Page 29 - MetalForming Magazine May 2023

Special Section: FABRICATION PRESS BRAKE TRAINING
losing an entire day of work teaching skills out of context.
Onward and Upward
When the trainer deems that a pedal pusher has become fully quali- fied, the pedal pusher either can stay in that role or begin acquiring the skills necessary to move up to press brake operator. The same applies for a press brake operator wanting to become a supervisor.
“With this structure, our long-time press brake operators go through the same evaluation,” explains Mondillo. “However, instead of staying at the entry-level role, they can progress to the other roles.” Mondillo adds that by instituting this new program and as employees have graduated to become fully qualified press brake operators, the company now has a quantifiable reason to increase their pay scale.
However, what happens when a trainee comes to the press brake
department from other departments with higher pay rates?
“They don’t get pay cuts, that would not be fair,” says Mondillo. “They just understand that they won’t be eligible for increases until they are fully quali- fied for certain roles.
“That’s the great thing about the NIMS STS program,” Mondillo contin- ues. “Now we have a process that we can take people through, so that they understand how to get from point A to point B.”
Discrepancies, Bottlenecks Solved
MWG’s new NIMS STS training framework has helped to solve training bottlenecks and pay-scale discrepan- cies. The solution also makes it easier for management to understand exactly what’s happening on the floor, accord- ing to Mondillo.
“I have data that I can show man- agement and explain how well our training is going based on the mastery
of the tasks within each role,” he says. “Everything was built with the goal of being measurable, which means that we also can measure exactly how far along people are with their training.”
Mondillo also emphasizes that the press brake team members promote the training and standards among themselves, viewing the program as an opportunity to earn better pay for better skills, “and they like having a clear path to follow,” he says. “Another aspect of this program that the team likes: They earn industry-recognized certification when they master certain roles.”
“The company mindset has flipped from one of uncertainty to one of assur- ance,” adds King. “Now, managers and trainers know exactly what needs to happen to get an employee up to speed. The company’s win: We have people that can do the work. The employees’ win: Wow, I get something that I can use for my entire career.” MF
Article provided by NIMS; www.nims-skills.org; 844/839-6467.
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