Okuma opened their doors and welcomed 150 students from six area schools in North and South Carolina, showing them what CNC manufacturing is all about and the various careers in the industry. The students and teachers discovered how manufacturing touches almost every aspect of their daily life – from the clothes they wear to the food they eat.

Students visited multiple stations at Okuma, learning about innovative technology in the aerospace and automotive industries, robotics, engineering and the multitude of career path options. They experienced hands on interaction with robots and virtual reality technology and were able to see live cutting demonstrations on state-of-the-art CNC machine tools including one station that produced custom-cut coasters for each student.

“Manufacturing Day was a success at Okuma, not just in the number of students that attended the event, but in the overall enthusiasm that was generated by the students as they learned about the potential careers that exist for them in manufacturing. With a lack of skilled workers coming into the industry, events like Manufacturing Day allow Okuma to play a part in developing a skilled workforce while inspiring passion for the manufacturing industry,” said Brittany Russell, Okuma Training Program Manager.

Okuma’s Manufacturing Day was a group effort that included several of Okuma’s Partners in THINC members, CU-ICAR students (Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research) and more than 20 percent of Okuma’s staff to make this special daylong event a huge success.