With Help from UB's TCIE, Eberl Iron Works Addresses the Learning Curve

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Tom Huber, a shop supervisor at Eberl Iron Works Inc., a metal fabrication and industrial framing company, has long known that different people learn at different rates. He knows this from more than 14 years of training people on the factory floor in Eberl's fabrication shop. At the same time, he needs new hires to get up to speed as quickly as possible so they can become productive team members.

Eberl recently found a way to solve that dilemma with the help of UB's Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE).

Huber and his colleagues knew the answer lay in a manual that would streamline the training process for all production staff, from material handlers to machine operators.

"We just really needed some outside help to get the ball rolling," said Eberl's controller, Nora Eberl.

New employees at Eberl typically work alongside an operator before being allowed to interact with the machine. That kind of training could take up to a year and a half. While the managers are technologically savvy, Huber said, they often found it difficult to convey how to perform a process that had become second nature to them.

To start work on a new training manual, TCIE consultant Kristina Young began working with Huber and two other supervisors on training basics, such as performance appraisals and administering discipline.

Then the writing of the manual began, which was organized according to specific tasks and equipment.

With the new manual, the company will have certified trainers responsible for teaching new employees.

"When someone comes in and doesn't really have that background, you're giving them all these bullet points before they walk out onto the floor," Huber said.

Two recently hired employees went through the new process. Eberl said, "It seems like they are learning a lot quicker, and they are also being cross-trained."

In fact, a new emphasis on cross-training is an additional benefit from the manual-writing project. There is a new commitment in the company to train all employees in multiple jobs, so absences due to vacations or illness pose less of a problem on the factory floor, while employees gain a broader understanding of the overall workflow.

TCIE not only provides services specific to a company's business process needs, such as those at Eberl, but offers soft business skills training in introduction to supervision, change management, time management, communication skills, conflict management skills, coaching skills objectives, motivation objectives and performance management.

For more information, call TCIE at 636-2568.

TCIE provides a dynamic link between UB's technical resources and the business community. A program of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, TCIE fosters partnerships and manages projects as diverse as the region's businesses. TCIE also is a premier provider of Lean Six Sigma training and mentoring. For more information on how TCIE can assist Western New York businesses, go to http://www.tcie.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.