Raymond and New York State Educational Institutions Work to Help Shrink Skills Gap

In the 2018-19 academic year, Sidney High School and The Raymond Corporation have collaborated on the Raymond Welding Skills Development Program (RWSDP) to help better prepare students for a welding career. They created the program to take the skills students learned through the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego Board of Cooperative Educational Services (DCMO BOCES) welding curriculum and elevate them by also teaching continuous improvement principles and advanced technical skills — all of which they would utilize in a real-world welding position.

"Our intent is to further build on our technical education, aligned with industry standards, in order to provide students with the additional opportunity to improve and refine their skills," said Kerrie Johnston, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and special programs at Sidney Central School District. "In collaborating with Raymond, we are better able to prepare students for the welding expectations at Raymond and other manufacturing employers, as well as reinforce 'soft skills' that are needed in any job."

Raymond also assisted Sidney High School in supporting the building of a new in-school welding center to provide improvement training with the Toyota Production System (TPS) principles and supply materials, including over 300 pounds of scrap metal for students to practice on.

"Raymond is proud to collaborate with educational institutions — like Sidney High School and DCMO BOCES — that support the next generation of our workforce," said Tony Topencik, senior director of operations, The Raymond Corporation. "Shrinking the skills gap is a priority for Raymond. We are excited to be able to provide any additional support and education to allow students to excel."

To learn more about The Raymond Corporation, visit www.raymondcorp.com or call 800-235-7200.

About The Raymond Corporation
For more than 95 years, The Raymond Corporation has built a reputation on innovation, quality and service. Raymond® manual and electric forklifts — with the industry's first integrated intelligence — meet a variety of material handling needs and offer advanced end-to-end warehouse solutions that enable operations to run better and manage smarter. This philosophy helps ensure Raymond and its customers are always evolving, always running, always moving ahead — and always on. The portfolio of advanced offerings includes the iWAREHOUSE® fleet management and warehouse optimization system, featuring real-time location tracking; automated lift truck solutions for the warehouse of the future; and the Raymond Virtual Reality Simulator, a supplemental instructional tool that helps customers improve their operations and meet industry labor demands. Raymond also provides industry-leading customer support through a network of skilled technicians and its authorized Sales and Service Centers. Raymond's work in energy solutions, space utilization, ergonomics, manufacturing quality and fleet optimization — combined with best-in-class products and services — work together to increase efficiency and lower costs throughout material handling operations.
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