Westmoreland-Kennametal Training Program a Success

November 21, 2019 Mt. Pleasant, Pa.

Westmoreland County Community College recently facilitated a successful customized training program at the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) for a group of Kennametal employees, opening the door for future similar programs.

The college provided instruction in blueprint reading, manual machining and computer numeric control (CNC) machining.

“The ATC can provide us a safe environment with instructors and machine time dedicated to our group,” said Scott DeVinney, senior analyst, customer application support.

DeVinney contacted the college’s Workforce Development team in late spring about the possibility of customized training.

“In just a few weeks we had a plan, and a few weeks later a signed agreement on a four-week training, eight hours each day,” he said. The training took place in August and September.

The nine Kennametal employees who participated in the training program are part of the company’s Emerge rotational development program. The group is preparing for positions on the commercial side of the business – like sales, product management, marketing and more. None of them had any experience with machining, but the company wanted to make sure they received hands-on machining experience.

“The students from Kennametal were very adept at picking up the principles,” said machining instructor Dan Kepple. Therefore, the program moved at a faster rate than originally planned.

“By day two our group was on the machines and making chips,” DeVinney said. “That’s outstanding!”

DeVinney has already begun discussions with the Westmoreland team for the next round of training.

“There’s been a buzz around Kennametal and interest from other groups to join in on this training,” he said. “Overall, this training has been a great fit from day one, and so valuable to our group as they begin their careers with Kennametal.”