We, at Scientific Management Techniques, decided to pull together data from our forty-six years of mechanical hard skills assessments into a simple but effective chart.  The results demonstrate a clear, steady decline in mechanical troubleshooting skills over the past four and a half decades.  And we don’t need the data to know this, we hear it from the ground every day from our global manufacturing clientele.

Used to collect the data, the Standard Timing Model (STM), our mechanical skills assessment tool, is used to identify mechanical skills and competencies when hiring Maintenance Professionals, Machine Operators, Electro-Mechanical Personnel, Assemblers and Technicians. There are varying degrees of assessment difficulty depending on the position you’re hiring or evaluating.  In addition, the STM is an effective tool for determining mechanical aptitude and determining training needs.

Our assessment programs have been validated thirty-eight times at the Ph.D. level, proving their effectiveness at identifying the most skilled, most capable, and most trainable candidates and incumbents.

The end result is that the manufacturing skills gap is real, and it will continue to significantly impact the bottom line of manufacturers globally.  What has led to this skills gap could be debated at length, but we believe it is critical to move forward with a solution-based skills strategy to embrace your manufacturing workforce pipeline.

If you’d like to know more about the unique, hands-on skills assessment and training solutions we offer, please contact us, we’d welcome the opportunity to customize a program for you and your team.

The post The Manufacturing Skills Gap – A Look at the Hard Data appeared first on Scientific Management Techniques, Inc..

Any type of workforce skills gap is often the result of many forces that have evolved slowly over time, intertwining to create a complex social, political and economic problem.  Therefore, constructing arguments based on survey data (realistically, only a snapshot based entirely on perception) can be unreliable.  Both sides of the manufacturing skills gap argument have used survey data to frame their conclusions.

In the article, one of the authors even states this himself, “The claims and the data sets that are out there often don’t involve the direct measurement of skills, so people are looking at vacancy rates across the entire economy or all manufacturers,” he said. “There’s very little data in which people go in at the plant level and measure what skills U.S. workers need to have.”

How do you make conclusions about the hard skills of the US manufacturing workforce without actual skill data from US workers?

Since 1971, Scientific Management Techniques has been measuring and recording hard skill data using our Manufacturing Skills Assessment Programs across many manufacturing industries and geographical areas.   SMT’s assessments have been delivered millions of times over the course of this time period.  These programs utilize Validated, Hands-On, Performance-Based Assessment Machines that identify the most skilled, most capable, and most trainable candidates and incumbents.  In other words, our assessment programs directly quantify the hard skill levels of the manufacturing workforce.

From our decades of data, we have seen a sharp decline in overall assessment performance in the last 15 years.  We consistently hear about the struggles of manufacturers to find the right talent, and that is why they come to us for a solution.  Our manufacturing clients (such as Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Pfizer, Honda) deploy our Skills Assessment and Training Solutions because they know that without them, the impact of the skills gap to their bottom line would be significant enough to stifle productivity and profitability goals.

Clearly, we can assume the skills required by the manufacturing industry has not declined, and with the acceleration of technology and automation, they have in many areas increased.   With labor skills declining and the required skills increasing, a skills gap has developed.

This is not a judgement on the worthiness of the US workforce as one author states in the article.  This is the result of many socio-economic and political forces aligning against the manufacturing industry and the skills needed to see it thrive through the next century.

Of course, the solution required is multi-faceted, and certainly, coordinating supply with demand is at the heart of the issue. Outside of industry, SMT regularly partners with community colleges and workforce development initiatives to align their offerings to this goal.

If you are interested in more information about our Manufacturing Skill Programs or want to discuss skill data for your region or state, please contact me at ebarksdale@scientific-management.com.

The post Manufacturing Skills Gap Doesn’t Exist? It does, and here’s how. appeared first on Scientific Management Techniques, Inc..

Before we apply a training program, it must be comprised of the following basic elements, all of which are tightly interwoven:

1. Effective – In order for training to be meaningful, it must translate directly to the bottom line. Workers must be able to apply what they learn to their operations, improving productivity.
2. Efficient – Training programs must be designed to be efficient in their time delivery. Taking staff off the production floor while maintaining full operations is challenging.  It is not that programs must be delivered quickly, but the time allotted for training must be maximized.
3. Easy to comprehend – Like any training curriculum, it must be easy for students to understand. None of the above is possible if material cannot be understood and applied.

The above elements can only be achieved if employees are only given the training they need.  A “shotgun” approach, while seemingly easier, will only end up costing more in the long run.  Not only is it more expensive, but employees are more likely to disengage if they feel they are not learning.

At Scientific Management Techniques (SMT), we have developed a unique Demand-Driven Training System that targets training specifically to the needs of the individual based on their real, hard skill levels.  We accomplish this by cataloguing their current skills through our Hands-On Skills Assessment Programs.  These validated assessment machines are designed to evaluate the skill levels of both potential new hires and incumbent employees.

By creating standardized benchmarks and analyzing skill gaps, we then develop a customized curriculum unique to the individual.  Along with a host of pre-determined operational metrics, we close the circle by administering post-training assessments to determine the effectiveness of the training, readjust and reapply.  SMT’s skill training system has been utilized to train thousands of Fortune 500 manufacturing employees in 38 countries.

When done properly, skills training is a fundamental building block for any growth oriented organization.  Not only does it help improve the bottom line, but gives employees a sense of purpose, growth and loyalty integral to any company’s success.

The post A Manufacturing Dilemma – Who Needs What Training? appeared first on Scientific Management Techniques, Inc..

Manufacturing is fundamentally a hands-on, product/good creation enterprise.  It would naturally follow that training, too, should be a hands-on experience in terms of maintenance, production and operations.  Theory and tactical knowledge is important, but only truly learned when applied through practice.  One of our largest and most successful manufacturing clients recently told us, “As we prepared to put this (training) in place, we did some research and found that our mechanics wanted hands-on training, not just to sit in front of a computer or read a book.”

As we all know, training factors such as time and cost play a dominate role, as they always will.  Yet, ROI and training effectiveness should always dictate decision making.

It can be difficult and time consuming to formulate proper evaluation methods of training.  Time is always in limited supply, especially when it takes portions of the incumbent workforce off the floor.

Scientific Management Techniques has devised a unique system of training that utilizes our Hands-On Assessment Machines and Methodology to quantify individual skill sets pre and post-training.  Pre-training assessments allow Fortune 500 manufacturers to customize highly targeted training to the individual, giving them the training they need, and nothing they don’t – minimizing the time they are off the production floor.  For post-training analysis the incumbents are re-assessed to evaluate the effectiveness of the training, and where adjustments can be made.  A virtuous cycle is created.

SMT’s Manufacturing Training Curriculum is 100% demand-driven, based on the ever changing needs of the manufacturing industry over the last 40 years.  Troubleshooting is the heart and soul of the program and utilizes over 200 Hands-On training aids.

The result of these unique assessment and training systems when applied together is powerful.

The post Training Effectiveness in a Manufacturing Environment appeared first on Scientific Management Techniques, Inc..

Here are a few of the key takeaways, and strategies that we at Scientific Management Techniques (SMT) have built into our curriculum delivery:

• Hands-On Training – Manufacturing is a hands-on industry, and people naturally learn best by doing. SMT teaches theory that is then put into practice using over 200 training aids that replicate conditions in industry.  Examples include our newly developed Process Control trainer, Pneumatic and Hydraulic trainers, and a Packaging Machine Simulator.

• Direct Application – Training isn’t effective if it isn’t relevant. Delivering training that is directly tied to an end goal or end process is key to maximizing ROI.  SMT’s training is customized to each and every client utilizing a curriculum that is 100% demand-driven by industry professionals.  By deploying a program such as this, you are in fact utilizing the combined manufacturing expertise of Fortune 500 clients such as Pfizer, Unilever, Medtronic, Proctor & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Diageo, Wrigley, and more.

• Measurement and Continuous Improvement – “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Commonly used, this statement speaks for itself. Developing methods of measurement is one of the most challenging, but one of most fundamentally important aspects of industry training.  Utilizing a pre and post-assessment methodology enables training to be continuously developed and improved upon.

The article then describes some common pitfalls or reasons used to avoid training:

• Fear that trainees will leave
• Failure to create a learning environment
• Failure to reinforce or refresh
• Failure to identify the skills required for equipment use

Clearly, these thoughts and theories should be avoided or discarded as they are detrimental to improving workforce productivity.  If done properly, training is a win-win scenario that creates a sense of worth and loyalty in your employees, while maximizing their utility to the company and improving your bottom line performance.

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