Plymouth Tube Company

(64 employees)

Streator, Illinois- global supplier of specialty tubing in carbon, alloy and stainless steel for auto, mining, aerospace, and recreational

www.plymouth.com

“We weren’t looking for a consultant. We wanted a partnering relationship, and that’s what we got with IMEC and Illinois Valley Community College. They came to us with a willingness to educate and an understanding of what’s required in the workplace today.”

Cam Valle, General Manager

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Situation

Corporate leaders charged Plymouth Tube’s Streator facility with completing Training Within Industry, which leverages supervisors to apply the principles of lean manufacturing, standardized work and continuous improvement on an ongoing basis. The project’s goals were threefold: 1) break down operator processes into standardized work through documented job instructions, 2) train supervisors to teach those job instructions to employees and 3) verify that employees learned the skills and processes necessary to perform the work safely and efficiently.

IMEC Solution

IMEC and Illinois Valley Community College collaborated to complete the project, with IMEC delivering the training and technical assistance and college staff providing project management and securing grant funding. The project kicked off with a walkthrough of the Streator facility, then IMEC developed the scope for the training and conducted half-day sessions over the course of two weeks. The Job Relations module taught supervisors how to build positive employee relations, increase cooperation and motivation, and resolve conflicts effectively. In the Job Instruction module, supervisors learned how to quickly train employees to do a job correctly, safely and conscientiously.