The U.S. Apprenticeship Program is graduating its first apprentices this year. Modeled after the successful German AZUBI apprenticeship program used by the MIPS business unit, the U.S. Program concentrates on developing mechatronic skill sets during a three-year educational and technical training program. The program is a mutual commitment between the apprentice and Mauser with Mauser providing paid for education through educational institutions and hands-on experience in exchange for a three-year employment commitment by the apprentice after completion of the program.
The U.S. Apprenticeship Program launched in the Fall of 2019 at the Chicago (Illinois) Metals facility and quickly expanded to the Addison, Illinois facility in 2020. The program was implemented in 2021 in Homerville, Georgia and York, Pennsylvania facilities with the Clarkston, Michigan facility following in 2022. An additional four to five facilities are scheduled to begin the U.S. Apprenticeship Program this year.
U.S. Apprenticeship Program:
- Apprentices selected from both internal and external applicants
- Candidates for the program are selected through a competitive process that includes aptitude testing.
- Program adheres to the rigorous standards established by the German AZUBI apprenticeship program.
- Program pairs classroom instruction with a mentorship program to establish a culture and mentality of continuous learning
“Our apprentice, Quinton, is fully capable of identifying and repairing most issues we have in the plant. The mechatronic training he is receiving through this program creates a well-rounded knowledge base and he can do most any routine preventative maintenance task other members of our maintenance team could,” commented Jason Pendergrass, Maintenance Manager and program mentor (Clarkston, Michigan).
“There is excitement in our facility around this program. People in the community have heard about this program and have reached out for employment opportunities due in part to the existence of this program,” commented Ingrid Dean, Human Resources Manager (Homerville, Georgia).
Apprenticeship programs play an important role in maintaining a sustainable workforce through the training of the next generation of employees. Mauser continues to refine and expand this program to ensure institutional knowledge is passed from one generation to the next and ensure our facilities have the highly skilled workforce required to maintain our operations.
First hand account from York, Penn:
This program has been a huge positive for us at the York, Pennsylvania facility. At the end of four years, we will have five “homegrown” electricians from our community that now have a lot of the institutional knowledge that they would not have learned in a classroom. The introduction of the program has also re-energized our veteran employees and provided a vision of how to grow a career here.
At York, we were fortunate to have a Manufacturers Association that already had an apprenticeship program in place, so we can work with them to facilitate the educational portion of our program. Our participants are in classes with apprentices from other companies and industries in our area which expands the pool of resource and information they have access to. We’ve received a lot of feedback from the Association regarding the quality of the Mauser program and how great our group of apprentices are doing. Our apprentices really support and help each other in the classroom and take initiative to learn new things beyond their required coursework.
We’ve seen both types of participants – some external applicants with various levels of education and those internal applicants with a few years of experience but with minimal to no secondary or technical education – and the mix has been beneficial. Everyone brings something different to the table and can share knowledge and experience with the group.
Our veteran employees serving as mentors for the program really latched on and love showing their skills and teaching the apprentices. In some ways, it has rejuvenated employees who are training the apprentices and reengaged them in the business. Everyone has embraced the opportunity to teach someone the things they have learned over the years and train the next generation of employees. Our apprentices show a lot of drive and eagerness to learn which helps our mentors get excited about teaching. These groups are working well together and as the apprentices become more independent there is an element of collaboration and teamwork that continues.
We’ve always had a great history of employees growing in their roles – from operators becoming forklift operators or mechanics, but we are seeing more of that now than we ever have and I think the apprenticeship program helps demonstrate our commitment to employee growth and development within the facility.
- Brent Halpin, Human Resources Manager