VIDEO: ACU-RITE and Randolph Community College: Shaping the Future of American Manufacturing

The challenge with the interest gap is students and parents knowing what manufacturing really is today. Technology is rapidly changing in this trade. There is a huge need, there's a huge gap of employment and there's a lot of opportunity for students in this program. The machining lab here at Randolph has many different types of machines. We have from manual machine tools to CNC controlled machines. The majority of those have an ACU-RITE control or digital readout. Our partnership with ACU-RITE has evolved over the years by listening to our advisory board that kind of drives our program. We go out and visit with those industries, see what kind of equipment they have, and base our curriculum on what they have so we can better prepare students for what they're going to be exposed to in the real world.

The ACU-RITE control is a perfect match for students. The layout of the control is very user-friendly. The students can quickly go to the control for the first time, understand how the control works, what it's supposed to do, and they can very quickly pick up and write a simple program to be able to produce a part. It's a win-win for the student and the instructor.

"I really like to do things that are hands-on. I wanted to go into the machining field and they seem to have the best program in the area. I do like the ACU-RITE system. It's really easy to use, really precise and it has definitely made my experience on the milling machine a lot easier." "The ACU-RITE is the first control I've ever used. Before this I was actually a marine. It's an interesting system to work with. It lets you see what you've put in before you actually process it on the machine." "The ACU-RITE control, it's fairly intuitive, it's easy to understand, and it's easy to use and then it even shows you what it will look like as a dry run."

Our hopes for American manufacturing here locally is that it continues to grow, there will be a continued need for this program. The more students we can graduate, I think the better industry is prepared to be able to advance.