Washington Apprenticeships

The Industrial Manufacturing Technicians (IMT) operate production equipment as well as assembles applicable components. Manufacturing technicians must closely follow guidelines, blueprints, and/or diagrams of the products being manufactured; this is important to ensure that all the necessary product specifications are met and comply with the company’s standards.

A precision metal fabricator cuts, bends, forms and assembles precise metal parts. Like piecing together a puzzle, the fabricator produces specialized components at very high tolerances for products such as medical devices and aerospace parts.

Every industrial machine requires an operator to interact with it to set parameters, adjust parameters, perform initial set up, ensure quality standards are adhered to. There are different types of machinery to consider for Industrial Machine Operators including: robotic packaging machinery, robotic sorting equipment, and food processing equipment.

A Plastics Process Technicians primary job is to set up, monitor and troubleshoot plastic injection-molding machines. This requires specialized knowledge of materials, specific tools, and equipment. Troubleshooting tasks might include dealing with inconsistent material, faulty equipment, human error, and preventing defects from occurring.

AJAC’s Industrial Maintenance Technician Apprentices work in a variety of industries in Washington State, including food processing, aerospace, maritime manufacturing, biomedical manufacturing, defense, space, and packaging and assembly. Industrial Maintenance Technicians install, repair and maintain commercial or industrial machinery in buildings, a plant, or a manufacturing setting. These technicians ensure all machines function properly through troubleshooting and preventive maintenance service.

A machinist operates manually controlled and computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tools such as lathes and milling machines, to cut and produce precision parts for machines, instruments, and tools. Machinists repair or produce parts using both manual and automated equipment with precise measurements. Essentially, a machinists' goal is to ensure effective production operations and optimize procedures.

Tool and Die Makers work with computer-controlled machinery and mechanical equipment to cut, shape and finish tools, instruments and metal parts to precision levels.

CNC Programmers develop programs to control machining or processing of metal or plastic parts by automatic machine tools, equipment, or systems. Students in the AJAC CNC Programmer Apprenticeship will learn to use CAD and CAM fundamentals to design for manufacturability (develop tooling). Students will gain a thorough understanding of the underlying manufacturing processes that are essential to developing a part program; they will know how to build a part and will understand the role of the CNC Programmer in a team and an organization.