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
Current training process
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
t1 t2
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
Time
Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee
Current training process
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
On the job training
t1 t2 t3
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
Time
Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee
Current training process
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
On the job trainingIs tested and
certifies understanding
t1 t2 t3 t4
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
Time
Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee
Current training process
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
On the job trainingIs tested and
certifies understanding
Ready for the job. Any questions
solved on the fly
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
Time
Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee
Current training process
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
On the job trainingIs tested and
certifies understanding
Ready for the job. Any questions
solved on the fly
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
Time
Amount of job related questions accumulated by the trainee
Main problem: Not enough training-the job related questions far exceed the answers
Takes HR theory Training
Operator
Is tested and certifies
understanding of theory
On the job trainingIs tested and
certifies understanding
Ready for the job. Any questions
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
NOTE : In each step of the process, the employee accumulates more questions about the job
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
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
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•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
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
Results and benefits
Proposal?1
2
?
4
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Who asked
Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
Proposal?1
2
?
4
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Who asked
What was asked Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
Proposal?1
2
?
4
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Who asked
What was asked Who answeredAnswers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
Proposal?1
2
?
4
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Who asked
What was asked Who answered
How much time before the answer
Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
Proposal?1
2
?
4
E mail notification of pending
question
5Answer is recorded in
database
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators4
637
3
Who asked
What was asked Who answered
How much time before the answer
Answers to FAQ’s & general knowledge pool
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
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators
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
Qualified sources of knowledge
•Supervisor
•Training department
•Engineers
•Technicians
•Certified operators
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/