Training-vital to change management
By Dr. Thomas L. Landers -- Modern Materials Handling, 12/1/1998
I recently visited a major company which was implementing a finite-capacity scheduling system but chose to purchase minimal technical support and no training from the software supplier.It's little wonder that the system was a failure. Training is an essential part of change management. Life-long learning is an idea we hear a lot about lately, mainly for professionals. Many individuals can expect to have three or more different careers in a lifetime. Life-long learning is just as important, however, for operators in a production process. As technological changes accelerate, operators will either retrain or retire.
In the mid-1970s my seatmate on a flight out of Dayton, Ohio, was a senior manager at NCR. His company had its corporate headquarters and plants employing thousands of workers in Dayton. Management recognized the oncoming revolution in office machinery, with electronic technology replacing big, noisy, and unreliable mechanical gadgets.
To help NCR's shop people make the transition the company offered free training courses in electronics after hours. Unfortunately, few chose to learn new skills off the clock. NCR eventually moved production out of Dayton leaving a corporate staff of a few hundred.
There are several lessons in this story: (1) The individual who is serious about economic security must be committed to life-long learning. (2) The firm that is serious about partnership with its employees must provide the necessary training during working hours.
When implementing automation and information technology in material flows, our aim is a superior process. How should we train the operators to adopt and master the new process? A warehouse management system (WMS) is a good example (see sidebar).
Those who develop and install WMS say that employee training is the key to a successful implementation. A recent survey in Singapore on "The Impact of Information Technology (IT) on the Supply Chain" identified lack of education and training as a major barrier to the introduction of IT.
Help is available. System suppliers offer excellent training for a fee. The Material Handling Industry (MHI) is committed to education, offering training materials developed by the College/Industry Council for Material Handling Education. Professional societies such as the Warehousing Education and Research Council and the Council of Logistics Management offer short courses and certification programs. Be sure your project schedule and budget include resources such as these.
WMS: A case for training
A good warehouse management system (WMS) will embed best practices. Do not try to turn on all the WMS functionality initially, however. Allow the operators to adopt and understand a few capabilities before introducing others.
Explain the intended process and the logic behind it. The operator who works efficiently and finishes early in the shift may be discouraged by a WMS that assigns slack-time tasks such as cycle counting or re-warehousing. Explain to the operators the benefits to them and the company of inventory accuracy and popularity-based storage location. Also explain that the WMS will assign slack time tasks during slow periods within the shift as well as at the end.
Most WMS involve new development or substantial customization. Be certain the new software code will handle all sorts of treatment from users. Employees who are not well trained will certainly hit the wrong keys or scan a bar code multiple times. Those who do not want to change will try every trick to defeat the system; they will bang on the keyboard with both fists until the system jams!
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