How to master continuous learning

Results-oriented continuous learning is a focused and planned activity. It’s more than just attending a few conferences or random training sessions. Building a capable and motivated workforce is a deliberate, full-time job for management.

The Need for Training

Everyone knows that the manufacturing industry is concerned about the future of its workforce. Finding and retaining talented and motivated employees is difficult. We expect new employees to arrive with enough knowledge of the fundamentals to start working immediately and to be motivated to do the assigned job, show up on time, and learn. But too frequently, we fail to commit to build and support our employees’ skills. We fail to train them to support our companies’ long-term goals. The result is that our employees can feel frustrated and unmotivated.

Thirty years ago, sheet metal forming was a relatively static industry. Forming professionals could count on old rules of thumb and long-term experience. But then our world began to change. Virtual simulation became necessary. The number of sheet metal grades grew at a rapid rate. Lubrication alternatives became available in response to the increased heat and friction of harder steels. New forming technologies, like servo presses, were introduced. Tool maintenance and clearances became more important as steels became harder. These changes required forming professionals to better understand the properties of their sheet metals and learn about newly available technologies.

The Basics of Continuous Learning

A continuous learning plan supports your employees’ needs to develop and reinforce their core skills, introduces new information and technologies, and supports employee growth and advancement to enable your company to expand its product offerings with less risk.

Employees generally have four motivations:

1. Autonomy – The ability to make decisions and act on their own.
2. Connection – A network of supportive people.
3. Contribution – The sense that their work is valuable.
4. Gratification – The happiness resulting from a well-done job.

Providing employees with essential knowledge and skills promotes employee and management confidence that individuals can complete projects. It encourages growth and sharing of knowledge and experiences and allows each employee the satisfaction of making a valuable and recognized contribution.

A sheet metal forming learning plan should teach fundamental forming knowledge, including:

• Sheet metal mechanical properties.
• Modes of deformation.
• Forming tools and technologies.
• Tool and die development and materials.
• Manufacturing reliability.
• Friction and lubrication.
• Sheet metal documentation its relationship to design specifications.
• The effect of the manufacture of sheet metal on forming results.
• Forming simulation.
• Springback management.

Moving Beyond the Fundamentals

Today’s advances in information management enable employees to learn from the consequences of their decisions, learn the effects of sheet metal properties, and fine-tune maintenance and repair procedures. The rapid advancement of materials and technologies also requires employees to revisit the fundamentals as they, too, are changing in their impact and application to metal forming.

The greatest opportunity for applied continuous learning comes from the internet of things (IoT) and simulation software. It’s generally accepted, though not thoroughly studied, that product and process design influence production costs and quality. Therefore, it makes sense that informed design and simulation result in fewer die tryout iterations, less scrap, better lubrication application, and better parts. IoT offers the opportunity to capture forming events and learn from both successes and failures.

Too many manufacturing firms view manufacturing as a linear activity. Each “segment” in the line has a specified task to finish before it passes the product to the next responsible group. And the feedback loop in the process design often is ignored because it isn’t considered a productive activity.

IoT allows manufacturers to address design and production activities as a network of interconnected nodes. IoT allows us to measure the attributes of inputs and outputs to each node, along with activity status. Done properly, we can identify network influences across multiple nodes, inputs, and outputs.

Learning should reflect from network measures back to design and simulation activities. This information improves the integrity of supplier-provided material and process properties by including local experience. It stands to reason that improved accuracy and knowledge will improve design and simulation along with production results.

Knowledge is important. Learning is critical. As materials and technologies evolve, your success on the plant floor will benefit directly from supporting a skilled, knowledgeable, and motivated workforce.