Training Sessions

GIRL GUIDES OPEN DOORS TOUR

OVERVIEW

The tour will take place in Lethbridge Iron Works’ Iron Foundry. On the tour you will see where molten metal is produced in large furnaces and transported to our pour lines where moulds are filled with hot metal. We will also see Core production and the Finishing room where the castings are ground before being shipped to customers.

Lethbridge Iron has been on a Lean journey over the past year so kids will also see examples of 5S, Kan Ban, Kaizen Projects and have a mini introduction to Agile/Scrum, which is a project management system, used in huge software companies.

Lethbridge Iron Works is one of the oldest companies in Lethbridge using some of the latest and greatest strategies from the Toyota Way to transform the company and remain a leader in the North American castings industry.

MANUFACTURING CAREERS IN CANADA

Modern manufacturing careers are highly skilled, highly valued, and well paying. Manufacturers are diverse, creative, modern, and role models. They’re designing and manufacturing the things that make modern life.

As problem solvers, they create efficient manufacturing processes, produce lower emission products, reduce waste; pushing the limits of technology and innovation. Manufacturers figure out how to make businesses greener, more productive, and more cost effective.

BRIDGING THE GAP

According to Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) surveys, 69% of manufacturers are currently facing skill shortages, while a full 75% say they will be facing this shortage in five years. Women are vastly underrepresented in the manufacturing sector. CME is working with industry to find ways to draw from this untapped resource.

To move the dial, we need to provide girls and young women:

1. More female role models to inspire, encourage and mentor

2. Access to tour modern facilities to help change the perception of manufacturing

3. More efforts to encourage pursuing STEM focused education and/or skilled trades

Tours

Tours provide young girls with a different point of view as well as showcases the diversity of career options available in the industry.

1. Girls get to see the action behind the scenes and the fascinating products made right here in Alberta & Canada

2. Manufacturers come from all walks of life – from the shop floor to the boardroom, a broad range of experience, talent and skills are needed to run a facility and to export world-class products

3. Manufacturing is a hands-on environment – students will see for themselves the importance of group dynamics and teamwork in action

SUCCESS

CME has a proven track record of success with Open Doors tours

1. Hosted over 100 tours between 2016 to 2018 throughout Canada for just under 2,000 students

2. 97% of students stated the tour made them more aware of the job opportunities and the diversity of jobs in manufacturing

3. 96% of students would recommend this experience to other teachers and/or students

4. 84% of participants indicated that they were open to considering careers in manufacturing

DATE

January 31, 2020

LOCATION

720 32 St N, Lethbridge,
AB T1H 5K5

PARTICIPANTS

This tour is offered to
Girls Guide of Southern Alberta

About our Leth Iron

LETH IRON was established in 1898 in Lethbridge as a metalworking business providing many services to the burgeoning coal mining industry in Lethbridge. Over the past century the company has narrowed its scope of business, becoming an industry leader as a jobbing iron foundry supplying iron castings to various customer segments throughout North America.

The company currently operates a modern production foundry of over 110,000 square feet on 7 acres in the city’s industrial park. The facility was constructed in 1975 and has been expanded 6 times since.

Leth Iron uses the latest technology and automated equipment and products are shipped to companies throughout North America. Their customer sectors for finished castings expand across various industries including agriculture, automotive, rail, oil & gas, forestry as well as several others.

CAREERS

Lethbridge Iron will discuss such jobs as Production Manager, Mechanical Engineers, Quality Assurance, Human Resources, Sales, Safety and Finance
Trades employed here are Welders, Electricians and Millwrights
A female Mechanical Engineer who works in our Quality department will join us and speak about her journey to Canada from Serbia
Heather McMorrow, VP of Operations & HR also started her journey in manufacturing working at a Beef Plant with 2000 employees before coming to Lethbridge Iron