Almost every time I have the opportunity to meet with professionals in the gear industry, the topic of training and education comes up. Maintaining a stable workforce continues to be one of the chief struggles of manufacturing companies.

For some, that means attracting talent: finding and hiring the people—especially young people—with the aptitude and attitude for doing manufacturing work. For others, it means retaining that talent: keeping those workers engaged and interested.

In some ways, the answers lie in education and training. It’s hard to find employees who are ready and able to step onto the shop floor and be productive from day one. It’s also hard to get employees who are set in their ways to learn new skills that would help the enterprise.

Fortunately, there are many options for helping those employees, from online courses to hands-on training to in-plant seminars. This issue we take a close look at some of these options.

The article “Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure” by Senior Editor Matthew Jaster explores how new technologies and ways of thinking are changing the way manufacturing education is being taught (p. 18). Examples include data-driven education, a sociological approach and virtual reality.

The discussion continues with Senior Editor Aaron Fagan’s article on AGMA’s programs for professional development of the gear-manufacturing workforce (p. 24). Fagan describes how AGMA’s IACET-accredited training programs help professional engineers keep up to date with continuing education credits. The article also includes an in-depth interview with AGMA’s Education Manager, Stephanie Smialek, about all the options AGMA offers.

Of course, one of the best ways you can stay on top of your continuing education is by continuing to read Gear Technology. This issue we have two top-notch technical articles that are extremely relevant. “Use of Duty Cycles or Measured Torque—Time Data with AGMA Ratings” by Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Kissling explores how duty cycles are used in conjunction with gear rating. “Tooth Root Load Capacity of Additive Manufactured Gears,” from the team at WZL-RWTH Aachen details the testing of gears made by both the binder jetting process and the laser powder bed fusion process.

But continuing to read Gear Technology requires that you keep up with your subscription. Many of you will notice that your copy of this issue came with a page attached to the front, urging you to renew. If you got this message, it means your subscription is in danger of expiring soon. Please follow the QR code or use the URL printed on that page to continue your education by continuing to receive Gear Technology.

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