TRAINING FOR IMPACT - WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TWI?
Training within industry
TWI performance improvement at 600 companies during WWII
What kind of results can organisations expect from the Training within Industry programs? The ultimate purpose of training our people is to make a measurable impact. Understandably, managers looking at the possibility of investing in TWI training for their supervisors and teams want to get an understanding of the likely impact and return on investment. Individual present-day case studies from companies working with Training within Industry routinely report training time, productivity, and quality improvement by 50% and more linked to the disciplined application of the TWI ‘J’ programs. Large-scale impact statistics of training programs are rare. This case-study is a rare gem. It summarises the results across multiple performance dimensions of over 600 companies tracked over 3 years. This TWI case provides valuable insights for managers seeking to make a (conservative!) prediction of training impact.
Over 600 companies were tracked for 3 years…
The TWI programmes were well received by plant managers and workers during WWII. Initially, little effort was made to get any specific information on production results from the plants. This changed in May 1943, when U.S.Congress requested a report from the TWI Service to state its net results in overall increases in production, reduction of scrap, and other savings.
It was not possible then to get total figures, but over 600 voluntary plant statements were used to provide an overview of impact of Training within Industry across multiple performance dimensions.
In each, the percentage of change (whether an increase in production or a reduction of scrap) was calculated. The table at the top shows the percentage of plants that reported improvements of 25 per cent or more.
“Over 86% of companies using TWI methods improved output, training time, productivity and grievances by at least 25%”
Performance leaps vs. conservative averages…
This, of course, does not give any picture of the individual results from which the summary was made, of the occasional production increases which ran over 500 per cent, of training time reduced by 90 per cent, or the virtual elimination of grievances. Cost and time savings were not be tabulated, but they were believed to be of even greater importance to companies and customers.
Daily TWI routines to drive improvement…
The impact of TWI training on performance inevitably depends on the follow-through by management and the degree to which application of the TWI methods becomes part of the everyday life of supervisors and their teams. When Training within Industry is applied methodically, it tends to unlock unprecedented performance leaps. It is not uncommon for companies that successfully connect TWI methods to the daily routines of supervisors and their teams to report improvements of 50% or more in target areas.
Whilst this might seem surprising at first, it should not be… Many companies have significant potential for performance improvement with high variation in methods, processes and results. Therefore, disciplined efforts to bring about stability will pay dividends. And it is precisely the ability to stabilise methods, processes and people that the Training within Industry programs excel at.
Many managers are unsure how to predict and quantify the impact of training investment. This case-study provides conservative results that can be achieved with a disciplined application of the TWI J-programs. Through our annual TWI and Kata Summits our clients share company case-studies illustrating the impact of Training within Industry that back up this historic impact data. Today’s company cases demonstrate: not only does TWI remain relevant and valuable in the 21st century, it frequently exceeds the conservative benchmark of 25%+ used in the TWI Service data from WWII.
This case study was shared by C.R.Dooley, the Director of the Training within Industry Service in his 1946 report on Training within Industry (TWI) to the International Labour Organisation.
The Training within Industry programs continue to be relevant to manufacturing and service organisations. In fact, Training within Industry is one of the foundations of the Toyota Production System and Lean.
