Process industries, more than most industries today, are facing intense
competition and increasing regulation. These dynamics
are changing the nature of work, the knowledge requirements, and the skills
workers need to perform.
Successful process manufacturing companies are addressing these issues through
investments in intellectual capital - the training and development of their
workforce. They recognize that safe operations, improved efficiency, high
quality and compliance all depend on a more knowledgeable workforce.
Serious challenges include:
Industry
Consolidation / Establishing Best Practices
•
Aligning newly-acquired organizations with established best
practices and sharing knowledge is critical to meeting
performance and corporate compliance objectives
•
Consolidation of operations jobs within facilities requires
workers to possess and maintain broader skill sets
Skilled
Workforce Attrition
•
Retiring "baby boomers" have extensive experience that
cannot be immediately replaced
•
More knowledgeable workers are
needed to fill vacancies created by retiring workers
Training
Resource Limitations
•
Traditional
training paradigms primarily utilize generic "pre-packaged"
training programs that do not address job-specific knowledge
proficiency
•
Hours
available for traditional training are reaching cost
effective limits and operators are getting close to
information overload
Compliance
Mandates
•
Process manufacturing
sites are heavily regulated environments for safety,
environmental and quality standards
•
Regulations will
continue to expand the knowledge required, the sites covered
and the workforce impacted
