Video: How Has Manufacturing Changed Your Life?

We asked industry leaders to describe their careers in manufacturing.

And the positive changes manufacturing has had in their lives.

Here’s what they told us.

Q: How has manufacturing changed your life?

“It’s done a lot for my life […] It took someone who came out of school with really no idea what I wanted to do, and led me to the place where I could be the president of a major tooling manufacturer here in the United States.”

Brendt Holden, Haimer USA

Q: How did you begin your manufacturing career?

“This goes all the way back to my college roots. So formerly in college my four-year plan was to become a biology major, and I happened to be in a fraternity where he said, ‘Have you seen aerospace? Do you know what they’re doing? Do you like to work with your hands?’ And, you know, I said no, no, yes, and he said, ‘You need to look at this manufacturing avenue; this is really amazing stuff and I think you’d be really good at it.’ So this was my fraternity advisor asking me to take a look at NC programming as a background, which was mechanical engineering background, and after looking at it I said yeah that, that actually sounds pretty interesting, and then, you know, went to a five-year degree for that and came out and went right into the aerospace hopper after that. Jobs aplenty back in the ’90s if I can date myself a little bit.”

Gene Granata, CGTech

“One of my best friends, his father owned a small machine shop, about a 15-to-20-man shop in the suburbs of Chicago. He said, ‘Hey, my dad’s thinking about retiring. You want to work here?’ And I said sure, and of course I had no idea what I was going to be doing. And he took me in. He was a German gentleman who had come over here in 1977 and started the German operation of what was his company at the time, and I remember the first day I showed up in a suit and tie and had no idea what to expect. He said, ‘What are you doing wearing a suit and tie,’ you know, ‘put on some jeans and T-shirts’ and he started me from the ground up cleaning machines and then working from there, but it was great experience.” 

Brendt Holden, Haimer USA

“So what I did is, kind of in lieu of trying to go to college, I went to a technical school, North County Technical School down in St. Louis, for my last two years of high school, and that was focused on machining.”

Jeff Rizzie, Sandvik Coromant

Q: What attracted you to the industry?

“I think the really cool thing about manufacturing environment is you’re inventing things that you can actually hold in your hands.”

Gene Granata, CGTech

“It gives you a view into how the world actually works, how things work.”

Jeff Rizzie, Sandvik Coromant

“But for people who like to make tangible things and have the challenge, it’s like 3D art; it’s the challenge of how do I fabricate this from a block of material, or whatever your raw shape is.”

Gene Granata, CGTech

“It’s kind of amazing to see most people walk around the world and look at things, look at cars, look at planes, look at toasters, and have no idea how they’re made.”

Jeff Rizzie, Sandvik Coromant

“When I first got into it as a machinist was to show up at work and really feel like I had accomplished something in the course of the day. I started with a piece of steel or aluminum or whatever we were machining that day, and at the end of the day, or at the end of the shift, whatever, there was a finished part or something that was moving along in production, and that was really exciting to me.”

Brendt Holden, Haimer USA

“Another attribute I think that this keys off of is people who believe in excelling; they want stuff to be better today and tomorrow than it was yesterday. There’s always better ways to do things, there’s more exciting ways to do things, and NC manufacturing and manufacturing in general makes that whole challenge just really, really interesting.”

Gene Granata, CGTech

Q: Why should young people consider manufacturing? 

“I’m in year 41 of manufacturing, and the last three or four years I’ve seen change at a pace like nothing we’ve ever seen in the previous 40 years.” 

Jeff Rizzie, Sandvik Coromant

“There’s a lot of automation coming, and automation is not a bad thing for the industry. You know, at first when automation, robots, etc., came around, people were very nervous, saying oh it’s the death of manufacturing or it’s never going to be the same, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Brendt Holden, Haimer USA

“I’m kind of sad to see that, you know, there’s been so much emphasis, you know, college is great and all that, but I think there was a period of time there where, you know, you got to go out and get a college education and I think that’s starting to change, people are starting to realize that trades are a great career path.”

Kip Hanson, consultant and author

“We need people who know how to operate and set up these robotic systems, these automated systems, and we need a lot of them. And I think the neat thing is it’s a simple transition if you ask me. And I’m not a video game person so I don’t really know, but I would imagine that these people who are passionate about being on the computer all day long, or being involved with video games or things like that, I think they need to expand their thought process and think about the automation or robotics section of our industry because that is where the future is going and that’s where we need help.”

Brendt Holden, Haimer USA

“A future job might be robot tender where someone manages a fleet of eight or 10 robots, and they’re responsible for keeping all these little droids going during the day, so I mean, that’s just one example.”

Kip Hanson, consultant and author

“The careers in manufacturing are going to be much more diverse. It’s no longer just machinists and manufacturing engineers. It’s data engineers, data scientists, it’s technology.”

Jeff Rizzie, Sandvik Coromant

“You could be working on the next EV capability. You might be working on sending someone or something to space. Most of what you’d be working on if you get into aerospace and defense, you won’t be allowed to talk about—that’s pretty exciting all in itself. But, you know, being part of fabricating things that didn’t used to be here yesterday I think is a very exciting environment to be in, and if you enjoy challenges this is definitely the field for you.”

Gene Granata, CGTech

What’s your manufacturing story? How did you get your start in the industry? What first attracted you to a career in the field? Share your stories in the comments below.