M.O.S.T.® Program Success Story

South Paris Company Gets the M.O.S.T.® Out of New Program

The Maine Machine Products Co. of South Paris has six new machine operators thanks to the Mobile Outreach Skills Training Grant (M.O.S.T.®), a six -New England state innovative program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and administered by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

“The six individuals hired out of the M.O.S.T.® training are contributing associates after just a few weeks of on-the-job training,” said Thomas Galley, chief operating officer at Maine Machine Products Co.

Non-traditional workers were recruited by the South Paris Career Center to fill the spots. Most of the newly trained machine operators were unemployed or under-employed individuals in another profession altogether. The program is intended to offer participating companies a competitive edge in the future. A machinist is highly skilled, however, with modern CNC equipment, it is not necessary to have a skilled machinist on each machine.

Training for the new machine operators takes place in a mobile unit which is fully outfitted with 12 computer work stations and two miniature machining centers. The total immersion training is done over a two-week period and evaluations are conducted each day of the training.

The companies who participate in the program have to agree to hire a number of the newly trained machine operators and also take part in Time Wise®, Principles of Lean Manufacturing classes.

“The M.O.S.T.® program was a great success, and pleasantly surprised even the experienced machinists on the shop floor who were skeptical at the beginning of the program,” Galley said. “The Time Wise® 101 training is one of the best designed one-day seminars that we have participated in and provided timely, positive and fun reinforcement to our already existing Continuous Improvement Program.”

Heidi Hamann with the South Paris Career Center said “The South Paris CareerCenter is excited about the prospect of a second round of M.O.S.T.® training being offered in the fall 2006. It is a great opportunity for our customers and community.” The South Paris CareerCenter is operated by Western Maine Community Action.