Plastics Training: April 2010 Archives

In group settings, there are typically a couple people who follow along with the discussion, while others often struggle to keep up. If the ones who are struggling are uncomfortable in speaking up, then the entire effort suffers.

Additionally, factors such as the company, management, or even culture can make it difficult for a participant to feel comfortable speak up. Overall, most employees prefer to learn at their own pace.

When we establish training programs, we prefer structured self-paced training with focused one-on-one instruction which ensures that the employee learns. In such a setting, the employee does not feel any of the pressures that exist in a group format. This approach has proven successful in virtually all companies and cultures.

For a related discussion, please review this previous entry: Relying on On-The-Job Training Alone

-Andy

Your co-worker is correct. Voids are sections in the center of a part where material shrinks away from itself and leaves what appears like a small hole within the part.

Although they often appear to be air bubbles, they are actually vacuums within the part where no gas is present. An increase in packing or holding pressure usually corrects this.

Keep in mind, gas entrapment can often be confused with the presence of voids.

-Andy

When tracking the improvements of training, what should I monitor?

I will answer this is a few parts...

1) Choose from the data that is already available - Do not create new metrics to monitor... if it was important to the management, someone would already be monitoring the parameters.

2) Select 3-4 parameters - Choose a few important parameters... monitoring too many parameters will become overwhelming.

3) Gather data form the last 6-12 months - Without a good baseline for comparison... you will not know how much things have improved.

Don't be afraid to share the credit with other initiatives. In many cases, another improvement initiative will take place while the training is going on. For example, the die setters and technicians could be implementing 5S at the same time you are training them on processing. In such a case, the reduction in downtime and changeover time will most likely be a cumulative result from both initiatives... especially when the initiative is integrated into the training through tasks and customization.

-Andy