MI Launches AI Skills Training, Kicks Off Multistate Roadshow

The Manufacturing Institute launched the first courses of its AI Skills for Manufacturing Training Suite this week, promoting them at the first stop of a multistate roadshow. As part of the MI’s wider AI Skills Initiative, these free, online courses will help the current and future workforce acquire the skills manufacturers need as AI becomes embedded into operations.

To celebrate the launch and accelerate adoption, the MI (the NAM’s workforce development and education affiliate) kicked off its roadshow—“Training for the Future”—making stops with manufacturers and community college partners across the country.

Why it matters: AI is changing how manufacturing workers operate, from the way they solve problems to how they improve processes and make decisions. To use these technologies effectively, workers need a fundamental understanding of AI and how it applies to their jobs.

• According to the Manufacturing Leadership Council, the NAM’s digital transformation division, more than 50% of manufacturers already deploy AI in their operations. However, a separate study by the MI and PwC found that 82% say their employees lack the skills to use AI tools effectively.
• Fewer than 20% of manufacturers currently offer any formal AI training, according to the MLC.

As AI becomes part of the production floor, workers will need to learn how to work with these technologies. Manufacturers do not need every employee to become an AI expert, but they do need workers who understand where AI can add value, how to use it responsibly and how to apply it effectively.

The training: The training suite is free and self-paced, drawing on the MI’s workforce expertise and insights from subject-matter experts across the industry. The format gives workers the flexibility to fit the courses into their schedules.

• “AI Fundamentals for Manufacturing” gives workers a practical introduction to AI, how it is used in manufacturing and where it can support work on the shop floor, touching on topics like safety, quality and efficiency.
• “AI Fundamentals+ for Manufacturing” will follow later this fall and will teach workers how to apply AI in their day-to-day activities. Workers will explore how AI can support decisions, collaboration, process improvements and problem-solving.

The goal: The MI aims to reach 40,000 current and future manufacturing workers through the training.

First stop, Alabama: The roadshow kicked off in Alabama, where MI President Carolyn Lee and Alabama Community College System Deputy Chancellor of Workforce and Economic Development and Executive Director for the Alabama Training Network Keith Phillips formally signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to offer the training across all ACCS community colleges.

• The event brought together ACCS leaders, economic development and workforce stakeholders, students and leading Alabama manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama General Manager of Manufacturing Jay Humphreys.

• Following the signing, the leaders and other guests toured Calhoun Community College’s Rocket City FAME chapter facility, guided by current FAME students.

• Later, a group of attendees visited Polaris’ Madison, Alabama, plant alongside U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL), where they saw current and former FAME students in action.

A media event: Many local news outlets were on hand to cover the MOU signing and the MI’s broader work, including WBRC 6 News, Spectrum News Birmingham and the Huntsville Business Journal.

It starts with workforce: “With new technologies transforming how manufacturers design, build and create, we need to ensure that America remains the global leader in modern manufacturing. And that starts with investing in our workforce,” wrote Lee and Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy Baker in an op-ed.

• Nearly 270,000 Alabamans work in manufacturing—a sector that generates more than $40 billion in annual economic output and represents nearly one-fifth of the state’s GDP, they noted.

The tour continues: Over the coming weeks, the roadshow will stop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in partnership with Smurfit Westrock, and New Braunfels, Texas, in partnership with Texas State Technical College.

• On these stops, the MI will host facility tours of partner companies and organizations, meeting with current and former FAME students, elected officials and more and showcasing how manufacturers and education partners are preparing workers for the future of the industry.

Get started: Check out what AI Skills for Manufacturing has to offer for individual learners, manufacturers, education providers and association partners.

• Visit the MI website to learn more and sign up to get updates on the MI’s AI Skills Initiative.