by Guy Ramsey
The pace of change in the electronics industry requires an ongoing commitment to acquire new knowledge and skills. Competition demands maximum value from every dollar. In order to ensure proper balance, organizations, and individuals alike, must consider training investments in conjunction with other strategic initiatives. Off-the-shelf programs may not be adequate to achieve goals. Industry-consensus training programs may not be sufficient to ensure competitive advantage. What is your position on the continuum from mainstream to cutting edge? Where do you need to be?

• Identify the gap (a process known as needs assessment)
• Define the training objectives
• Select training techniques
• Implement the program.

This article will discuss rational opportunities to develop competitive advantage through customized training programs. Training should provide resources needed to achieve the organization’s overall goals as well as the personal goals of the employees. Training plans must be developed systematically. Companies that purchase training programs without regard for the current and future needs of the organization, set upon an uncertain path.

Ideally, a team should develop the training plan. Input from representatives of all business functions should participate in a forum for defining the goal of the program. Be sure to include strategic management, supervisors, workers and training providers. Many companies have a wealth of information and quality data such as statistical data collected from product lines and customer feedback surveys.

Numerous other analysis tools lend themselves to needs assessment. Be sure to consider market surveys, internal audits, job shadowing, focus groups, skills assessment tests, and self-assessment by workers. Needs analysis tools should provide accurate quantitative and qualitative information while being sensitive to company time and cost restraints.

The assessment phase of planning must identify the difference between desired employee performance and actual performance. The scope of the training plan is important. Do not try to establish the rational for training in the middle of an implementation phase.

Discipline and planning are critical when waste can not be tolerated. Activity without objectives can not be evaluated. Objectives without goals may lead down a dead- end path. Goals should answer a strategic requirement. Objectives should be the result of a process road map to achieving the goals. Goals need not be measurable but objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, and fixed in time.

Place emphasis on what is needed before deciding a method of delivery. The actual instructional approach depends on several factors. The planning team must consider the nature of the tasks and skills to be learned, the number of employees to be trained, and the employer's resources. The best method in each instance can be identified by considering cost effectiveness, desired program content, appropriateness of the facilities, student preferences and capabilities in the context of learning principles.

ACI offers a variety of instructional programs selected and designed to meet our client base. In many cases our standard programs are capable of providing needed training at reasonable cost. Standard programs are scheduled for needs related to:

• Career Based Training
• Certification Based Training
• Skills Based Training

Our unique combination of factory, technical instructors, academic instructors, and lab facilities provide a hands- on approach, best suited to technology transfer.

Larger organizations may find an advantage when planing training programs. Individuals and small institutions may not be able to justify customizing programs to achieve specific organizational goals in a manner consistent with management's philosophy and strategy. In some cases, our clients are able to achieve a better value through custom training, training designed specifically for a client's training objectives or work environment. ACI utilizes a systematic approach to development of curriculum. ACI's team of instructional designers and subject matter experts work closely with its clients in order to ensure the program is successful from the start, through design, development, implementation and evaluation.

ACI's team will first meet with key members of the client’s organization in order to help determine needs and establish goals as well as perform assessments of the performance environment, student’s potential, and the training site.

During the next step of the process, ACI's team will develop performance objectives that will address the client's requirements, needs and ultimate goals of the project.

The instructional strategy will be identified as one that will effectively maximize the transfer of skills and knowledge from the classroom to the client's work environment.

The instructional design team will continue to be involved through the implementation of the training and assessment process in order to properly evaluate the instructional materials and validate the assessment instruments. Follow-up evaluation is customarily completed with the client in order to determine that goals of the project were met to the client's satisfaction.

The standard programs offered by ACI are exhaustive, covering nearly every aspect of electronic manufacturing. Generally, a custom program is based on one or more of our standard programs, assembling modules to emphasize or eliminate material specific to the program objectives. ACI has customized training programs based on curriculum material found in:

• Boot Camps
• BGA Manufacturing
• Cleaning
• SMT Rework
• SMT Manufacturing

Custom training can focus objectives on the client’s specific equipment, unique manufacturing environment, and unusual customer needs. In larger original equipment manufacturers or contract manufacturing service organizations, this focus can reduce training times and at the same time improve skills and knowledge transfer.

Depending on the scope of the project, custom training programs can be developed in a few weeks. Enterprise-wide programs may require months to develop. ACI has the expertise and experience to satisfy your training needs with surprising speed.

ACI has working relationships with federal, state and local educational agencies. There are significant opportunities to obtain funding assistance, including full grants, partial grants and loans to pay for training.

Our catalogue and course schedule are also available on-line at www.aciusa.org or by calling the registrar at 610-362-1320.

For information on custom program development contact the EMPF Helpline at (610)362-1320.