The continuous line of road’s improvement within Primamec started several months ago and since then it involved several projects and as many concepts to be assimilated, aimed at ensuring an increasingly comprehensive training of personnel and an internal organization within the production department capable of simplifying the operations to be carried out on a daily basis.
Today we want to talk to you about Training Within Industry: a principle of widespread teaching aimed at a specific organization focused on the training of employees within the company. This method has become so important because it represents a new approach to the training and use of manpower in industry.
Its origins can be traced back to the time of World War II, when the U.S. government, in order to meet the need to resupply the armed forces in the shortest possible time, developed intensive training and education programs aimed at improving workers’ skills. Each person who was trained had to train 5 others in turn, explaining first the tasks to be accomplished, then the “how,” and finally the “why.”
The method consists of 4 steps:
1) The first involves breaking down the operation or production process you want to improve into all its micro activities of which it is composed;
2) The second requires asking yourself a well-defined set of questions: What? How? Why?
Following the answers that are given, various measures will be executed, such as: eliminating, merging, reorganizing, or simplifying certain actions by the team.
3) The third step involves defining the new process (resulting from the eliminations, combinations, reorganizations and simplifications of step 2);
4) The fourth and final step involves introducing and standardizing the new method.
The TWI is explained three times to the new resources: first the “master” or expert resource explains what is to be done; then it is explained afresh a second time specifying in detail how the actions are to be carried out; and finally, when the information is repeated for the third time, the “why” of the information is also explained.
In this first part, the “student,” that is, the one to be trained, remains silent and observes the “master.” Next, the person to be trained must repeat the TWI 3 times: the first time with the help of the master who will follow him step by step. During the second repetition, the master will remain silent and correct only the mistakes, explaining the reasons for them.
Finally, the trained person will have to repeat the actions on his own in complete autonomy. If at the end he has not made any mistakes, he will be autonomous to operate.
The TWI has a dual function: that of training people and that of helping the trainer not to forget all the important notions to be learned by new resources.
Thanks to the support of LeanBet, a Training Within Industry model has been developed in Primamec through which toolmakers can quickly learn notions related to the proper operation and placement of machinery through a manual to be followed step by step with all the necessary information.
To complement the TWI, we have created a series of Work Instructcion that are simpler than the TWI, but no less effective, and an OPL (One Point Lesson) series that highlight specific lessons by summarizing on a sheet of paper all the useful information about a particular topic. With these instructions, the result is easier training and information for staff on the topics covered.
The implementation, carried out by our Lean Officer Lamberto Cuoghi, in collaboration with the LeanBet team, has immediately brought positive effects on staff training, helping resources to know how to make the best use of and manage each piece of machinery inside the production area through targeted images and explanations.
We can say that the Lean journey we are going through within our company has been helping us for several months now to optimize the entire supply chain through numerous changes.
Being able to change one’s habits for the sake of improvement in terms of quality and efficiency is a factor that should not be underestimated in order to continue giving our best day by day, which is why we believe so strongly in such a project that is involving every department of our company.
Keep following us on our social pages Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss the latest updates related to the Primamec world.
You can find us at Via Marzabotto, 77 – 40050 – Funo di Argelato (BO) from Monday to Friday (09:00 – 17:00).
