Disseminating knowledge related to productivity and quality: Training Within Industry (TWI)
On 17th November, within the framework of the Support Program for Students on Productivity and Innovation activities, Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality (STAMEQ) organized a virtual training session about Training Within Industry (TWI).
Attending the online training session were Dr. Ha Minh Hiep – Acting General Director of STAMEQ, Mr. Pham Le Cuong – Deputy Chief of STAMEQ Administration Department, and more than 1,300 lecturers, young profesionals, students at 27 universities and colleges from North to South of Vietnam. Namely as, Academy of Journalism and Communication; Thuyloi University; Academy of Finance; Hanoi Industrial Textile Garment University; East Asia University of Technology; Foreign Trade University; Vietnam Russia Vocational Training College No.1; College of Industrial and Constructional; Mientrung Industry and Trade College; Dong A University; University of Economics, Hue University; Ho Chi Minh city University of Technology, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh city; Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade; Foreign Trade University (campus II); Thu Dau Mot University; Tra Vinh University; Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi; Binh Duong University; Vietnam – Singapore Vocational College; Vinh Long University of Technology Education; Nam Dinh University of Technology Education; University of Economics – Technology for Industries; Nha Trang University; University of Khanh Hoa; Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Yen Bai Province; Nam Dinh Department of Science and Technology and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of STAMEQ.
Sharing about topic Training Within Industry (TWI) at the online training session, Ms. Lê Thi Hoang Anh – expert consultant at Small and Medium Enterprise Development Support Center 2 (Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality) said, TWI is a component of a lean and continuous improvement approach. Companies that implement TWI have seen the time to develop new hires into productive workers cut in half, along with immediate reductions in scrap and rework.
Ms. Lê Thi Hoang Anh also presented an overview about TWI. TWI was introduced in 1940 by the United States Department of War and operated within the War Manpower Commission until 1945. It was originally developed to meet the high demand for wartime materials from a smaller and less-experienced workforce.
TWI is an off-the-shelf training package that develops essential leadership skills and enables supervisors to dramatically increase their performance. There are several TWI programs, each of them focused on developing one key supervisor skill. Trough TWI training supervisors learn to:
- Job Relations (JR): This module helps supervisors lay the groundwork for TWI by building trust, cooperation and positive employee relations. Establishing positive relationships paves the way for the other aspects of TWI – resulting in workers who care about doing their jobs properly and pre-empting problems before they emerge. The approach emphasizes teamwork, treating people fairly and with respect, giving constructive feedback and positive recognition, informing workers about upcoming changes, and engendering loyalty and cooperation.
- Job Instruction (JI):JI standardizes how jobs are taught and teaches supervisors how to train employees to perform a job correctly. The process enables faster, better and more consistent teaching of new skills, and allows supervisors to spend less time fixing the mistakes of new staff. Supervisors are taught to effectively break down a job for instruction into components. JI recognizes the best approach is to combine “showing and telling” techniques with “illustration and demonstration.” Typically, this employs a four-step process:
- Step 1: Preparation – Describe the tasks
In this step, trainer prepares the trainee for the training. The trainer states the job and finds out how much related knowledge and skill the person has. The trainer then motivates the trainee to learn the job, and places the trainee in the position where s/he can see and hear the instruction clearly.
- Step 2: Presentation – Show and demonstrate each step
In this step, trainer presents the job step by step, following a carefully prepared breakdown detailing the performance-critical aspects of the job, as well as knacks and tricks shared by the most experienced workers. Each of the instructed key points is reinforced with a clear explanation why it is vital for the jobs success in terms of quality, safety or efficiency.
- Step 3: Test – Trainee is given opportunity to try the task during trial runs
In this step, the trainee does the job repeatedly under the supervision of the trainer, who carefully spots & corrects any mistakes immediately. The expectation is for the learner to execute the breakdown exactly as it was demonstrated by the trainer in Step 2 of TWI JI, and to explain what s/he does, the key points, that is the precise technique of doing each important step correctly, and why this technique matters.
- Step 4: Follow Up – Coaching tapers off and the employee is given the opportunity to work on their own
Once the trainee has completed the supervised practice and ‘teach-back’ of the correct method of doing the job in Step 3, s/he progressively begins to work independently. In Step 4 of TWI JI is focused on practicing the job and building the ‘muscle-memory’ to execute the job correctly and at the required pace. The trainer follows up with the trainee to see how s/he is doing, confirm that both the method and the outcome meet expectations and to answer questions. Finally, the TWI JI trainer formalizes the employee’s certification to do the job independently and closes the period of follow-up and coaching.
- Job Methods (JM): JM teaches supervisors how to improve the way jobs are done. The aim of the program is to reduce waste and help increase throughput of quality products. JM is based on small, incremental changes for continuous improvement, and like lean manufacturing, assumes that effective improvement ideas often come from the people on the floor performing the work.
TWI can help businesses with the very issues they’re currently facing. While originally developed for the manufacturing industry, TWI can be applied to businesses of all types and sizes. The benefits of TWI include: The ability to quickly and efficiently train inexperienced workers; Build and sustain positive relations among employees; Increase productivity with standardized work methods; Increase safety; Provides the transfer of knowledge from skilled employees to those who are new. TWI’s a method that can be applied across industries and even combined with newer methodologies. TWI is a valuable way of keeping any business more productive and profitable in today’s tight labor market.
In order to give students better understandings about this week’s topic, the experts have given many illustrative examples in some companies in Vietnam and in other countries to give students a direct view more clearly, from which it can be recognized and applied to their future life and work.
The virtual training session kept attendees engaged and received lots of interesting questions from students. All questions have been satisfactorily answered by STAMEQ experts.
