Virtual training Proposal of a tool to help train the employees in the replication floor

Virtual training

Proposal of a tool to help train the employees in the replication floor

Table of contents• Introduction• Problem addressed• Objective• Grounds• Current training process• Problem definition• Restrictions• Costs of ignoring the problem• Reminder• Solution proposal• Proposed system• Added value• Alternatives• Potential enhancements• Necessary roles

Introduction

The following is a proposed solution to a present problem in the replication floor

Problem

The learning curve of the new operators is too large, it is taking too much time for them to be productive and to be able to support the

technicians and engineers effectively

Objective

Decrease the new and existing employees’ learning curve size by exposing them to the necessary for

the job knowledge in a timely, controlled and structured fashion

Grounds

• Operators, technicians and engineers opinions• Supervisor’s opinion(Pending)• HR feedback-operators are resigning, not enough

trainers, operators need to give better support to the techs and engineers so that the latter can focus on trends, yields and cycles, increase the skills of all the replication pool of employees, standarize knowledge

Current training process

Takes HR theory Training

Operator

t1

NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job

Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee

Time



Operator

Is tested and certifies

understanding of theory

t1 t2


Time




Operator



On the job training

t1 t2 t3


Time




Operator



On the job trainingIs tested and

certifies understanding

t1 t2 t3 t4


Time




Operator





Ready for the job. Any questions

solved on the fly

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5


Time




Operator






solved on the fly

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5


Time


Main problem: Not enough training-the job related questions far exceed the answers


Operator






solved on the fly

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5

More Singulus and plastic

molding training needed, operator thinks machines will do all the

work, role is not very clear

More time needed to do the test. Knowledge requires time to be digested by

the trainee

Trainee needs more time to be trained on the machines by

qualified individuals, the

amount of questions asked by the trainee in

this phase explodes

dramatically

The trainer needs to be

assigned even more time to the

trainee to test the latter seriously

Operator needs more mentorship than before. If a self starter, he–she is a hazard

for the equipment, if

he-she is passive the learning curve will be

very large


Some areas of improvement

Provide more training ?

What to do ?

Restrictions

• Competition in the business is tough and operating costs have to be trimmed

• Formal training already lasts two or three days plus the practical phase

• Qualified trainers’ (Experienced operators, technicians and engineers) time is expensive

• Qualified trainers’ (Experienced operators, technicians and engineers) main responsibility is productivity enhancement

• Qualified trainers’ (Experienced operators, technicians and engineers) are busy meeting their priorities, it is hard to engage them in training activities, support normally has to be excessively short – there is few or no knowledge transfer

Ignore the problem ?

• The trainee has too many job related questions but very few resources available to find answers causing passive behavior and lack of motivation

• Help is commonly not available as needed by the trainee, qualified resources are busy most of the time – “Why ask if nobody will help me, I’d rather leave the trend at 60%, eventually somebody will find out “ or “I’d rather leave the machine down and wait until an engineer helps me to change the mask” or “ I prefer focusing on machine 12 that seems a difficult one but it is ready to be troubleshooted rather than running machine 1 which needs a mask change”

• Many times, help does not come from qualified sources, causing confusion and conflict in the trainee - Several answers to the same question – The operator wonders : “Who should I trust????”

• By constantly asking questions on the fly in an unordered way, there is not enough time for inner feedback resulting in the same question being asked several times by the same trainee causing :

– Disturbance in the qualified personnel’s busy schedules– Chaos in the mind of the trainee– Conflict among co workers

Cost of ignoring the problem

• Employee loses focus• Employee loses motivation• Downtimes increase• Learning Curves : too large• Yields don’t increase• Cycles don’t decrease• Huge amounts of wasted material• Loss of profit

Cost of ignoring the problem

Taking action

The operator is required to be a self starter and learn by asking questions, the problem

is that there are not enough answers

Graphic representation of the present situation (Reminder)

Wasted time

Learning curve

Questions

Answers

t1 t2t0

Area of opportunity

Amount :

Increase the number of sources of knowledge available so that the operator can have a reliable answer when he needs it

Necessary actionssimplified

Wasted time reduced

Smaller learning curve

Questions

Answers

t1 t2t0

Amount :

New pool of knowledge and a diminishing learning curve

Wasted time reduced

Questions

Answers

t1 t2t0

Amount : Smaller learning curve

By providing the employee with the necessary knowledge for being successful on his job, it becomes his sole responsibility to become more productive in less time

Landing the solution

Proposal?1

http://www.singulus.de/deutsch/4_produkte/replication/spaceline/spaceline_01.htm

Proposal?1

Operator has a question and

there is no one who can help

him

Proposal

2

?

Operator walks to a PC located in the floor


Proposal?

3

3

Operator writes down his question using a simple application in the PC, the question is recorded in a database


Proposal

4

E mail notification of pending

question

Qualified sources of knowledge

•Supervisor

•Training department

•Engineers

•Technicians

•Certified operators4

Operator immediately goes back to work, confident that the correct people have been

notified that an employee has a question that needs to be answered

?


Proposal

5Answer is recorded in

database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians

•Certified operators

Qualified resources log into the system through any PC and provide the question

with a complete certified answer

?


Proposal??

In a predefined amount of time, the operator goes back to the PC in the floor

and searches for the certified answer to his question

6


Proposal??

7

If certified answer exists in database, it is visualized in the application and read by

the operator, the operator would decide if this answer has met his requirements


Proposal

Operator goes back to work and the time lost is reduced dramatically

8

?

Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool

Results and benefits


Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Who asked



Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Who asked

What was asked Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool

Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Who asked

What was asked Who answeredAnswers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool

Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Who asked

What was asked Who answered

How much time before the answer


Proposal?1

2

?

4


question


database


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


637

3

Who asked

What was asked Who answered

How much time before the answer


Categorization and standarization of knowledge

Specific questions

Molding Singulus

Meiki Sumitomo Metallization Bonding

General info

Troubleshooting Process theory

Dr. Shenk disc errors

Electrical errors

Sputtering UV Curing

Added value of the system• Increase the control over the training process• Speed and strengthen the link between those who have the knowledge

and those who don’t• Make the training process more efficient• Creation of a centralized source of Certified and Standard knowledge

that can be accessed in a simple and fast way 24 hours a day• The qualified personnel can answer whenever their busy schedules

allow them – Flexibility• The investment is relatively low while the amount of positively

affected employees is high• Build the foundations of a training portal not only for operators but

for all the replication floor and even for the whole company’s employees

Alternatives

• Although the plastic molding industry is relatively large, training and printed material is very expensive. The sources are also limited and the existing material is most of the time complex and cumbersome

• With respect to the DVD downstream process, the situation is worse, since the technology is new, there are not enough sources of knowledge even for the ones willing to pay. The training sources are concentrated among very few companies and qualified individuals

Alternative training is expensiveSource of knowledge

Average Price (dls)

Comment

Plastic injection molding course in the community college

300/module/

person

There is a defined and strict schedule which is not always in the best convenience of the Infodisc’s employee

Plastic injection molding books >100/book Not available in common stores, have to be ordered by internet or through interlibrary loans even in UTEP’s library, in which case it takes from 3 to 4 weeks to arrive

Internet plastic injection molding training

From 200 a module to >5000

The material is extensive and a PC would be needed any way

Singulus training Not known Given in Germany, in other US cities or in house by expensive and qualified consultants, no printed material other than Singulus’, no courses in local schools and no internet links where to find value adding information

Potential enhancements

Internet Accessible


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


Operator

If the system is internet accessible, the operator can optimize time by logging in from any computer out of the work place any time to check if his question has already an answer, perhaps he could even be emailed if he decides to. The answer provider would also have the same flexibility

Third parties

?

Qualified third party sources of knowledge

•Singulus

•Dr. Schenk

•Meiki

•Sumitomo

•E-Mould


•Supervisor


•Engineers

•Technicians


The system could be easily enhanced to include a link to Singulus, Dr.Schenk, Emould, Meike, Sumitomo in the case the questions dramatically increase in amount and complexity. At a certain point, all questions could be streamlined to one of the aforementioned parties thus decreasing the workload of Infodisc’s qualified employees

(2-3D)Graphics and easily understandable material

There would be a point in which certain processes could be better explained by graphical means by the knowledge provider, in this case, the operator, technician and engineer, would retrieve a 2-3D or even a virtual reality or multimedia file thus decreasing the learning time

Getting rid of the bonding gap

Virtual training portal

Eventually, a whole portal can be built with all types of links aimed to improve the training process not only for the rest of the replication floor’s employees but for the whole company. Not only for the training process but for other production processes as well

A collaborative system that could help increase the floor’s productivity by interacting with the rest of the systems and business processes with the objective of accomplishing leaner processes, less overhead and less re – working.

Scale demonstration

http://www.geocities.com/zepedaherbey/

Documents

Virtual training Proposal of a tool to help train the employees in the replication floor