TBM Plans

The Plan the Forum is following…

PHASE 1 Kick-off the TBM forum. (Completed)

The TBM forum Kicked-off on the 9th June and includes complementary partisan societies, organizations and groups that are prepared to combine efforts to embrace this suggested roadmap to meet the
mission and deliverables of this roadmap.

We believe that if we continue to act independently and not combine our efforts we will not prevail and will not be able to maximize our efforts to undertake this roadmap and together do our best to avoid the decline in our local prosperity and a rather grim future for us all.

The energy for positive change needs to be consolidated into a strong coalition; we need to integrate the efforts and power of ALL interested groups and societies. Then, with a collective strength and under united leadership we are deciding how to:

1. Develop and communicate a plan.

2. Gather support to undertake the plan to create the best future for our declining industries, economy and for our children’s future……..Before it’s too late!

PHASE 2 Raise awareness/gain concurrence for this roadmap.

First as a forum we will need to hold awareness-raising seminars and organize keynote addresses on the manufacturing environment, its importance and the issues it faces, so that we have a far more enlightened government, business leadership and population with regard to the role manufacturing plays in our prosperity.

In addition, the vision of manufacturing must be redefined so that it is better understood as a center of skill and excellence that needs to embrace the latest technologies.

Furthermore, it needs to be understood that it will only be successful if it is nurtured with a highly educated and a highly trained workforce with world-class skill and experience at all levels within its organization.

We need to present the case for a better balance of manufacturing capability within each business sector and its strategic importance toward our prosperity.

We need to deliver this message to: Local, Provincial and Federal
governments, Industry and trade leader institutions, Education
authorities at all levels of the education system - including parent
associations, The press and media at large and The general population.

SME Toronto Chapter 26 intends to use future Chapter and SME events and expositions to firmly spread this message and will brief all other SME Chapters and the SME organizations in support of this program.

The other Forum members will spread the common message through their own established networks and help generate a strong ground swell of support that will be heard.

T

he awareness building material will be educational in nature and the message will be hard-hitting and exciting....

It will start with an overview of the situation with facts by sector and area.

It will define the solution/s

It will define how those solutions should be rolled out going forward.

We believe that the general population in Ontario is now very much in doubt about the path so far chosen or taken in most industry sectors over the last couple of decades, and is very concerned about the decline in manufacturing and associated employment. Therefore we believe they will embrace our message positively but emotionally, so we must have well supported facts and logic behind our information in order for it to carry through as a realistic, responsible and balanced message.

We will also need to provide the tools to help industry leaders do a true and current cost analysis of the out-sourcing policy embraced over recent decades.



We believe the condition that encouraged so much manufacturing to leave our shores is no longer so compelling and it’s time to present the business case to bring manufacturing home and ensure new manufacturing projects get sourced in a balanced fashion..

We need to achieve support and concurrence at the government, educational institution and industry levels. And yet we will also need to work to ensure we have the appropriate infrastructure in place that will support manufacturing when it returns…

We believe we have a window of opportunity at this point in time as it is a local election year in Ontario and we acknowledge that we must be ready to support both local and federal policy and budget windows.

Phase 3 Joint Education and Training Board of Advisors for Manufacturing Excellence.

Part of the efforts in Phase 2 will be to develop positive pressure for the formation of ONE body to ensure that the correct system for education and training for manufacturing excellence is installed within the industrial environment.

This body will outline and participate as experts in the formation of a province-wide, formal and multilevel manufacturing apprenticeship or education/industry development program as we believe the existence of such a program to be the missing link for sustainable prosperity through manufacturing.



Some of us remember the integrated apprenticeship programs offered in the 1960/70s in other countries where it covered all grades and levels of trade technician/technologist and professional engineering levels and embraced the whole technical educational spectrum from trade skills to engineering post graduate degree grades. We believe we need to revisit this concept in phase 2 as a way of to getting the discussion started.

We all need to help our local Ontario industries get back on track and reverse the decline we have seen in the last 2 decades in global competitiveness, innovation, productivity and employment.

We need to urgently combine and volunteer to assist with the development of a government-driven and integrated system to provide a stimulus and education support framework. We need to increase the adoption of Advanced Manufacturing Technology and best management practices as an important vocation for the next generation of students, and also support the re-education process toward a revitalized and well educated industrial leadership and workforce.