Article

The Influence of Manufacturing Facility Demographics on Manufacturing Competencies in North Carolina

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Abstract

The rapid growth of global competition, new manufacturing technologies, changes in plant demographics, and an educational shift toward industrial- education cooperation and partnerships during the last 15 years has generated an increased need for educators to examine their manufacturing curricula to determine if college graduates are being prepared to meet the needs of their local and regional industries. Thus there is a need to establish local and regional criteria for manufacturing competencies. A review of literature validates a set of manufacturing competencies required of entry-level graduates but does not address the industrial education needs according to the demographic needs of industry. To better understand the affect of demographic variables on manufacturing competencies and to better equip manufacturing educators on curricula content specific to their service areas. This study attempted to identify relationships between manufacturing demographics and established competencies for manufacturing programs in the state of North Carolina.

Keywords: administration|curriculum|higher education|manufacturing|research

How to Cite:

Temple, R., (2003) “The Influence of Manufacturing Facility Demographics on Manufacturing Competencies in North Carolina”, Journal of Industrial Technology 20(1).