Industry Demands Hands-On Training to Address Shortage of Manufacturing Skills

TOLLAND, CT – Control Station announced that it has expanded its relationship with Business Industrial Network (www.BIN95.com) in response to industry’s growing need for process control training services. The US’s share of worldwide manufacturing output continues to erode as the pool of qualified production workers shrinks. Reports indicate that an additional 10 million fully trained production workers will be needed by 2020.

Control Station and BIN95 have agreed to immediately expand the number and geographic reach of their combined training services to address this market need. Services will apply a hands-on approach to training production workers on proven techniques for analyzing and optimizing process control systems. Based on industry best-practices, the training services have immediate application value for domestic manufacturers, enabling them to reduce energy consumption, increase production throughput, and maintain higher levels of quality control. With such improvements, domestic manufacturers can regain their competitive stature in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Due to increased competition from overseas, the United States has seen its share of global production drop significantly over the past decade. The US accounted for roughly 21 percent of global production in 2005. That figure stood as high as 29 percent in 1993 according to the CIA World Factbook. In his recent article Skills Shortage, Dan Sussman noted that “a lack of training, both in schools and on the job, have resulted in a severe shortage of skilled manufacturing employees.” Sussman’s views are shared outside mainstream media and point to deficiencies in the US’s university system.

Comments from the University of Texas’ Thomas Edgar support Control Station and BIN95’s plan to expand the scope of their process control offerings. In the February 2006 edition of Control Engineering Magazine, Edgar wrote: “The disturbing fact is that many recent graduates feel shortchanged when they learn how critical process control is to their job effectiveness, and how little they understand about it from their undergraduate education.” At most production facilities, university-trained production staff possess engineering degrees from disciplines ranging from mechanical and electrical to chemical and aeronautical. However, process control is only taught as part of a chemical engineering curriculum at most universities, leaving a critical gap in the training of most staff.

“The need for a better-skilled domestic workforce has been documented, and we are responding with training services that make a positive impact,” commented Dennis Nash, Control Station President. “Through our partnership with BIN95 we are equipping production workers with proven techniques for improving control rather than distracting them with theoretical concepts that have little to no application value. Training workers to accurately diagnose underperforming control systems and to consistently implement corrective actions are the objectives of our training.”

Training workshops delivered through the partnership will be based on Control Station’s portfolio of hands-on Practical Process Control© workshops. Workshops will focus on the real-world application of proven techniques for improving the performance of PID controllers and for optimizing overall plant performance. Practical Process Control was originally developed to support the training needs of academics before being introduced to industry in the early 90s. Today, Control Station’s curriculum is applied in training the next generation of process control professionals at over 100 colleges and universities worldwide. Leading companies such as Chevron, Holcim, Honeywell, and Lafarge also look to Control Station for enhancing the skills of production staff through training.

Scheduled throughout 2006 and 2007, workshops will be hosted at BIN95’s headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri and at their Stone Mountain training location in Atlanta, Georgia. Other regional training locations will be utilized to address market demand. Details are available through Control Station and Business Industrial Network.

About Business Industrial Network
Business Industrial Network's (BIN95.com) core business is delivering world class onsite engineering and maintenance training, specializing in Allen Bradley equipment. With over 150 facilities for local training, BIN95 delivers off-site maintenance training in major cities across the United States. Working closely with their partners, BIN95 offers a comprehensive suite of maintenance, management, mechanical and electrical training services.
http://www.BIN95.com

About Control Station, Inc.
Control Station, Inc. is a leading provider of automatic process control solutions, including easy-to-use software technologies, practical training services, and structured methods. The Company's LOOP-PRO Product Suite offers robust and easy-to-use software tools, making for fast solutions and optimal process performance. Practical Process Control is Control Station's portfolio of hands-on training workshops. Control Station provides process control solutions to leading companies across the process industries.
http://www.controlstation.com

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