Weld Cell Operators Need Training
, by Jim Ryan, 2 min reading time
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Dan Davis lists the traits that a weld cell operator needs in order to succeed: a self-starter, who knows a little about computers, etc.
But Davis closes his article with music to Weld Dynamix's ears: "selecting the right training is imperative" and "shop managers have to find a training approach that engages the would-be operators." Bingo! Davis quotes Buddy Smith, assistant manager of technical training at Motoman:
In other words, it's not just a lecture where you say how it works and send you out to the floor," he said. "They need to have some hands-on. They need to be engaged, tested, and evaluated on their skills.
Tim Heston has more more on lack of training. He discusses the impact of lack of training of shop culture and has a recommendation:
I see two trajectories, one that improves shop culture and another that kills it. The one that kills it lowers the bar for entry-level employees. Machine operation is simpler, so operators learn quickly, which can be great for productivity, but they’re never really given the opportunity to learn more. It’s efficient, but it also means that shop floor operators become totally expendable. They push buttons and work like the devil to meet productivity targets, yet really aren’t taught about process fundamentals or even basic machine maintenance.... Machines crash, and the shop becomes utterly reliant on machine maintenance techs who might take a while to arrive. In short, it’s not a pleasant place to work.
The other trajectory doesn’t lower the bar for entry-level employees, just changes it. The entire order-to-ship cycle becomes much more collaborative. Teamwork and cross-training are a given; just because someone stands in front of a machine doesn’t mean he can’t be taught to program it offline. Knowledge isn’t “shifted” away from the shop floor but instead spread throughout the company
Weld Dynamix offers hands-on, engaging training for inductive proximity sensors, mounts, and cables. It takes only an hour. It is 100% hands on, with each operator having his or her own training set or "trainor". These trainors are about one foot square and sit on a table right in front of the operator. They have a couple of proxes, a couple of voltmeters, some cabling, and mounts on rails. They are fun to use. As for the cost of the training - let's just say that it is inexpensive. You can guess why. The trainors use Weld Dynamix components. When your team sees these components and what they do, we think you'll want to buy some for your weld cells. So, it's a win-win. You get training for a low price (it's low, believe me!) and an introduction to some components that will drastically reduce downtimes. Weld Dynamix gets to have fun training your team and have a chance to sell you our great components. Win-win!