Shortening time-to-productivity

Founded in 1965 in Delvan, Wisconsin, Swiss-Tech LLC's 105 employees manufacture the highest quality Swiss precision machined parts for critical applications in the aerospace, medical, defense, and other high-end industrial sectors. Swiss-Tech is ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, and ITAR certified in CNC-CAM, CNC milling/turning, finish/deburring/polishing and prototype cell methods.

Swiss-Tech faced inconsistent training from trainer to trainer that was leaving new employees overwhelmed and confused. New hire development and time-to-productivity would take up to two months. This lack of standardized training content and method was causing decreased production volume, increasing machine downtime, increased material waste and decreased employee retention causing both a financial and operational impact to the organization.

The company wanted to decrease employee time-to-productivity by implementing a consistently structured training process to train new employees effectively and efficiently. They also wanted to increase production output while decreasing material waste and downtime. 

Steps to success
The company turned to Valor Manufacturing Training and upon assessing and auditing Swiss Tech's talent development program and processes, Valor supplied a library of online skills training modules as well as implementation and operations support. Pre-existing, shop-specific training modules and materials were merged with the Valor content and launched from a singular platform with metrics tracking and record retention.

"We created a core competency assessment to outline the skills needed to efficiently perform responsibilities and realized very quickly that we needed proper training and implementation," says Rachel Repinski, CNC machinist programmer supervisor. "The process didn’t take a lot of effort to make it work and Valor made it smooth and easy. They also continue to follow up and help us constantly improve and build onto our program."

PRE-ADOPTION & IMPLEMENTATION

Starting pay: $15/hr

Orientation & Training – 8 weeks x 40hrs/wk

$4,800 invested before the employee becomes a productive team member.

 

POST-ADOPTION & IMPLEMENTATION

Starting pay $15/hr

Orientation & Training – 3 weeks x 40hrs/wk

$1,800 invested before the employee becomes a productive team member.

Outcome
The new onboarding process now takes one week to complete through the Valor content and platform. Upon completion, the hands-on machine training takes one to two weeks (depending on the individual). Swiss-Tech is now able to hire someone with no prior machining knowledge and have them effectively operating machines in less than one month (including tool changes, offsets, and inspection). This reduction in classroom onboarding and orientation has also resulted in a 38% cost savings as related to employee onboarding and orientation training expense.