[University] has modified its advanced PLC curriculum based on input from the Hershey courses,” Campbell says.

While Hershey has developed its own maintenance training, other manufacturers are making good use of vendor-provided training. One example can be seen at a U.S. facility of another major food manufacturer. At this plant, the need for training soon became apparent after the plant began a major automation upgrade as part of a company-wide initiative in 2001, says a manager at the plant. Previous operations at the plant had been labor intensive, and the maintenance staff was not familiar with modern automation control systems. Because most of the new equipment used Rockwell’s Allen-Bradley controls, the plant turned to Rockwell for training and support.

As a first step, Rockwell compiled a database of Allen-Bradley controls and networking systems being installed at the plant, then did a survey of the workforce to determine the level and disposition of training required. Working with the plant’s personnel, Rockwell then developed a training program that could be delivered to the plant’s 25- to 30-person maintenance staff over the course of one year. Around 15 different courses were developed, running from two to five days each, with typical class sizes of six to eight people.

Because the plant needed to minimize the time that staff members were kept away from their regular duties, one key to the contract was that Rockwell provided the training on site, eliminating the need for travel, says the manager at the plant. Also key was a Rockwell support contract negotiated by the plant. “As this training happened over the course of a year, we also had 24/7 support, so when our people ran into a problem, they could pick up the phone and get a direct line to somebody from Rockwell who could walk them through the issue,” the manager relates.

Getting Comfortable

The plant’s goal for the training was to provide its maintenance staff with the skills needed to stand on its own with the new controls equipment. That goal was quickly met. The plant retained the Rockwell support contract for another 12 months after the training was complete. “But after year two, we no longer tied into that 24/7 support piece, because the training actually worked very well,” the manager explains. The plant’s maintenance personnel are now comfortable with working on the control equipment, and are typically able to quickly diagnose problems without outside support, he says.

Benefits of the training program are difficult to quantify directly, the manager says. But he notes that without the training, the plant would have required a continuing 24/7 support contract from Rockwell; instead, the plant can now apply that money toward other continuous improvement projects.

Further, thanks to the training, “the response times for our maintenance guys is very quick, in terms of their troubleshooting skills,” he points out. This means that downtime at the plant is “probably drastically reduced, because we can now stand alone. We don’t have to talk to somebody else, or wait for two hours for somebody to drive here to get us back up online.”

For more information, search keyword “training” at www.automationworld.com.

See sidebar #1 to this article: Training Simulators Boost Bottom Line

See sidebar #2 to this article: Team Training Yields Profits