MAKE YOUR FUTURE
The Guide To Manufacturing Skilled Trades
By Craig Manning
Lansing, Michigan
© 2024 Michigan Manufacturers Association
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Published by
Michigan Manufacturers Association | Lansing, Michigan
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Manning, Craig.
Make your future : the guide to manufacturing skilled trades /
Craig Manning. – Lansing, MI : Michigan Manufacturers Association, 2024.
p. ; cm.
ISBN13: 978-0-9601229-0-5
1. Manufacturing industries. 2. Manufacturing industries--United States.
I. Title.
HD9720.5.M36 2024
338--dc23
Project coordination by Jenkins Group, Inc. | www.jenkinsgroupinc.com
Design by Greenlight Marketing
Printed in the United States of America
28 27 26 25 24 • 5 4 3 2 1
For more than a century, through good times and bad, the
manufacturing industry has propelled Michigan forward. In
the twenty-first century, the industry’s legacy champions
and its next generation of innovators are collaborating to
steer Michigan into a future that will continue to shape our
collective fortunes: our state’s economy, the communities
we serve, our individual businesses, and our families’
livelihoods. The modern manufacturer in Michigan is one
part inventor, one part producer, one part experimenter, one
part employer, and all things critical to our state’s success.
The Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA) serves
as the state’s unifying champion of an industry that is
constantly evolving and growing. We represent the most
diverse manufacturing center in perhaps the entire world.
And, just as we have since the Industrial Revolution,
Michigan will continue to be the cradle of innovation and
invention for generations to come. With the sole purpose
of advocating for, supporting, training, and growing the
manufacturing industry in Michigan, our mission is clear:
to hear the industry’s voice, to unify this voice, to amplify
this voice, and to be this voice.
The MMA has both a proven track record and an unwavering
commitment to serve Michigan manufacturers through
legislative advocacy, workforce development, education,
training, networking, and cost savings. Moreover, MMA
serves as a constant, vigilant beacon for one of the world’s
most innovative, inventive, and industrious business
sectors on the planet.
For more information about the MMA, visit us online at
www.mimfg.org.
ABOUT THE MMA
MAKE
YOUR
FUTURE
The Guide
To Manufacturing
Skilled Trades
CONTENTS
INTRO
01
02
03
04
05
CONCLUSION
The Manufacturing
Industry Isn’t What
You Think It Is
page 1
Why Not Make
Yourself?
page 71
Why Working in
Manufacturing
Is Great
page 27
Some of the Many
Great Careers in
Manufacturing
page 35
Next Steps to Take if
You’re Interested in
Manufacturing
page 59
Defining
“Manufacturing”
page 5
Manufacturing Myths
versus Facts
page 9
A life of making things.
In the simplest terms, that’s what a career
in manufacturing provides. Manufacturers
are makers and builders. From running shoes
to cars to airplanes, from computer chips
to smartphones to laptops, manufacturing
professionals are the people behind the
countless number of products, systems,
and things we use every single day.
While it’s easy to acknowledge the importance
of the work manufacturers do, it’s harder
for some people to envision doing that work
themselves. Because of misconceptions and
myths about manufacturing and what it looks
like in the twenty-first century, the industry is
sometimes incorrectly stigmatized as being a
place of menial, repetitious work that pays
poorly and simply isn’t a lot of fun.
For example, surveys have shown that fewer
than fifty percent of today’s teenagers have
any interest in manufacturing careers.1 At the
INTRODUCTION
THE
MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRY ISN’T
WHAT YOU THINK
IT IS
same time, many of the workers of
tomorrow are enthralled with the
idea of careers in STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and math)—
jobs that are technical, respectable,
stable, challenging, rewarding,
exciting, and high paying.
But here’s a secret few people
know: in many cases, careers in
the manufacturing sector are STEM
careers. Engineers design the
products manufacturers make and
the systems necessary to produce
them. Robotics experts program,
operate, and maintain the state-
of-the-art machines that build
things. Software developers code
the applications necessary to keep
entire factories running. These are
just a few of the STEM-heavy careers
that exist in manufacturing today,
jobs that are at the cutting edge of
innovation and that pay accordingly.
So much of the public conception
of manufacturing is based upon
what manufacturing used to be—
what the industry was many
decades ago—before technology,
safety standards, and efforts to
become environmentally sustainable
transformed it for the better. In this
book, we will take you on a journey
through what manufacturing is
today, from the technologies that
manufacturers use on a daily basis
to the innovations they are creating
to change the world.
We’ll delve into the many different
types of manufacturing, debunk
some of the aforementioned
“myths,” spotlight key jobs available
across a lengthy list of specialties
and subsectors, crunch the numbers
to yield the income potential they
offer, and tell you about the training
and education paths you’ll need
to follow if you decide a career in
manufacturing is right for you.
For so many reasons, there has
never been a better time to pursue
a career in manufacturing. Despite
widespread claims that automation
and globalization would bring about
an industry-wide decline in the
manufacturing workforce, studies
and statistics offer ample proof
that the industry is bursting with
opportunity and will continue to offer
stellar career prospects for decades
to come. Perhaps most importantly,
this work can be fun, engaging, and
rewarding, aspects that everyone
deserves from their career of choice.
Who knows? Maybe manufacturing
is that career for you. We invite you
to read on to find out.