CLEVELAND, OH—November 11, 2019—North American Stamping Group (NASG), Portland, TN, has received the 2019 A.R. Hedberg Training and Education Award, as part of the Precision Metalforming Association’s (PMA) Awards of Excellence in Metalforming. Founded in 1976, the company is a Tier Two supplier of components, systems and aftermarket products for the automotive industry. NASG won the award for its outstanding tool and die apprenticeship program and operational excellence training. 

By partnering with the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), NASG developed a comprehensive tool and die apprentice program that combines two years of in-house theory instruction with approximately 8,000 shop hours. At every step of the program, the student must prove competency before advancing.

As apprentices build time in the shop and complete required NIMS projects, their pay increases toward the journey worker rate. The curriculum includes a step-by-step progression through Level 1 and Level 2 NIMS projects to a study of practical tool and die construction and maintenance. The program also includes shop math, blueprint reading and drafting.

NASG currently is training 14 apprentices in three groups, due to different experience levels and start dates. Ten hours of training is conducted one day per week for each group. Classroom hours are not paid and, therefore, represent the student’s commitment to the program. Apprentices work a minimum of 40 paid hours each week under the guidance of two full-time apprentice team leaders, and as they progress, they are paired with journey workers.

NASG also provides an outstanding operational excellence program, with all leaders from shop-floor supervisors to the president and CEO required to undergo a one-week Total Quality Production System for Leadership workshop. The curriculum was developed in partnership with Toyota, Harvard School of Business and key Tier One Toyota suppliers. Since the program’s inception in 2016, nearly 400 associates have been trained, with $6.06 million in tangible cost savings attained in 2018. The company is on track to exceed these savings in 2019. 

Additionally, NASG trains team members in problem solving, basic equipment care and 5S. Nearly 150 associates have been trained since the problem-solving workshop launched in August 2018; approximately 400 associates have been trained in basic equipment care since April 2017; and 1,390 employees received 5S training since its inception in 2013.

The Training and Education Award is one of seven Awards of Excellence in Metalforming presented annually by PMA. It recognizes an outstanding achievement by a company in employee technical education through a comprehensive training program. The award is sponsored by HPL Stampings, Inc., Lake Zurich, IL, in memory of A.R. (Ray) Hedberg, a leader in employee training.  

PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $137-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 800 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry.  PMA leads innovative member companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, FABTECH and METALFORM Mexico tradeshows, and MetalForming and 3D Metal Printing magazines.

EDITOR’S NOTE: More information on PMA’s Awards of Excellence in Metalforming is available at www.pma.org/awards.