May

When I see or hear the word “training”, I imagine sweat, being out of breath and stiff muscles for the next coming days. The word just screams exhaustion to me! Now one might ask: “Why do you still go ahead and do that to yourself?” Well, the answer to that is rather quite simple: “I work out because it builds my strength, confidence, boosts my health and I simply love the feeling of accomplishment after a successful workout.”

Creating an engaged workforce
Just like physical strength training, training within corporate organisations is imperative and cultivates healthy and engaged corporate partnerships. Spare Parts Management (SPM) is not common knowledge to most organisations, or it is either being done without the organisation being aware that they are doing it. SPM involves various aspects to it and requires continuous monitoring (PDCA cycle) for long term sustainability. To bring and keep this SPM planning cycle to the required quality-level, training is required.

One aspect of SPM involves dealing with exceptions (predefined rules that highlight specific problems of a part/item) e.g., “Unreliable Lead Time”, which points the client in the direction of investigation.

The benefits of in-house training
I had the opportunity to train a client in conducting an exception check and the benefits of it. Now I knew this would not be as easy as a walk in the park because I would be training the client in something that is new/unfamiliar to their organisation but highly beneficial. The training took place over a period of 3-months, enabling the client sufficient time to independently handle an exception check, as a step in conducting the monthly parameter updates. Monthly parameter updates are conducted to determine more accurate inventory levels that a client may use for procurement purposes.

Benefits of conducting training for the client’s representative:

• Improved data-analysis skills:
  • Guidance on how to spot problem areas for parts listed on the exception list (Visual representation of data plots etc. in SPM Studio).
  • How to conduct an investigation on part level i.e. how to navigate the SPM Studio and analyse part information so as to make informed parameter decisions.
• Knowledge-based decision making:
  • Assists client in making informed decisions on inventory parameters before approval.
• Higher employee motivation and engagement:
  • Allows the representative to make informed procurement decisions based on their knowledge, which boosts the employee’s moral.
  • Builds solid foundation for future projects based on client satisfaction.
  • Providing training to the client is a way to nurture the relationship and opens doors for future collaboration as well.

Professional development is a long-term investment
Just like the saying “Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live in”- Jim Rohn; so does it apply to taking care of your employees’ needs and investing in upskilling their expertise. The concept also applies for complex business processes, in particular processes with a large potential business impact. It is essential for organisations to invest in professional developmental (in-house training) to expand the knowledge and skills for the SPM function.