"In essence, this (education and training) will put us in a position to be one of the powers in the forging industry throughout the world," says Kevin Donovan, president of United Auto Workers' Local 846 at the Tonawanda Forge plant.

"They provided an education and training plan to help us accomplish the goals we need to be measurably competitive in the marketplace," agrees Gary Witter, director of personnel at the Forge.

With a grant from the state Urban Development Corporation and matching money from AAM and the state Department of Economic Development, TCIE conducted an assessment of the current skill level of the former General Motors operation's work force and recommended education and training programs, to be implemented over the next three years, to help the company achieve its long-range goals. This assessment will be followed up with state grants totalling $500,000 for implementation.

Those goals, as defined by AAM president Richard E. Dauch, are to become a premier global supplier of drive-line systems and forging with a world-class work force, says Rebecca Landy,TCIE executive director.

TCIE's work with AAM is just one instance of the UB center working to further economic development in Western New York. No other organization is doing that type of comprehensive assessments, Landy notes. AAM is in an unusual position in that about 55 percent of its work force is relatively new to the plants, notes Witter. "Our challenge is to get our associates up to speed on everything from new technology to team-building skills to safety issues," he says.

Enter TCIE, based in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and affiliated with the UB School of Management.

TCIE looked at all levels of the work force at the company's plants and all aspects of its operations. After a quick review, TCIE put together "blended teams" of experts from UB's engineering and management schools, private industry and other colleges and universities to do more specialized assessments, Landy says.

The assessment determined that AAM needed to pursue training in the areas of strategic planning, total quality management, ISO-QS 9001 certification and trade skills, she says. TCIE assembled a three-person team to help AAM train its personnel to plan, schedule and implement training, which already has begun at both plants.