Case Study — Ironwood Plastics

INCREASING ATTENTION SPAN

Paulson training materials provide interesting, interactive training that keep peoples attention.

Ironwood Plastics, Ironwood, MI USA
Key Contact: Jeff Richards, Training Coordinator

Custom molder — Founded in 1979, Ironwood Plastics, Inc. specializes in turnkey services for many forms of injection molding. The Ironwood, MI facility is home to approximately 140 employees with a second facility in Wisconsin, which was implemented in 1987. Ironwood specializes in fuel component parts for the automotive industry and also services the electrical, computer component, and military markets.

Jeff Richards has been with Ironwood Plastics for 18 years. Two years ago, he was put in charge of employee training.  When he began his role as the Training Coordinator, he inherited a whole library of training materials on every topic imaginable.  After plowing through the library, he decided to scrap most of the other available programs, as they were too dull to keep the employees attention.

“The Paulson program stood out because it is interactive,” said Richards. “The Paulson training materials provide interesting, interactive training with excellent graphics and quizzes & tests to monitor the trainees progress. It keeps the employees attention and they don’t ‘doze’ during class.” A few of the many benefits of the Paulson programs are outlined below.
Visual defects decreased — The programs are used by Ironwood to train their Product Inspectors. The product inspectors are responsible for visual & dimensional inspections.  Sixty percent of their business is in the automotive arena. This market segment has a high level of expectations from their vendors with regard to quality and delivery. Customer service is very important. “Eighty percent of rejects from the automotive industry are due to visual concerns,” says Richards. “The Paulson CD Rom really focuses on visual defects so our employees are really prepared for this aspect of their jobs after the first week of training. They are expected to know what they are looking for by their second week here. This helps reduce scrap rates as new inspectors pick up on problems much earlier than they would without the Paulson training.”

Fast Learning Curve — New hires are given Paulson’s training the 1st day of work as part of a 5-day training course that they are required to take. “The program is very valuable because it gets our new hires familiar with the Injection Molding process very quickly”, says Richards.

“The Paulson products are well organized and visually excellent. Without the Paulson product, it would add at least 20 additional labor intensive hours to the training of new employees. This equates to about $5200/year savings.” 
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