The Los Angeles region is poised to create more manufacturing jobs but more needs to be done to get potential workers ready for those jobs, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday at the opening of the Westec manufacturing expo.

His administration will work with the public school and community college districts to promote engineering, math and science courses, Garcetti told a crowd of about 70 people at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“We need to start skills training at an early age to make sure we have folks ready for manufacturing jobs,” he said.

Garcetti was appearing on the first day of Westec, a three-day L.A. expo put on by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers of Dearborn, Mich. About 15,000 attendees are expected at the convention center to view the latest in manufacturing technology from 500 companies from throughout the United States

Los Angeles is the largest manufacturing hub in the country, and California, with 25,000 manufacturing companies employing 1.5 million people, is the largest manufacturing state, Garcetti noted.

While the city leads the nation in making goods that are shipped around the globe, Garcetti said he would like to see the U.S. economy put an emphasis on production and less on consumption because that will drive innovation and push the country forward.

“When we have innovation it is not just good for Los Angeles it is good for the world,” the mayor said.

After his remarks, Garcetti visited with some of the exhibiting companies that demonstrated their metal-cutting machines and robotic technology.