A partnership between a leading North American manufacturer of incandescent lighting and Penn State has created a workforce training program that's improved quality and efficiency at a St. Marys plant.
Since June 1998, OSRAM SYLVANIA has been using a video-based training program developed by Penn State DuBois to train new employees and provide refresher training for existing ones at its St. Marys site, where 700 workers produce and package more than 1 million lamps every day.
Just two years after start-up, the new training method has yielded impressive results. Worker efficiency and product quality have both improved, there has been less operator downtime and a decreased need for maintenance support, making the plant's operations more efficient and cost-competitive.
The company's former method of training involved placing a new employee directly on the line to shadow an operator for a six-week period. Over time, the process proved to be less than ideal, producing employees with limited skills and little understanding of how the machinery they operated really worked. As a result, product quality was inconsistent, the plant maintenance staff was relied upon to fix even the most minor machinery problems, and operator downtime was excessive.
Seeking a solution, Gary Fritz, staff engineer at the plant, turned to Penn State DuBois. Creating a new training program that instills needed skill sets on the job was the challenge presented to Penn State DuBois Continuing Education staff. To accomplish its mission, Continuing Education called upon the expertise of Penn State's Workforce Education and Development faculty, the University's Jack Royer Center for Learning and Academic Technologies, and MediaSOLUTIONS -- an arm of Penn State Public Broadcasting.
The group developed the training curriculum required, and then produced a media package necessary to deliver the training on-site.
To develop the program, Penn State's consultants visited the plant and conducted an analysis of specific tasks by interviewing and observing employees as they did their jobs. All of the information gathered was then incorporated into a series of instructional videos that show, in exacting detail, the steps necessary to complete specific tasks successfully. The training video is supplemented by a written manual.
Following the completion of the video modules, next steps proposed include incorporating the troubleshooting and training solutions in a computer-based learning format. This will enable machine operators to access critical information while on the shop floor, minimizing disruptions of the manufacturing processes and machine downtime.