Learning and development process for Suspension Component Makers: recording what seniors know
Heat treatment settings are held by experience and training new welders takes months. A learning process writes down what the experts know and brings new people to that level faster.
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Share your requirementsWhy learning and development process matters in suspension component makers
In a spring plant, quench temperature, hold time and tempering settings are known to a few senior hands who adjust them by eye. In a weld shop, a new welder spends months before passing a part test, and during that time the best welder is busy teaching instead of welding. When either person is absent, parts drift and nobody can say why.
A practical learning process records the important settings and checks in short guides, trains new people step by step with a senior in a fixed weekly slot, and tests them on a defined list of tasks. Welders are brought up through grades with a clear test at each one, so progress is visible and the plant knows who can weld what.
How to set it up
1. Write down the key settings and checks
With the senior hands, record the settings and checks that most affect strength and finish in heat treatment, forming and welding. One page per process is enough.
2. Create weld and press skill grades
Define three or four grades for welders and press setters, each with a task list and a practical test. A grade shows what a person can do alone.
3. Fix teaching slots for seniors
Give seniors a weekly period for training that counts as work, and arrange cover on their line. Without this the teaching is squeezed out whenever orders rise.
4. Test and sign off at each grade
A senior and the quality lead test the learner on a real part. Record the result and date so the plant has a current list of who can do what.
5. Review the skill list each quarter
Read the grid with the plant head. Where only one person holds a critical skill, name a second and set a date. See learning and development process for how we would run the cycle.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Count the heat treatment settings that exist only in one person's memory.
- List welders by grade and the date each last passed a test.
- Note how many months it took your last three welders to reach independent work.
- Ask a senior welder how much time per week goes to teaching and whether it is planned.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach learning and development process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Sit with them during runs and write down the settings, the signs they watch and what they change when. Then have a second person run with the notes. The gaps in the notes show what is still unwritten.
Yes, and it usually works well. When a welder knows that passing the next test moves the pay step, learning is wanted, not avoided. Keep the tests fair and the criteria written.
Find out why. It may be fear of being replaced, no time, or no recognition. Give teaching a slot, a visible reward and a role in the grade structure so it benefits him too.