Richard McClees, SMART
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY
By / Don Procter
“Sometimes imagination is more important than knowledge.” —Albert Einstein The sheet metal industry is experiencing a wakeup call from technological change and members of SMART and SMACNA cannot afford to ignore it. “It isn’t business as usual,” says Guy Gast, former SMACNA president and chair of the New Horizons Foundation (NHF), which produced the HVAC Sheet Metal Industry Futures Study (2016). He says both management and labor must collaborate now to prepare for the future. Scenarios that are changing the nature of the work are emerging from “rapid” technological advancements and evolving energy standards, which are sometimes presented as “subtle changes in local codes and legislation.” Rich McClees, SMART’s general secretary-treasurer, concurs, and is confident that new technology and other factors on the horizon won’t eliminate opportunities for the sheet metal trades. “The work isn’t going to go away; it is evolving,” McClees says. 4 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
“We have to be in front of that with training, though.” He echoes comments by SMART General President Joseph Sellers who recently called on business managers and agents to look at the two- to five-year horizon in order to maximize training opportunities and capture work. An example is architectural metals contracts, which are projected to grow by 26 to 40 percent in the next few years. Adapting training methods – on the fly, if necessary – to stay in front of change is critical. The International Training Institute (ITI) and the National Energy Management Institute (NEMI) are tasked with developing timely training. The ITI’s strike force training initiative (covered in the last issue of Partners in Progress) is a prime example. SMART, meanwhile, is organizing a committee to examine strategies required to meet training needs for new technologies, McClees says.
