I knew that the Tool & Die trade was going downhill fast around the year 2000, because among other things, I stopped getting calls from kids looking to start an apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship program was such a wonderful way for hundreds of years of knowledge and experience to be passed from one generation to the next. For four full years – overtime didn’t count – you received 8,000 hours of training from skilled craftsmen who, for the most part, wanted you to succeed.

During my apprenticeship at Anson Tools & Gages in Erie, every single hour that I spent on every machine was recorded so they would know when it was time to move me to the next area. The State set the guidelines on how much time we were supposed to get in a variety of areas, such as: milling, grinding, EDM, drill press, layout work, polishing, and hand work like filing and assembly.

In the end, you walked away with an incredible education taught to you by some pretty demanding – and sometimes grouchy – incredibly talented craftsmen.

How far could an apprentice go? Well, take a look at this photo below from 1956 at my Uncle Ed’s tool & die shop, Kerner Tool & Die Company…

When my Dad passed away in 1969, he was replaced by two young guys named Bill Hilbert and Joe Duscka…both went on to to employ thousands of people in Erie county over the next 30 years. I actually worked for Amos Newman at Tetra Tool back in the 80’s – my last “job” before starting my own shop – and he was just one of the best guys you could have ever met. When he passed away in the early 1990’s, I felt as bad as I did when my own father died. Now, that’s a testimonial to a great boss.

How good of a toolmaker was my Dad? Well, let’s look at all of the great things that both Mr. Hilbert and Mr. Duscka went on to accomplish in their business careers… besides training them, it took both of them to replace Fritz Kerner at Kerner Tool & Die. Not too shabby.

A few days ago, I was looking at all of the tools that I’ve accumulated during the last 30 years…I mentioned to my boss that when the day comes that I lock up my toolboxes for the last time, I’ll be walking out the door with at least three decades of experience that will be gone forever, because I have no one to share it with.

Now…that’s a shame, isn’t it?

In the end, I believe that there will always be room in the world for talented craftsmen that can work with their hands…in this age of automation,  computer programs, and computerized machinery that can supposedly “take the place” of skilled labor, I can honestly say that someone still needs to know what the hell is going on.

And it’s usually the poor guy who has to assemble something created by a bunch of geniuses with engineering degrees who knows what they “meant to say” when they designed it. So…we just fix their problems as we go. I see it every day – computer generated engineering drawings that are just plain bad.

Eventually, the day is coming – within 10 years – where these poor engineers aren’t going to have guys like me and the the rest of the great tool makers out there to cover them and fix their mistakes.

Nothing’s going to fit together, and – worse yet – there won’t be anyone around to tell them why.

Every engineering student should be forced to spend at least one year on the “other side” before finishing their degree.

You want to design buildings? Go work on a construction site for a year.

You want to design bridges? Go build them for a year.

You get the picture, right? How can you “engineer” something that you’ve never even touched?

I’m getting old…and I just had to say it. The good news is that there’s a million other guys out there that would agree with me 1000 percent. We just don’t matter that much any more, because we’re “old fashioned.”

American manufacturing is going to be in big trouble, as the last generation’s knowledge is being completely ignored…and if you’ve ever sent an important letter out with a major “typo” in it, then maybe you’ll understand that computers can’t do everything. If a simple spell-check program can’t work every time, imagine what looms ahead in the world of manufacturing when we eliminate the human element.

And that’s my two cents tonight.