I often get asked “Why should we train”, so I went through some older posts and found a few of my favorite posts on this topic…
Feel free to forward these to anyone who might be interested.
-Andy
2012 NPE – Don’t Miss It…
Hi Everyone,
Try not to miss the 2012 NPE in Orlando. For information, visit the website at www.npe.org.
-Andy
Put the Tonnage on the Mold Base…
I was at a molder the other week who had this common issue…
Engineer
Our technicians always change the clamp tonnage and it seems to cause problems with venting, actions, and wear. Even the setup guys mess it up.
My Response
Once you have determined the tonnage that should be used on a tool, I recommend you put a plaque on the side of the mold stating the tonnage to be used. If the recommended tonnage is stamped right on each tool, it is hard for a technician or setup person to miss it.
Additional Thoughts
If you are having a problem with a specific issue, such as tonnage, always look for a simplistic way to draw attention to it.
-Andy
Don’t Forget the Fundamentals…
I received this comment the other day…
Manager
I understand my technicians have not had any formal process training, but what they really need is advanced training.
My Thoughts
It is common to believe that advanced training will automatically cause your employees to function at a higher level. Unfortunately, advanced training does little to change behavior if your employees lack a good understanding of the fundamentals. A great example of this is the decoupling of 1st stage filling from 2nd stage packing.
Let’s presume you have a technician who has been filling the mold completely during 1st stage fill for the past 15 years. Now you send this person to a class focused on the finer points of optimizing filling and packing based on the foundation of a short shot during first stage fill. This employee would learn very little which is directly applicable to his job since he still believes filing the mold completely during 1st stage fill is the best way to process.
-Andy
Coloring Water Line Connections…
One molder asked me this question the other day…
Manager
Our setup techs always seem to connect the water lines incorrectly. We have diagrams to show the setup, but they seem to mess it up anyways.
My Response
Companies who use individual water lines rather than a manifold should color-code everything using blue lines for incoming water, red lines for outgoing water, and extra colors such as yellow for line which exit and re-enter the mold.
Once you have this established, place colored plaques on each connection of the mold. This will ensure that your employees cannot accidentally connect an in-line to an out connector.
-Andy