Skills for an Advanced Manufacturing Workforce

Jeffrey Dalto Leave a comment
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The era of Advanced Manufacturing is coming soon. Industry 4.0. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Great, right? Sounds good, huh?

Except, who’s going to do the work during this era (other than robots and computers)? What skills are they going to need?

There are going to be some skills that are specific to industries, and skills that are specific to sites, and skills that are specific to job roles. But there are also going to be some skills that are required in general. And those are going to be the skills we’ll discuss in this article.

And before you get too far down the page, don’t forget to download our free Manufacturing Training Guide before you go!

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What Types of Training Can You Import Into an LMS?

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If you’re looking to get a learning management system (LMS) to assist with workforce training at your organization, one question you might have is what kinds of training materials can you import into the LMS.

It’s probably obvious that you can import elearning courses, although even that answer isn’t quite that simple, as elearning courses come in different standards (or formats)–more on that below.

But you’ll also probably want to import things like video files, audio files, internet links, SharePoint links, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and more.

We’ll give you a quick rundown of the types of training materials you should be able to import into an LMS in this article, and we’ll give you a few additional tips about the importing process to boot. Plus, don’t forget to download the free LMS buyer’s guide at the bottom of this article.

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New Webinar Coming Soon: Evidence-Based Training Practices, October 16, 2019

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We’ll soon be doing another of our recurring live webinars over at the website of our partners RedVector.

In this one, we’ll be discussing evidence-based training practices and common learning myths.

The webinar will be held live on Wednesday, October 16 at 1 pm Eastern time (that’s 12 noon Central, 11 am Mountain, and 10 am Pacific if you, like me, get confused adjusting these things). If you sign up and listen in to the webinar, that’s great, but know that if you sign up and miss the live version, we’ll still send you a recording in your email.

Sign up for the webinar here.

We hope to see you then. If you’d like to catch up on the other webinars we’ve done with our friends at RedVector, here’s a list:

Hope to see you soon. Let us know if you’ve got any questions you’d like us to address during the webinar.

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What Is the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System Standard?

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If you’ve worked in the food chain for a period of time, you may well be familiar with the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Standard. However, if you’re new to the industry, you may be unfamiliar with the standard. Plus, it was updated in 2018, so even if you’re familiar, you may need to renew your acquaintance.

In this article, we give a brief introduction to ISO 22000 and give you some resources where you can learn more.

Also, know that we’ve got a free 7 Basics Tools of Quality guide for you at the bottom of this article.

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The Benefits of Reliability & Maintainability (Interview with Dr. Klaus Blache)

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If you’re a maintenance professional, you probably already know you want to minimize the amount of reactive maintenance you perform. And a great way to do that is to focus on reliability & maintainability.

We’ve asked our partners at the University of Tennessee’s Reliability & Maintainability Center, and in particular Dr. Klaus Blache, to help us better understand reliability and maintainability.

If you’ve been reading us for a while, you may have also read our articles on Creating a Culture for Reliability, Maintainability, and Continuous Improvement and What Is Maintainability & Reliability?. If you haven’t read those articles, you may want to check them out. Plus, keep your eyes out for future articles on related topics, including one coming very soon on predictive & conditions-based maintenance.

You’ve got two options here: Watch a recorded version of our conversation or continue down to read a transcript. The world is your oyster–enjoy!

Plus, check out our recorded webinar on maintenance, maintainability, organizational learning, and continuous improvement. 

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Free PSM Checklist for Process Safety Management Compliance

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Here’s a free Process Safety Management (PSM) compliance checklist you can download–nice!

The PSM checklist is based on a PSM Compliance Checklist available on OSHA’s website. We took the information in their checklist and made some minor changes to make it more user friendly.

It’s in the always-handy .PDF format, just scroll to the bottom of this article and click the  button.

Hope you like the checklist. We’ve got more free downloadable checklists on other topics here.

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Vector Solutions Monthly Blog Round Up: August, 2019

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Once again, our parent company Vector Solutions has published its monthly “blog round up” article, which features articles from different Vector Solutions brands (including your friends here at Convergence Training).

Here’s a listing of the different articles:

  • Vector Solutions on workplace wellness and why it matters
  • IndustrySafe on their new behavior-based safety mobile app
  • RedVector with a look at some Core and Architecture enhancements in Revit 2020
  • SafeSchools with a timely list of back-t0-school safety concerns
  • SafeColleges with their own list of four areas to focus on for back-to-school issues
  • Exceptional Child with some professional development tips for teachers of exceptional students
  • TargetSolutions with a free recorded webinar on managing controlled substances
  • Yours truly, Convergence Training, with a free Contractor Orientation Buyer’s Guide

If we’ve sparked your interest, check out the August, 2019 Vector Solutions Blog Round-Up.

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Common Food Safety Problems

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Are you new (or newish?) to food safety? Would you benefit from an introduction to terms commonly used to discuss food safety? Or maybe you’re a more experienced food safety expert and would just like a quick review & reminder?

If so, you’ll enjoy reviewing this article, as we’ve prepared a quick review of some basic and common food safety problems. We’ve drawn the material from a helpful resource created by the US FDA to help introduce good manufacturing practices (GMP and/or cGMP) titled “Definitions of Food Safety Problems.”

And before you go, be sure to download our free 7 Basic Tools of Quality Guide from the bottom of this article.

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Features to Look for in a Compliance-Based LMS

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Organizations get a learning management system, or LMS, for a number of different reasons. Often, for some combination of reasons.

One very common reason that organizations get a learning management system is to stay on top of and document compliance training requirements.

In this article, we’ll give you a few key features to look for if you need an LMS to comply with mandatory training requirements.

And be sure to download the free LMS Buyer’s Guide from the bottom of this article, which has even more helpful information for you. And if you’re interested in compliance for safety training, check out our free Online Safety Training Buyer’s Guide Checklist and/or our Guide to MSHA Training Compliance Requirements.

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Safety Moments in Oil & Gas Extraction: Hazards, Controls & Resources

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According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, in 2016 there are currently between 150,000 and 160,000 people employed in oil & gas extraction in the United States. The most common careers in the energy & oil industry include geoscientists; petroleum engineers; petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers; roustabouts (oil and gas); and wellhead pumpers.

According to OSHA, 489 oil and gas extraction workers were killed on the job between 2013 and 2017, making this a pretty dangerous industry.

In this article, we’ll review a few of the primary job hazards involved in oil and gas extraction and give you some tips and resources for training in the oil and gas industry.

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What Is 5S in Lean Manufacturing? (Includes Free 5S Infographic)

Jeffrey Dalto 2 Comments
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5S is central to lean manufacturing, and it’s frequently one of the first parts of a lean manufacturing implementation at the workplace.

In this article, a continuation of a series of articles introducing key lean manufacturing tools and concepts, we’re going to briefly introduce you to 5S.

Before you begin reading about 5S, know that we’ve included a free What Is 5S? infographic at the bottom of this article. 

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Contractor Orientation Challenges & Solutions: Free Downloadable Guide

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Free Guide to Contractor Orientation Solutions & Challenges

Many organizations need to provide orientation materials to contractors, visitors, and vendors before those people can arrive on site. These orientations may cover safety but also things like HR compliance issues (sex harassment, inclusive workplace, etc.), privacy/trade secrets, and other legitimate concerns of the company as part of its enterprise risk management efforts.

In response, many companies try to create, deliver, and keep records of those orientations for contractors, visitors, and vendors. And that’s where the problems often begin.

Because your organization has expertise in making super-widgets (or cars, or airplanes, or machines, or paper, or…you get it), not contractor orientation materials and systems.

In this free downloadable guide (you can get it at the bottom of this article), we explain three common challenges organizations face related to contractor orientations and three simple solutions.

Download the free guide at the bottom of this article and also feel free to download our online contractor orientation buyer’s guide as well.

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