BLUEPRINT FORSUCCESSFULWORKPLACELEARNING

A workplace learning journey by Mr Goh Heng Huat, Senior Production staff at CKE Manufacturing

It all began when my company, CKE Manufacturing*, decided to

partner IAL’s team of Learning Specialists to improve our

on-the-job training (OJT) blueprints and delivery.

At that time, the Production department I was working in was

experiencing a higher rework and scrap rate compared to the

company’s quality benchmark. This resulted in higher operating

costs from wastage of raw materials and additional man hours

incurred.

As a senior production staff, I worked my way up in the past 10 to

20 years with my technical skills and experience. But I lacked

proper training to deliver OJT in a structured and systematic

manner that makes it easy for new staff to learn and master the

key production processes quickly.

Other than the production OJTs and process, the company’s

information exchange platform was also under review. That

involved the Business Development and Purchasing departments

and it was to make the inter-department communication and

information sharing between them more effective and efficient.

The review was important so that decision-making could be more

informed for better business outcomes.

* CKE Manufacturing is an ISO certi�ed company specialised in

precision machining services for highly complex and customised

speci�cations. The industries CKE serves include defence,

semiconductor, electronics, oil and gas, offshore and aerospace.

Most of the tacit knowledge that residues with my other experienced colleagues was also not captured and documented to be shared with new hires. Essentially, we train our new staff using our own methods with varying results.

Understanding the stages in the process and what have been learned from it

WORKPLACE LEARNING AT

CKE MANUFACTURING

LOT NUMBER

LOT NUMBER

LOT NUMBER

Outcomes Achieved3

• Improved delivery and consistency in the conduct of OJT

• More regular and effective inter-departmental exchange of market, suppliers and customer information for more effective decision making

OVERVIEW

Co-Create & Implement2

• Develop enhanced OJT blue- prints and job aids

• Senior staff are coached on how to execute OJT plan and enhance delivery techniques (e.g. demonstration)

• Develop meeting guide that staff can use to help prepare and improve conduct of meetings

Identify Performance Issues1

• On-the-job trainings is not systematically conducted and blueprints tended to be outdated with few staff referring to them

• Poor strategic information exchange between departments

I wasn’t told about that. Doing it this

way can lead to more production errors.

I can’t figure out why we have such a

high rework rate.

Let’s verify the steps against the

blueprint to identify the root problem.

The trainees learned to

operate better and reduce rework

cost.

In September 2015, the project team comprising CKE’s key stakeholders and IAL’s

Learning Specialists identi�ed two key performance issues and expected outcomes. First

was enhancing the development of OJT blueprints and delivery and secondly, to reduce

“silo-ed” decisions with more regular and focused inter-department communications and

data-sharing.

IDENTIFY ISSUES

Employee

• I want more structured training to minimise production errors.

• I want to make better use of our meetings to be more productive.

Store Supervisor

• I want to help my staff reduce the scrap rate and costs through more effective on-the-job trainings.

• How can I help my staff improve their communication and teamwork within and inter departments so that we can make better informed decisions?

Enterprise / Management

• We want to improve the communication within and inter departments and encourage better teamwork among staff.

• How can we build a culture of continuous knowledge sharing and creation for higher productivity and better business outcomes?

THE WORKPLACE LEARNINGPLAN AND THE OUTCOMES

The team proposed two different modes of

learning, classroom as well as OJT, for

better knowledge and skills retention. They

also introduced job aids with more visuals

for non-English speaking staff too.

First, we developed an OJT Blueprint for

one manufacturing phase of an entire

process. The blueprint was used to deliver

training and during daily production by the

junior production staff. Before this

initiative, I did not know how to encourage

trainees’ active learning through

questioning and providing practice

opportunities.

Now, I use job aids to reinforce my demonstrations and guide the junior staff to re�ect on their performance by reviewing with them videos taken during the trainings.

This minimised miscommunication during

trainings and the production work process

as well as boosting teamwork.

Second, a meeting guide with pointers on

how to plan and facilitate meetings was

also developed by the IAL Learning

Specialist. The Purchasing and Business

Development staff practiced the pointers

to keep the team on-task; everyone

comes ready to contribute in discussing

latest developments and �ndings on

clients and other market information.

Overall, the outcomes of the project

across the Production, Business

Development and Purchasing

departments were positive and the

company’s desired outcomes were met.

CKE will continue to coach their OJT

trainers, promote better teamwork and

build a culture of continuous learning to

propel business growth.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES,MOTIVATIONS AND OUTCOMES

Bene�ts for the individual team, department and enterprise levels were observed during

and after the implementation of workplace learning.

Individual Level

Employees learned new skills in coaching on-the-job trainings and facilitation.

They demonstrated better team work, communication and effective information

sharing and discussions during meetings.

Team Level

Higher productivity due to better time management and effective information

sharing resulted in better informed decisions and reduced costs.

Department / Enterprise Level

The progress achieved by the departments in the pilot encouraged the

organisation to build a culture of continuous learning.

VOICES FROM THE PARTICIPANTS

The results from production’s on-the-job trainings and strategic information exchange between departments were signi�cantly positive. Staff were receptive to learning at work and were able to follow the more structured processes. The involvement of all stakeholders is the key to maintain and improve on the overall quality of training and work performance.”

Ms Jessline Yap, Learning Specialist, IAL

Before the trainings, we will prepare questions and materials to encourage staff to learn more actively. Communication is now more effective as we have blueprints and job aids in both English and Chinese to help us have a better understanding between the English and Chinese speaking staff. I hope the staff can continue to use them in the daily production.

Miss Sasfinn Yeo Hui Wen, HR Executive, CKE Manufacturing

The IAL consultants supported us in creating an on-the-job (OJT) blueprint for a critical CNC manufacturing process. With the OJT coaching skills provided by IAL, our senior production staff are now more effective in their delivery. We are also improving the way our meetings are held with the meeting guides and facilitation skills training by IAL for more effective inter-department information exchange. Thanks IAL for this opportunity to allow CKE to learn and grow!

Mr Kwan Lifeng, Enterprise Development Manager, CKE Manufacturing