Abstract
Joetsu City was born in 2005 as a result of the largest scale merger of municipalities in Japan. This led the newborn city to hold as many as 400 companies in manufacturing industry. For the small- and medium-sized enterprises faced with keen competition, securing and developing human resources is the most imminent challenge. This study deals with an extension course for manufacturing industry with a focus on processing using machining centers conducted with collaboration of the local community and the government. The program was developed to help participants to acquire basic NC machining knowledge and skills through practical training covering from NC programming to parts manufacturing using a machining center. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted after the program, which revealed that participants rated the program highly in terms of the degree of satisfaction, usefulness at work, etc. Besides, a hands-on learning experience was provided to elementary and junior high school students, as well as general citizens, as part of local effort in public education with the cooperation of the Joetsu City Center for Supporting Learning Experiences. The joy and importance of manufacturing was appealed to the participants through making pictograph stamps using machining center.
