter in a typical shop environment. However, they do not offer degrees specific to a machine, such as the press brake. Even then, these schools are few and far between. Training through the FMA is excellent for experienced operators, designers, and engineers, and anyone else ready for the next step. Regardless, these are no substitutes for experience.

Because experienced press brake operators and technicians are impossible to find, you probably often resort to hiring from within. The person you’ve given this new position to no doubt has shown an aptitude for the press brake, and that alone says much, as the press brake is tough to master. Learning the press brake is a long, complicated, often frustrating process, enough so that many will not make it over the long term. If that is not enough, some of the most promising workers who have the skills and aptitude for bending tend to move on to greener pastures—but why?

The answer to that question is the environment, which has a couple of facets. These include the type of shop (OEM, job shop, or prototype operation), an organization’s operational procedures and practices, and its state-of-the-art equipment.

Operators at OEMs usually need to do a little more than just step on the press brake pedal; they might need to make a few simple setups and perhaps perform some basic machine maintenance. Overall, though, these workers often have few opportunities to really learn about the trade. Then again, they have no need for training—at least not the classical, “deep understanding” form of training, right? Unfortunately, work in the OEM world can sometimes be tedious and boring. If not challenged, the best and brightest will move on.

What about the job shop? You already know how hard skilled help is to find, and you know the necessity of getting your new and current press brake operators up to speed. Operators with the right aptitude and skill tend to grasp the concepts quickly and competently. Still, all the training in the world is no substitute for experience. If you want them to grow over time, your operators need to have some autonomy, like being able to choose the tooling to be used, design setups, or program the machines. Once you teach them the basics, allow them to do setups, even at the part’s expense. We all learn and grow through experience, and experience is gained through repetition. Consider setting aside short runs and simple parts as opportunities for new operators to gain experience.

Why do some good employees stay over the long term? It’s often because they have been allowed to learn and apply their knowledge. When boredom pervades and interest in the trade fades, your best and brightest might start to walk away. If they remain a mere pedal-pusher—load the program, load the tooling, and run the parts—I guarantee you will be cutting their final check in short order.

Much has changed in the trade over the past 50 years, and perhaps nowhere has this change been more dramatic than in the HVAC shop. Such operations have moved from handwork to being much more like a modern job shop. The loss of these handworking skills is to be mourned, but it was a necessary evolution. Unfortunately, these HVAC shops now have the same issues as everyone else regarding employee training and finding skilled help.

The Dream Job

Of all the different sheet metal operations in the industry, prototype shops stand apart. Unless a new employee is coming into the prototype shop as an apprentice, odds are they got the position because of years of experience and a vast knowledge of the craft.

Prototype shops usually have no problems with high employee turnover, and it’s easy to see why. Employees often have complete control over a project, from layout through the finished product. It’s a dream job for craftspeople in the sheet metal trade.

I have found in my training seminars that these employees are the most eager to learn. Even though they have a lot of knowledge, they also know how much they do not know and want to know more. They are the cream of the trade!

Solutions

Other shop environments—including OEMs, job shops, even HVAC shops—have training and retention issues unique to them. If you’ve been following my last few columns on mistakes new operators make, then you know about some of the many common issues they face. Many can be addressed through training. Whether done by your in-house trainer or by a professional trainer like those from the FMA, it is a worthwhile investment.

Then there are the physical things that can help the new operator while learning, like marking parts with bend direction, angle, and the bending order of the flanges. Also try color-coding your tools to designate such characteristics as the punch angle, die angle, die width, and punch nose radius. For instance, a punch with a single blue stripe could mean its punch nose radius is 1/32 in. and its angle is 88 degrees. A punch with a blue and red stripe could mean the punch has a 1/32-in. nose radius but an angle of 90 degrees. If you stop and think about it, you can come up with many simple fixes that can help avoid a new operator’s frustration and the costs associated with simple mistakes.

The Role of Autonomy

Modern smart machines can do much, especially in the hands of skilled craftspeople. However, it seems that the scarcer that skilled help becomes and the smarter we make the press brake, the less skilled the operators become. The operators with the aptitude for the job end up leaving because they have become no more than a warm body stepping on the press brake pedal.

If you want great operators and technicians, and if you want them to stay the course, give them professional training along with the opportunity and autonomy to learn by experience. Trust me—it will be worth it!