ABOUT HUNTER DOUGLAS:
Hunter Douglas Salt Lake City (SLC) fabricates high-end window coverings that are designed and custom-assembled in the US and shipped throughout the country and Canada. From cordless manual to motorized operating systems, they offer customers a wide array of innovative lifting systems for enhanced child safety and easy operation. They have a wide variety of fabrics and materials that offer varying degrees of privacy and light. Their customers are dealers and installers who service the end consumer. The Salt Lake City plant employs 300.
THE CHALLENGE:
Hunter Douglas was introduced to MEP through the Salt Lake Community College Custom Fit Training program. The Hunter Douglas SLC facility has been experiencing 25% year over year unit volume increases and growth. To keep up with the volume increase the facility had to add production operators. They wanted to make sure that their new workforce was properly trained and ready for quality production.
MEP CENTER’S ROLE:
Hunter Douglas uses the Training Within Industry (TWI) model for new hire training. This training’s focus is to streamline training and quickly create efficient employees that can turn out quality products. MEP was able to bring an instructor familiar with TWI and conduct Train the Trainer classes on site at the Hunter Douglas facility. The instructor learned the Hunter Douglas product and worked with site leadership to make this an enhancement to existing programs and training. Multiple Train the Trainer classes were held. In addition, Hunter Douglas embarked on a rigorous training schedule of TWI, Lean 101, and Visual Workplace each month so that their employees could have access to ongoing improvement. Finally, Hunter Douglas was able to implement the TWI methods in-house so that their own supervisors would be able to conduct future trainings and they would be able to meet their company’s growth.
