Across a variety of industries, manufacturing plants must meet rigorous production goals in order for companies to remain competitive. Especially in today’s economic climate, everyone is looking for the best cost options to make improvements without sacrificing quality. However, endless technology changes and complex processes make it challenging to keep up.
Do your engineers know how to maintain, configure, troubleshoot and pull data from your system? Does your staff understand how to use all the features in the technology you’ve invested in? And are you following best practices? The right training can help ensure a facility’s peak performance levels and profits.
Also, a gap may exist between your soon-to-be-retiring workforce and young engineers or technicians who lack experience. Taking courses via Virtual Classroom may be the best use of your time and money to deliver the much-needed education that will help your staff make critical decisions about your system when something goes wrong.
When it comes to training, I have three tidbits of information to share:
Fact: Projects that dedicate 6–10% of their budget to training were twice as successful as projects that invested 4% or less to training.
Fact: More than 62% of petroleum engineers polled in a 2012 survey said they were waiting to receive technical training that they feel they should have already received.
Fact: Companies can reduce their training budget by up to 40% when eliminating travel… and having students attend classes in their pajamas.
OK, I made the last part of the third fact up — the type of clothes you wear while attending a class does not impact how much money you can save. But if you can receive important training without walking into a formal classroom, wearing pajama pants and a comfy t-shirt while sitting at home may be another big plus! Manage your training budget — and get the training you need, when you need it — by eliminating the need for travel expenses.
It’s no longer necessary to waste time sitting in an airport or suffer the inconveniences of being away from work and home in order to reap the benefits of Emerson’s Educational Services. But there are other tangible benefits that make Virtual Classroom a smart investment.
The professional curriculum is taught by factory-certified instructors who have application expertise and practical field experience. Students participate in a hands-on experience by connecting in a virtual environment with full audio and video support. Participants can pose questions directly to the instructor or share them with the entire classroom.
The course content also offers flexibility to suit your needs. Virtual Classroom can help train your in-house staff and new recruits while instilling the competence and confidence necessary for them to be successful in their roles. This “learn by doing” method lends itself to better retention and application, which can dramatically boost your personnel’s skills and performance.
Furthermore, investing in a knowledgeable staff will keep your plants performing optimally, reduces project risk and maximizes your return on investment. And Virtual Classroom is the most cost-effective way to get your staff up-to-date on the latest technologies while uncovering new process improvement opportunities.
Learn more about Educational Services is an important part of Lifecycle Services by visiting our site. And find more details about Emerson’s Virtual Classroom, class schedules, course descriptions and other training opportunities at www.emersonprocess.com/VirtualClassroom.
Also, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Darrell Tank, one of our course instructors. Depending on what time of day or night he gets your email, he may respond from home while wearing pajamas.
From Jim: You can also connect and interact with members of the Educational Services team in the Train & Develop group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.