D&S Manufacturing in Black River Falls, Wis., is making an example of itself. The custom manufacturer of large-scale components, assemblies and weldments, is the first of several businesses in Western Wisconsin to make itself available to a local trade school for a series of videos that will introduce middle-school students to career opportunities in manufacturing.

Max and Ben’s Manufacturing Adventures was developed by Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wis., working with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. The video series will follow two 13-year-old students in their career and vocational progress. The six-minute videos will be made available for classroom presentations and may be viewed online at www.maxandbenadventures.com. Various social network sites also will be used to promote the series.

A video crew and the series hosts, 13 year-olds Max and Ben, recently interviewed employees in different disciplines to determine the requirements of and responsibilities for each position. The disciplines highlighted included accounting, purchasing, manufacturing engineering, and programming.

The crew also toured the company’s production facilities, and Max and Ben meet with machinists, fabricators, painters, robotic operators and welders — and learned to perform a simple welding operation. D&S employees who participated in the project include Frans Carlstrom, Becky Dolesy, Mathew Matuschka, Scott Guenther and Tom Giese.

D&S Manufacturing is an ISO 9001:2008-certified supplier of components and assemblies to manufacturers like Caterpillar, Oshkosh Corporation, Parkson, The Trane Company, and CNH. Its capabilities include machining; laser, high-definition plasma and oxy-fuel cutting; and manual and robotic welding. The company’s value-added services range from liquid spray painting and shot blasting to assembly and testing.

Frans Carlstrom, director of continuous improvement at D&S Manufacturing, and the tour facilitator, emphasized how important it is to engage students at an early age using communication techniques that are familiar to them. “Too often, local students are unaware of the possibilities that exist in manufacturing and are lead to believe they must relocate to achieve their career objectives. These videos demonstrate, in a fun and engaging way, that there are many rewarding professional opportunities within the Black River Falls community. This program also encourages students to seek out technical classes during middle and high school, as well as coursework in math, chemistry and physics, so they are well-positioned for the challenges associated with post secondary education,” Carlstrom concluded.