Across the country, many industries require highly skilled workers to work in a multitude of trades, and manufacturing is no exception. Skilled Trades include a variety of categories, such as carpentry, sheet metal work, electrical wiring, and industrial plumbing. Each skill requires different levels of expertise and often includes a variety of tasks.
Many Skilled Trades personnel enter the field through the apprenticeship program offered by Ford.
“I came up through the apprenticeship program and was hired in 1994,” said Brian Smith, a sheet metal worker on the Kansas City Assembly Plant (KCAP) Skilled Trades team. “I chose it probably because it is one of the trades that allows you some creativity to essentially create something out of nothing. The fabrication, rolling and bending of the metal into a project; it is fulfilling to see it take form. Often, it is like engineering, where we basically have to draw it, fit it, and create a solution to a problem.”
When asked when and where the interest began, each Skilled Trades worker has their own story.
“I was in shop class in high school and previously worked on boats and RVs prior to coming to Ford, so I knew I already had some mechanical background,” said Smith.
“I was a pipefitter in the Navy in my past and later worked for the railroad,” added Anthony Rudd, a refrigeration, maintenance, and installation (REMI) worker at KCAP. “I chose to go into pipefitting because of my granddad who was a pipefitter for General Motors. I saw how it provided a stable career, and if you have the mindset to do projects, it is ever-changing. You get to see things come to life and know that it was you and your team who made it happen.”
Some Skilled Trades workers pass the vocational interest to others in the family. John Quigley, a carpenter at KCAP with 31 years of service, shared that his son Ian Quigley recently entered the apprenticeship program for Ford.
“He’s learning to become a pipefitter,” said Quigley. “I enjoy the daily variety of the work and the challenges it brings. I like that it is ‘hands-on’ and something that is always in demand.”
