Analysis: Siemens Hopes to Boost Manufacturing Workforce with $628 million USC Donation
Friday, June 23rd, 2017
Richard Breen, Senior Editor
A lot of big numbers get thrown around in describing the “skills gap” that faces American industry. On Thursday, Siemens Corp. and the University of South Carolina decided to throw around a big number of their own.
The U.S. subsidiary of German conglomerate Siemens AG announced an in-kind donation worth $628 million in hardware and software to USC, for use at the school’s College of Engineering and Computing, as well as its McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research.
The hardware and software is expected to give students more hands-on experience in an environment similar to that of today’s industry.
“They’re going to work with all the same design and automation technology,” Raj Batra, president of Siemens’ U.S. digital factory division, said at a McNair Center event announcing the donation.
The idea is to produce students that walk off the stage at graduation already adept in the product lifecycle management software and automation and controls hardware currently used by factories and R&D facilities. Batra said those skills are important in a business environment that has a need for speed.
“Time to market is one of the biggest factors for companies,” he said. “The faster people are up to speed, the faster they can come up with ideas. For companies, that means the faster they can make money.”
Having a well-trained workforce conversant in the latest technology also helps to address another huge issue for manufacturers – the skills gap. A 2015 report by Deloitte estimated that 3.4 million manufacturing job openings will be created by 2025 due to either economic growth, retirement or attrition. A lack of qualified workers could result in up to 2 million of those jobs going unfilled.
“We are very, very committed to developing the workforce of the future and closing the skills gap,” Batra said.
In May, South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent, its lowest level since December 2000, according to the state Department of Employment and Workforce. More than 51,000 jobs have been created in the past 12 months. Manufacturing accounted for 7,400 of those jobs.
“Today’s announcement of a partnership between Siemens and USC advances our state’s growing reputation as a top destination for manufacturing,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in a statement that accompanied the announcement.
Bill Kirkland, who heads the USC Office of Economic Engagement, said they hope to eventually include students from South Carolina State University and Midlands Technical College in using the donated technology.
USC will use some of the donated hardware to create an Innovation Lab at the McNair Center. It will include a picker robot for handling applications, a roller picker robot for pick-and-place applications and a general-purpose robot controlled by a Siemens Programmable Logic Controller.
The $628 million donation was calculated based on the value of the software licenses and hardware Siemens is providing. According to the company, the same types of technology are used at more than 140,000 companies worldwide, including 35 in South Carolina, in industries such as aerospace, automotive and medical devices.
In his remarks at the event, USC President Harris Pastides said that by mastering the donated technology, USC grads “are going to have job offers from the greatest companies not only in South Carolina, but around the world.”
Siemens employs nearly 500 workers in South Carolina in a variety of industries.