Students from across the country attend Raymond’s first completely virtual National Manufacturing Day event

The Raymond Corporation observed National Manufacturing Day with more than 2,000 student registrants from around the country during an interactive digital event on October 2, 2020. National Manufacturing Day is an annual celebration of the manufacturing industry organized by the National Association of Manufacturers.

This year was the first year Raymond’s Manufacturing Day was an entirely digital event, enabling students to discover what advanced manufacturing operations really look like via virtual experience. The event included a virtual factory tour, interactive quizzes, associate testimonials, and department demonstrations. The future workforce also heard from Raymond executives, including the senior director of operations and quality, Tony Topencik.

“The material handling industry is in need of the younger generation’s innovative thinking, which can push and challenge our industry to stretch and reach new potential,” Topencik said. “We want to ignite curiosity among students about career possibilities that they might not have previously considered.”

As manufacturers seek to fill 4.6 million high-skill, high-tech jobs over the next decade, participating in Manufacturing Day events allows companies to engage students at an age when they are still finding their interests and deciding what types of careers they want to explore.

“Raymond’s Manufacturing Day event was thought-provoking and engaging. The students really enjoyed the experience. We were all impressed with how organized and interactive the website was. We hope they do a virtual event again next year as well!” said Sonnet Constable, a work-based learning coordinator, Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego Board of Cooperative Educational Services (DCMO BOCES) in Chenango County, New York.

Nearly 60 classrooms participated in the event, for which Raymond gave teachers educational materials to support their curriculums and help students engage in new and interactive experiences. As part of the course, students were enabled to upload photos of themselves navigating the digital event.