Northwest State proudly hosted “Mini Manufacturing Day” for 5th and 6th grade students at the Archbold Campus on April 13th. Mini Manufacturing Day is a spin-off of the popular Manufacturing Day events that are also put on by the Advanced Manufacturing Consortium. The primary goal of both events is to promote and raise awareness of the booming local manufacturing industry, as well as the career pathways that connect local students with local employers. Making those connections, especially at a young age, is a key element to maintaining the strong workforce that drives our local economies.
In total, 154 5th and 6th grade students participated, representing Fairview, Montpelier, St. Mary (Edgerton), North Central, Holgate and Hilltop schools. The highlight of the event was employer-led activities for the students.
The following activities were 100% sponsored by and led by local employers. The employers came up with the activities, provided the materials needed to perform the activities, and volunteered their employees for the day to work with students at this event.
Product Packaging Competition (Sponsored by Allied Moulded Products Inc.)
To simulate the problem solving ability and teamwork required to work in a manufacturer’s distribution center, teams of students raced against one another to design a system that allowed them to efficiently pack product into boxes while also removing defective parts in the process.
Lean Manufacturing Activities (Sponsored by Sauder Woodworking)
Students rotated through a handful of activities that promoted 5S concepts, the importance of standardized processing, and lean manufacturing. The activities ranged from designing a paper airplane for mass production to drawing a picture of a pig using a standardized method that will pass any quality check.
Production Assembly Competitions
–Spaghetti Towers (Sponsored by Worthington Industries): Students were given a handful of supplies to work with (spaghetti, marshmallows, etc.) and had to work as a team to design and build the tallest tower possible in an allotted amount of time.
–Paper Catapults (Sponsored by Creative Liquid Coatings): Teams of students were given raw materials and step by step direction on how to build a paper catapult. It was up to each team to divide up the assembly tasks as they saw fit. The students then had to manufacture a working catapult within an allotted amount of time. The team whose catapult performed the best received a prize.
–Robot Arms (Sponsored by Wieland Chase and Northern Buckeye Education Council): Students operated mini robot arms to perform production assembly tasks.
–Mr. Potato Heads (Sponsored by Haas Door): Teams of students were tasked to design a process that assembled as many Mr. Potato Head toys as possible within an allotted amount of time with the added challenge of making sure that the products met the customer’s specifications and passed a final quality check.
STUDENT AND TEACHER QUOTABLES
When asked “What did you learn today about manufacturing?” the student responses included:
“Teamwork is a huge factor needed to complete the job.”
“If you work together, it gets done faster.”
“You need to be lean, precise, work quickly, and be efficient.”
“Work with your group and always listen to your team.”
“Work smarter not harder.”
One teacher remarked, “Our students and staff LOVED the Mini Manufacturing Day! I heard over and over how teamwork was key to the activities. Thank you.”
