"Goal setting for entry level training should be easy. Simply
determine what your CNC people are currently doing and document it. Be sure to
include problem areas in need of improvement."
The keys to the success of any training program is in setting achievable
goals and then selecting (or designing) a curriculum to match the goals. When
it comes to entry level training for proficiency levels one through four, goal
setting should be relatively easy. Simply determine those tasks your people
must be able to accomplish when training is finished. You can use past
experiences as a guide. What have your current (experienced) CNC people had to
master to get to their current level of proficiency. You can even have them
write down what they consider to be their most important responsibilities.
As you set goals, you should also consider commonly made mistakes or areas
in need of improvement. If for example, all of your operators tend to make the
same mistakes when adjusting wear offsets, your goal setting should include
focusing on improving this problem area.
Setting goals for continuing education can be a little more difficult. If
you are simply increasing the proficiency level of the student (you’re
simply increasing the entry level to the next stage), use the suggestions made
thus far. You can still solicit the help of your current people and use past
experience as a guide to focus on the most troublesome problems your people are
currently having.
But continuing education should go much further than letting a person
progress through the various levels of CNC proficiency. Since CNC technology is
constantly changing, so is the current set of feasible functions that can be
accomplished. Your people must actively pursue these changes in order to stay
at the cutting edge. Stagnancy results in obsolescence.
Sources for training at these more advanced levels can be more difficult to
find. Additionally, we’re talking about changes that can have a tremendous
impact on your company’s methods. But unfortunately, your people cannot
begin to apply a revolutionary new function if they are unaware of its
existence. Parametric programming is a classic example of a programming
function that can dramatically improve the utilization of CNC equipment that is
going largely unused due to this kind of ignorance.
Outside training resources usually make the best choices for improving your
people’s proficiency in this regard. Machine tool builders, control
manufacturers, and after market suppliers should help you keep up-to-date,
since they have a vested interest in enlightening your people. Additionally,
training suppliers that have access to a wide range of CNC usage techniques can
often help you decide whether you are using each CNC function in the most
profitable way.
Achieving each goal
The curriculum you use for training must reflect your training goals.
Generally speaking, if you are trying to minimize training costs, entry level
training can be achieved by supplementing your own training with training
supplied by outside vendors.
But if you are depending largely on outside training resources, and
especially those designed for self-study, you may be limited to setting rather
generic goals. No self-study course vendor can develop a CNC training
curriculum that will work perfectly for all CNC using companies. Most
self-paced training programs (including ours) will relate one or two ways to
accomplish each CNC task. It is likely that you will have to combine the use of
these training materials with your own training for specific procedures your
people perform to accomplish CNC related tasks.
