With rising pressures on manufacturers, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters is expanding access to training and upskilling to ensure ongoing operational excellence.
Brittany Scarrow
Prairies Operations and Business Services, CM&E
As Canada’s manufacturers deal with trade uncertainty, tariffs, and evolving global markets, Canada’s largest trade and industry association, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CM&E), is lending support by expanding access to its training and upskilling programs across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Mediaplanet spoke with Brittany Scarrow, Prairies Operations and Business Services, CM&E, to learn more about these programs and how they help to drive operational excellence.
What workforce needs or gaps are CM&E’s training and upskilling programs designed to address?
We help companies with the foundational aspects for building their operational excellence program, which manufactures need to be competitive. These are the core skills needed to manage people and processes in a manufacturing environment, and include lean principles, health and safety, and asset care and reliability. These competencies also complement the technical and trade skills that come from our polytechnics and universities.
What types of workers are these training and upskilling programs intended for?
I always say it’s for the people who do the work. Much of the time it’s supervisors and front-line people, but it’s not uncommon to have a class with a mix of people, from CEO or company owner to operators to front-line staff to managers and supervisors.
CM&E’s training builds the foundation for operational excellence, so that when you bring in the specialized technical talent and applied skills, you’re able to be a productive organization and leverage the talent appropriately.
How are the courses funded?
Many companies that we work with invest in the training on their own, but now with support from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) we can offer many of our programs at reduced cost.
How are the courses delivered?
It’s a mixture. Many of our basic 101-level courses are delivered online. Our second-level programs are offered both online and in person though we find people tend to prefer our in-person programs as they are practical, hands-on courses. We have facilitators across Canada, including the Prairies, and all of them have a manufacturing operations background.
How do your training and upskilling courses prepare workers for rapidly changing technologies?
To achieve operational excellence when adopting new technologies, especially information technology, you need to have the right foundation that I mentioned earlier. If your process management isn’t disciplined, whatever emerging technology you’re using, like that AI chat box or your data management software, just tends to add more chaos. The more mature and disciplined you are in your operating system, the more effectively you can use these tools to deliver. I think that’s what’s really driving the need for training and upskilling programs. They’re the foundation for technology adoption.
How important is collaboration between CM&E’s education providers and employers?
It’s critical because as we go forward our training needs to align with industry needs, for both hard and soft skills. The more we can understand industry’s challenges and needs, the better we can be at preparing people to be more successful when they enter the industry. And then everyone will be better off as a result.
How do CM&E’s training and upskilling programs fit into broader workforce development efforts?
CM&E’s training builds the foundation for operational excellence, so that when you bring in the specialized technical talent and applied skills, you’re able to be a productive organization and leverage the talent appropriately.
Can you share a success story that demonstrations the impact of your programs?
We had someone take our programs who decided to really lean in and implement what he learned in his workplace. In a span of six years, he went from front-line operator to supervisor and then eventually program manager. We often see people’s careers take off as companies invest in their staff and their staff show the results of that investment.
There is also a return on investment to the company. By increasing employee skill levels, they find productivity improvements, report fewer defects and less rework to do, and find it easier to execute. So, the success is on both the individual career development side and the organizational output side.
By supporting companies with the foundational aspects of operational excellence through training and upskilling, CM&E is helping individuals to grow in their careers and manufacturers succeed in their businesses.
Explore CM&E’s operational excellence programs and member benefits, including free training and PrairieScan subsidy credits at cme-mec.ca/connection/
