2. Promote Internal Cross-Training

The benefits of cross-training can be summed up in the wisdom of Confucius: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

Cross-training in manufacturing means that team members receive internal, on-the-job training to learn how to complete a variety of job functions. For example, an assembly technician can be trained on multiple sub-assemblies, end item assembles, or in-process testing procedures.

When multiple machine floor and assembly team members are cross-trained to use various types of equipment and perform different processes, they gain the flexibility to respond to changes more quickly and efficiently. Cross-training not only helps maximize human resources, it also helps superior products to be produced at an accelerated, cost-effective pace.

Conversely, if there’s only one person who can do a certain job and he or she is unavailable to perform it, bottlenecks start to develop. This increases lead times and delays deliveries. It also raises work in process inventory, which increases the company’s costs.

The benefits of cross-training are immense, and include improved flexibility and quality, exposure of problems, cost savings, and increased job satisfaction.