Metalworking Trade Down But Not Out

 Recovery will ignite need for press brake operators

Paul Harders can bend a single, flat piece of metal a dozen different ways, creating a technical product that's also a work of art.

He is a press brake operator at MPE Inc., a Milwaukee firm that makes medical equipment for GE Healthcare.

Before metal is welded, it's typically bent in a variety of shapes using a machine called a press brake.

What looks like a simple operation is more of an art because metal bending depends on many variables.

It's also like a chess game, Harders said, since you perceive the outcome and think several moves ahead.

"One wrong bend and an entire metal part becomes junk," he added.

Harders, a press brake operator for 15 years, has a skill that's normally in demand. Although job openings are scarce in the current economy, that's likely to change once the recession ends and factories get busy again.

The Milwaukee area has one of the highest concentrations of metal fabricators in the nation. And as veteran press brake operators retire from the work force, industry experts predict a shortage of people ready to take their place.

It's similar to the need for more welders and machinists.

"But it's a job that goes under the radar. Press brake operators are an invisible group within many companies," said Bruce Bohr, principal manufacturing engineer at Greenheck Corp., which makes ventilation equipment in Schofield and employs about 200 press brake operators.

The trade's wages range from about $12 to $26 per hour, depending on experience, skill and where someone works. Press brake work doesn't pay as well as welding, and its image lacks the sizzle associated with showers of sparks and hot metal.

"One of the problems is it looks too easy to someone who doesn't know the skills required," Bohr said. "The casual observer would say it doesn't require much skill because you just pick up a part, put it in a machine and push a button. It gives that impression."

First impressions are often wrong.

Precise Skills

A skilled press brake operator visualizes metal parts in multiple shapes and angles, making bends with tolerances measured in thousandths of an inch.

The job often requires blueprint-reading skills, mathematics and knowledge of metallurgy, machine tools and computers. It also requires a steady hand and intuition for placing metal in a bending machine just the right way.

Some people pick up the skills fast, while others can't figure it out no matter how hard they try.

"You have to be willing to take on challenges," Harders said, adding that he likes making a variety of parts rather than hundreds of the same pieces for hours at a time.

Years ago, press brake machines had a reputation for lopping off operators' fingers. Fortunately, machine safeguards are better now.

"One slip, though, and you can still hurt yourself," Harders said.

And the job is still physical. Even with automated machines and material handling equipment, operators sometimes have to lift, turn and carry sheets of metal taller than themselves.

It's difficult to automate the process. Robots can do some of the work, but when making complex parts there's no substitute for a skilled operator, said John Wettstein with Northland Lasers, a Milwaukee distributor of Toyokoki press brakes.

"Bending metal, although it looks simple, is still a labor-intensive craft," Wettstein said.

Waukesha County Technical College offers press brake classes in its metal fabrication program.

Most companies train their own operators, but a lack of job security has scared people from manufacturing careers.

 Production cutbacks

Seventy-five percent of metal-forming companies said they had workers on layoff or reduced work schedules in February, according to a survey from the Precision Metalforming Association, based in Cleveland.

"Virtually every sector of our manufacturing base, with the possible exception of defense industries, is experiencing substantial cutbacks in production," said Bill Gaskin, association president.

One of the first signs of a recovery will be the hiring of press brake operators, he said.

"As soon as business comes back, there will be opportunities immediately," said Bohr with Greenheck Corp.

The downturn in metal fabrication did not hit Wisconsin hard until late in 2008, Wettstein said.

"If you go back a year, perhaps the most common complaint among shop owners was that a lot of veteran press brake operators were aging out of the factory," he added. 

Featured in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb 28, 2009