Cerritos College

  • MFG Day 2017 Concludes with 3,000 Events Across the U.S.

    CERRITOS, California- October 10, 2017- The sixth annual National Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) 2017 concluded last Friday wherein approximately 3,000 events occurred nationwide. Of this number, over 170 of the events took place in the state of California alone. MFG Day, which occurs each year on the first Friday of October, strives to celebrate the modern manufacturing industry while simultaneously educating individuals on the current state of the industry and its future.  

    Often events include small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) opening their facilities to their community members, students, and educators to provide an in depth look into their average day. In addition, SMEs may also attend events hosted by local colleges or universities to demonstrate the function and use of their products, or discuss career opportunities in their field and dispel misconceptions. 

    This year, Toolots sponsored transportation for over 30 high school students from Artesia, Cerritos, and Gahr high schools within the ABC Unified School District (ABCUSD) to attend MFG Day at Cerritos College. Attending students had the opportunity to tour five departments within the college’s Technical Division that displayed woodworking, welding, engineering, and machine tooling technology. Students were provided with knowledge regarding the use of several machines, including a live demonstration of machines in operation by professors and general safety tips. 

    30+ students from ABCUSD attend MFG Day at Cerritos College

    High school students from ABCUSD listen to a professor for Cerritos College's MFG Day event

    Sponsorship of the event is one example of Toolots’ efforts to actively partner with the ABCUSD to educate and encourage youth interested in fields such as manufacturing, engineering, and technology to support these industries and promote growth. Current projections estimate the manufacturing industry will create roughly 3.5 million jobs over the next ten years, offering interested students a variety of potential career paths to choose from. However in addition to educating students about the industry, Toolots helps bolster manufacturing by offering U.S. SMEs assistance in overcoming barriers, such as inefficiency, slow innovation, or high prices, which previously hindered their ability to expand domestically or abroad. This assistance is facilitated through the company’s innovative platform and business model which supplies partnered SMEs with scalable, comprehensive services such as after-sales services in addition to access to ERPs and corresponding data which will allow them to focus on daily operations or make transparent, executive decisions.  

    Thus the effect of events that educate and encourage students interested in manufacturing and technology like MFG Day, in tandem with the support of U.S. SMEs, are vital to sustaining and promoting the growth of the manufacturing industry which contributes roughly $12 trillion to the U.S. economy annually.  

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  • Toolots and Vendor Partners Participate in MFG Day 2017

    MFG DAY 2017

     

    Next Friday, October 6, 2017, is National Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) which aims to inform and inspire the next generation of manufacturers. The event occurs annually on the first Friday of October, and primarily features thousands of manufacturers throughout the U.S. opening their doors to allow the community, including students and educators, to see how manufacturing facilities function in addition to what kind of work they perform. The goal of the event is to dispel misconceptions about the manufacturing industry, educate interested students, and facilitates discussions about current industry issues.

     

    Spraytech/Junair Participates in MFG Day

     

    This year, we’re proud to announce that several of our vendor partners will also be participating in MFG Day. Spraytech/Junair, a premier manufacturer of industrial spray booths based in Rialto, CA, will set up a small Table Top spray booth at the InTech Center at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The company will showcase their spray booth to provide students and community members an in-depth look into the industrial paint application industry along with detailed information about the industry. Find additional information about the MFG Day event.

     

    Toolots Helps ABCUSD High School Students Attend MFG Day

     

    Toolots is proud to be sponsoring transportation for a number of high school students throughout schools in the ABC Unified School District to attend MFG Day at Cerritos College. Attendees will have the opportunity to view five of the manufacturing and industrial departments within the college's Technical Division. The open house is available to educators, professionals, and high school students to attend. For more information regarding the event, please click here.

     

    MFG Day's Impact in 2016

     

    The National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Manufacturing Institute (MI) together with Deloitte studied the effect Manufacturing Day 2016 had on elevating public perception of manufacturing and published the infographic below. The infographic shows that 89% of the manufacturers who took part in Manufacturing Day say they saw value in participating, and 86% said that they were likely to host an event again in the future. As such, we are excited to participate in the event and look forward to an even stronger MFG Day this year in October.

     

  • Over 100 Local Students Attend Expo on Women in the Trades, Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering Industries

    Free expo, put on by Cerritos College, SELACO and hosted by Toolots, connected young women pursuing trades with successful tradeswomen, organizations seeking to expand educated workforce

    CERRITOS, Calif. – Feb. 23, 2017 – More than 100 middle and high school students converged at Toolots headquarters in Cerritos Wednesday for the Women in the Trades, Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering Expo. The event was an opportunity for dozens of young women from a range of school districts in Los Angeles County already pursuing the trades through their current coursework to interact directly with female engineers, construction workers and tradeswomen already successfully integrated in the industry. The expo was offered by the Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board (SELACO) and Cerritos College.

    Los Angeles area schools from the ABC, Paramount, Downey and Whittier Unified school districts sent busloads of students to learn about real-world career opportunities directly from those who have successfully entered the industry during the free expo. A majority of students were from the high school level, but students from one Whittier middle school also attended.

    Five panelists, including female senior engineers, an apprenticeship instructor and others involved in the trades as part of their day jobs, gave informative presentations on what it is like to actually work in a trades-related career. Students seized the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists, some who were in the same place as these middle and high school students years ago, inspiring many to pursue their careers of choice – whether through continuing education, pure dedication or an effective combination of both.

    Toolots hosted the expo at its headquarters in Cerritos – a facility that includes a sprawling warehouse and various high-tech machines, ranging from the latest plastic injection molding machines and CNC automated devices to ever-popular cold cut saws, mills and lathes. The company agreed to host the expo after discussions with SELACO, the area workforce development group that strives to invigorate the region’s workforce and make direct connections with employers in a wide range of industries for young people, the unemployed and underemployed.

    “We were more than happy to support SELACO and Cerritos College in promoting the entrance of women into the trades, a career path in increasingly high demand,” said Toolots Chief Operating Officer Raymond Cheng, calling the expo an absolute success. Toolots plans on having future discussions with multiple area school districts about setting up internships, job shadowing and/or educational programming to continue helping young women enter the industrial, manufacturing and engineering-related job space.

    The expo was developed to help local female students have a better understanding of the industry, and it gave them a unique opportunity to meet one-on-one and connect with women who have successfully entered the trades. The expo organizers partnered with area school districts and their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs, as well as individual instructors and their classes, to draw a real-world connection between what they learn in the classroom and effective skills they can later put to use in a career.

    Cheng and other speakers at the event referenced reports that industrial careers are some of the fastest growing occupations in the country – and some of the highest paying. Industrial and materials engineers, for example, earn an average hourly wage of more than $40 (between $84,000 and $91,000 annually), based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics findings from 2015. Deloitte, a UK-based multinational professional services firm that tracks and projects the outlook for a wide range of industries, is optimistic about United States manufacturing; according to their latest projection, American manufacturing “is likely to experience stronger growth in 2017 following multiple years of positive, but a subdued, rate of growth.”

    According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of available STEM jobs is on track to increase by an average of 14 percent by 2020. Some STEM-related careers, like biomedical engineers for example, are projected to grow by as much as 62 percent during the same time frame.

    During the panel presentation and Q&A session, students heard personal stories from speakers on how the women entered the trades in the first place. Panelists described taking classes where they worked with their hands, and how satisfying it is to do what they love and get paid to do it. After the panels, students attended presentations reinforcing the girls’ self-esteem through a variety of group activities.  

    “All young people should be prepared to think deeply and to think well so that they have the chance to become the innovators, educators, researchers and leaders who can solve the most pressing challenges facing our nation and our world,” the Department of Education stated. Los Angeles area STEM programs are working hard to ensure young women and men feel they have equal access to this growing field, inspiring them to pursue continuing education and secure a career within the industry that demands more and more educated workers each year.

    For photos taken during the event, visit our online photo gallery via Dropbox folder available here. If you’d like to download, share or publish these photos, feel free to do so and please credit Toolots Public Affairs.

    Panel participants and speakers included:

    • Ashley Davitt, senior design engineer with ACCO Engineered Systems in Orange County, whose work focuses on heating, ventilating and air conditioning design within commercial buildings. She oversees design, construction and commissioning of projects in offices, laboratories, schools and manufacturing centers. She graduated from California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and is a state-registered mechanical engineer in California.
    • Jeanne Carnegie, a senior quality assurance engineer with Arconic Fastening Systems and Rings, deals with supplier management and works with IT programmers. She previously developed procedures with the Shimadzu Corporation for the manufacture of landing gears for planes, writing the manual for their operation. She has also worked in loss control engineering and developed an electronic system to collect information in the refinery and drilling industry.
    • Lisette Cruz, a pre-apprenticeship instructor with the Bridging Outstanding Opportunities with Tradeswomen Skills and a member of The Sisters in the Brotherhood, works to help women enter into successful careers in the union carpentry trades. Through The Sisters of the Brotherhood, she conducts outreach to mentor women considering carpentry as a career, and men who have the same interest. Since 1990, Cruz has been a member of The Sisters of the Brotherhood and Joiners of America. She received diplomas in carpentry home building maintenance and welding.
    • Mary Wall, director of operations at JMC2, where she provides clients with practical, innovative solution as a civil engineer. She began her career in structural engineering with Grossman & Speer Associates. She also managed numerous residential subdivision developments as a project manager for CTA Inc. and Lewis Homes, which was later acquired by KB Home. She managed the operations as 50 percent owner of DW Wall Construction Inc. and additionally, has conceived, designed, built and successfully run a restaurant, which she later sold. She has experience overseas coordinating the startup of a special needs school in China. She received a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California.
    • Viridiana Hernandez, a graduate student in Cerritos College’s Engineering Design and Plastic/Composite Tool Design programs, and is finishing up her last year at California State University, Los Angeles to earn a degree in Industrial Technology. She works for Con-Tech Plastics, a plastic injection molding company located in Brea, and attends school full-time.
    • Anais Maseda, seminar and training coordinator for Polishing the Professional, inspires young women to take on the challenge of fine-tuning their own personal drive towards their dreams. Polishing the Professional provides leadership, imaging direction and personal branding services to a variety of clients – from designing programs, hiring and evaluating staff to monitoring fiscal operations, according to its website.
    • Carolyn Hines, a business owner, entrepreneur, career development program instructor and advisory board member for the Minority Worker Training Program, serves on various boards of directors in the Los Angeles area including as Vice President of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources Board of Directors, Vice President of the New Image Emergency Shelter for the Homeless Board of Directors. Hines has been at the helm of her own company, the Hines Hospitality Group, since June of 1992 and more than 23 years of experience in the industry.

    About Toolots

    Toolots, headquartered in Cerritos, California, offers an online marketplace and international distribution channel for factory-direct industrial tools, machinery, and technology. The user-friendly platform provides fast, easy access to high-quality, affordable equipment to manufacturers. Toolots’ comprehensive services streamline the purchase, delivery, installation and warranty of industrial technology, machinery and components, and uphold the quality of important goods through a vetted network of vendors and service technicians. The company’s dedication to fostering international trade relations passes on cost savings to the consumer, contributes to reduced downtime, improves productivity and expands a manufacturer’s reach. Toolots has strategically located warehouses, showrooms, and offices across the United States, as well as in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. For more information about Toolots, visit their website at www.toolots.com.

  • Women in the Trades, Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering Expo

     

     

     

     

     

    Toolots Hosts Free Expo Feb. 22 to Promote the Role of Women in U.S. Manufacturing, Trades and Related Industries

    Toolots, an online distributor of factory-direct industrial machinery, equipment and technology, is hosting a free expo Feb. 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., “Women in the Trades, Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering.” The expo is a great opportunity for students to meet successful women who already work in the trades – a field that is growing nationally and is in need of a dedicated, educated workforce to bolster U.S. manufacturing.

    The event is offered by the Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board (SELACO), Cerritos College and the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Linked Learning Consortium (AMETLL). Toolots is hosting the event at its headquarters, located at 16300 Shoemaker Ave. in Cerritos, Calif. 90703.

    “We are happy to support SELACO and other partners in promoting the entrance of women into the trades, a career path that is in increasingly high demand,” said Raymond Cheng, Toolots chief operating officer. “The event was designed to help students better understand the industry, and give them a unique opportunity to meet one-on-one and connect with women who have successfully entered the trades.”

    Student registration for the expo begins at 9:30 a.m. Toolots representatives will welcome the group of more than 100 students expected to attend. The day’s panel discussions, involving five women who serve as engineers, instructors, designers and more within the trades, start at 10:15 a.m.

    Panel participants include:

    • Ashley Davitt, senior design engineer with ACCO Engineered Systems in Orange County, whose work focuses on heating, ventilating and air conditioning design within commercial buildings. She oversees design, construction and commissioning of projects in offices, laboratories, schools and manufacturing centers. She graduated from California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and is a state-registered mechanical engineer in California.
    • Jeanne Carnegie, a senior quality assurance engineer with Arconic Fastening Systems and Rings, deals with supplier management and works with IT programmers. She previously developed procedures with the Shimadzu Corporation for the manufacture of landing gears for planes, writing the manual for their operation. She has also worked in loss control engineering and developed an electronic system to collect information in the refinery and drilling industry.
    • Lisette Cruz, a pre-apprenticeship instructor with the Bridging Outstanding Opportunities with Tradeswomen Skills and a member of The Sisters in the Brotherhood, works to help women enter into successful careers in the union carpentry trades. Through The Sisters of the Brotherhood, she conducts outreach to mentor women considering carpentry as a career, and men who have the same interest. Since 1990, Cruz has been a member of The Sisters of the Brotherhood and Joiners of America. She received diplomas in carpentry home building maintenance and welding.
    • Mary Wall, director of operations at JMC2, where she provides clients with practical, innovative solution as a civil engineer. She began her career in structural engineering with Grossman & Speer Associates. She also managed numerous residential subdivision developments as a project manager for CTA Inc. and Lewis Homes, which was later acquired by KB Home. She managed the operations as 50 percent owner of DW Wall Construction Inc. and additionally, has conceived, designed, built and successfully run a restaurant, which she later sold. She has experience overseas coordinating the startup of a special needs school in China. She received a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California.
    • Viridiana Hernandez, a graduate student in Cerritos College’s Engineering Design and Plastic/Composite Tool Design programs, and is finishing up her last year at California State University, Los Angeles to earn a degree in Industrial Technology. She works for Con-Tech Plastics, a plastic injection molding company located in Brea, and attends school full-time.

    Following the panel discussions, two representatives from Manhattan Beach-based organization Polishing the Professional will lead a presentation, “Breaking Down the Barriers.” Davina Douthard, chief executive officer of Polishing the Professional, and her seminar and training coordinator, Anais Maseda, will lead the discussion at 11:30 a.m.

    Polishing the Professional provides leadership, imaging direction and personal branding services to a variety of clients – from designing programs, hiring and evaluating staff to monitoring fiscal operations, according to its website. Douthard also leads the Davina Douthard Foundation, a 501c3 public benefit corporation.

    From noon to 2 p.m., students will have an opportunity to meet individually with a wide range of companies within the trades. Students are free to ask company representatives questions, get to know more about what their organizations do, and make a lasting impression.

    Find more information and the schedule of events for the Women in the Trades, Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering Expo. Parking is available in the lots to the north and south of Toolots headquarters. This event was made possible with the support of SELACO, AMETLL California Career Pathway Trust Fund Grant and Cerritos College.

    About Toolots

    Toolots, headquartered in Cerritos, California, offers an online marketplace and international distribution channel for factory-direct industrial tools, machinery, and technology. The user-friendly platform provides fast, easy access to high-quality, affordable equipment to manufacturers. Toolots’ comprehensive services streamline the purchase, delivery, installation and warranty of industrial technology, machinery and components, and uphold the quality of important goods through a vetted network of vendors and service technicians. The company’s dedication to fostering international trade relations passes on cost savings to the consumer, contributes to reduced downtime, improves productivity and expands a manufacturer’s reach. Toolots has strategically located warehouses, showrooms, and offices across the United States, as well as in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. For more information about Toolots, visit their website at www.toolots.com.

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