Case Study — Ironwood Plastics

A COMMON LANGUAGE WITHIN THE COMPANY

Paulson training programs give everyone within the company the same technology and terminology to streamline communication and improve efficiency.

ITW Filtration Products, An Illinois Tool Works Company,
Mazon, IL USA
Key Contact: Mike Montgomery, Production Manager

Insert Molder — ITW is a worldwide corporation, in business since 1912 with over 650 stand alone business units. The Mazon, IL facility has been in existence since 1997, with approximately 120 employees — insert molds filter media for the automotive (antilock brake, vent & air conditioning filters), medical and commercial markets.

Having been in business since 1912, ITW realizes that to better serve their customers & remain competitive, they must continuously focus on improving costs and quality of their filtration and venting products. Well trained employees who could communicate well with one another was a must. The Paulson programs were chosen as a means to help achieve this goal. The programs were purchased in both English and Spanish about one year ago and are being implemented at the Mazon, IL facility with the intent to use them at their sister plants as well. 

The Basic Molding 1 course is mandatory for all new and existing employees. “This is very important as we don’t always have the luxury of hiring people with injection molding experience.”, said Mike Montgomery, Production Manager in charge of training.

The Setup Technicians continue on with Basic Molding 2, Practical Injection Molding-Basic, Practical Injection Molding-Expert, Optimizing Control Settings and Skill Builder. They must have a passing grade to move on to the next level and their scores are utilized in their performance appraisals.

Benefits of implementing the Paulson training methods include:
A common language with which to discuss and troubleshoot problems — all employees have a common vocabulary.  “If I use the term ‘back pressure’, everyone knows what it means.” said Montgomery. 

Reinforced knowledge base & increased openness to new ideas — ITW has employees with all experience levels.  The more experienced employees now understand the scientific principles behind what they had come to know through experience and realize there is always something new to be learned.

Increased communication — as a result of the Paulson instruction, employees communicate more with management, between departments and with one another.  According to Montgomery, “Whether they agree or disagree with the training information, it sparks conversation and our employee’s talk about it.  When that happens, it develops better working relationships and people gain more interest in their jobs.”

Cost savings & flexibility with in-house training — Montgomery states, “We don’t have to lose an employee for a week at a time, they can be trained at a convenient time and there are no hotel or transportation costs involved.  Most importantly, if people leave, the knowledge is still right here on the CD’s.”

Decreased downtime — There has been a decrease in “disasters” such as crashing the mold since the newer employees have been taking the training.

Employee satisfaction — the training gives hard working employees the opportunity to grow in their jobs and advance within the company.

Having been in business since 1912, ITW realizes that to better serve their customers & remain competitive, they must continuously focus on improving costs and quality of their filtration and venting products. Well trained employees who could communicate well with one another was a must. The Paulson programs were chosen as a means to help achieve this goal. The programs were purchased in both English and Spanish about one year ago and are being implemented at the Mazon, IL facility with the intent to use them at their sister plants as well.

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“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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