Returning to a focus on soft skills will help industry find responsible employees.

For well over a decade, the number one question, complaint and concern I hear from businesspersons, regardless of industry or company size is: "Where is industry – any and every industry – going to find all the people necessary to actually build stuff?" And yet despite this serious workforce void, businesses continue to plan on a combination of reshoring product from distant lands or growing organically – which requires expanding their workforce. But how can you expand your manufacturing when the most critical ingredient – employees – is nowhere to be found?

Academia, from the earliest contact in elementary school to high school and right through university, has become misaligned with the real-world skills and education needed for a balanced and thriving economy. Yes, society needs doctors, lawyers, engineers and other more academically focused professions, but society also needs people with the interest and skill to touch and build product. In addition, there are real skills, education and training that together enable a worker to operate the complex and simple machinery and processes that successfully produce a multitude of technologically advanced, viable and sought after products. Maybe it is time to recalibrate our focus to some of the traits and skills that lead to success regardless of profession but appear to be currently missing in the workforce.

Read more: The Point of Pride

Quality management systems will not work without engaged personnel.

It was just a few bolts. What could possibly go wrong?

In industry, but especially in the electronics industry, nothing has changed more over the past several decades than the concept and implementation of quality management. In the early 1980s it was inspect, inspect and inspect again. In the late 1980s and through much of the 1990s, the concept of Total Quality Management, or TQM, became the rage. Manage the process and involve all the shop floor employees and stakeholders and better quality will result – requiring less inspection.

During the 1990s and continuing into the new millennium, TQM became overshadowed by Six Sigma. Applying Six Sigma, including certifying employees as green or black belts, enabled greatly improved quality. To be Six Sigma meant 3.4 (or less) defects per 1 million parts. Achieving this level was impressive for sure.

Read more: Small Parts, Big Trouble