H&H Tube in Vanderbilt, MI has been serving the tubing industry since 1930 and is the supplier of choice for hundreds of companies throughout the world. With a declining workforce and aging demographic, they have had to working very hard to create the workplace culture that encourages continuous improvements, individual development, training, and rewarding employees for a job well done. To remain competitive, they need to upskill their workers, so they worked with Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium to secure Going PRO Talent Fund training grants. They were awarded $49,355 to train 44 employees. Trainings included PLC, CNC, Lean, Train the Trainer, and Supervisor Skills. HR Manager Alma Carr has worked with Michigan Works! often and stated that the Business Solutions Professionals at Michigan Works! have been a huge help in each step of the process for Going PRO and are always a great resource to help point her in the right direction. To date, 24 individual employees have received training (worth $34,680).
General Manager Chong Mi Kim reports on how a few of the trainings will impact H&H, stating, “Most of the manufacturing equipment at H&H Tube uses PLC (The Programmable Logic Controller) but we only have a few employees with skills and training necessary to troubleshoot and monitor the control systems in the factory. This PLC Logics course from NCMC is a good foundation for our operators to understand the machines that they are working on and how to maintain them.”
She continues, “The CNC Advance course from NCMC is a good foundation for our operators and CNC programmers to understand our machines, as well as CAD/CAM relations to develop tooling and create programs on our CNC machines.”
“The Supervisor Skills training will help our staff and company create a higher caliber workforce,” adds Kim. “Communication and education with open collaboration is key to organizational improvement for everyone involved, and any step in helping all of us understand how to help others is an essential step for progress. This course will help with good communications throughout the organization, which should help improve productivity and efficiencies in our process.”
Trainees agreed the trainings were helpful.
Trainee David Erber says, "The training was very well organized and explained. The labs and online material were easily understood, and the basic knowledge of how the PLC plays a part in controlling all of these devices gave me a better understanding to what PLC is and does, and how it plays a key role in switches, relays, and sensors in the work place."
Cameron Miller enjoyed the training, stating, "It was a great opportunity, and I have a better understanding of many things. I’m looking forward to using these new skills and continuing my training."
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