Seco-Carboloy Partners with Online Education Leader Tooling University

Manufacturing Engineering, Nov 2005

Metalworking Leader Leverages Online Tools to Certify Productivity Advocates

Global metalworking leader, Seco-Carboloy, has enlisted the support of online education and training leader, Tooling University, to deploy the company's first-ever online education program for its network of metalworking specialists. The online education partnership is focusing on helping Seco-Carboloy's employees, sales people, and distributors assist their manufacturing customers with the latest and best technology selections and techniques. The program is targeted to start in the second half of 2005. Seco-Carboloy markets its full range of cutting tools and related accessories through a network of over 400 authorized distributors in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

According to Michael Parker, Seco-Carboloy's Director of Marketing & Product Development, an online education program has been a longtime company goal. However, cost-effective verification tools have not been available for adequate ongoing assessment and measurement of training effectiveness until Tooling University's offering.

"The pressure to achieve optimal productivity for manufacturers is at an all-time high, placing a premium on shop-floor knowledge and skills," said Parker. "Tooling University's training tools allow us to strengthen our whole value chain. We can finally assess individual training needs, craft customized curriculum, test and measure how well productivity skills are being retained by employees in sales, sales support, and on the shop floor, as well as help distributors and customers globally. And it's web-based, so our training is accessible 24x7, regardless of location, avoiding any costly downtime or travel necessary to gather everyone in one location."

Tooling University was founded by Jergens, a sixty-year-old Cleveland-based manufacturing company, to solve manufacturing problems. The Cleveland manufacturer first developed its curriculum and tools of assessment and ongoing measurement in 2000.

Jack Schron, CEO of Jergens and Tooling University, originally began developing curriculum offerings for his employees in response to global economic pressures for greater shop-floor productivity that continue to compound. Through discussions with vendors, suppliers, and customers, he realized they each shared a challenge for continuous skills-training and productivity knowledge on the shop floor, field sales, and customer support. He also realized that a web-based service could respond to these challenges more effectively and efficiently, regardless of location.

"We're responding to the global need for training that spans the distance of knowledge needs, from shop floor to management levels; from the U.S. to Europe, Asia and other world markets," said Schron. "Tooling University was created to supplement investments and alleviate cost pressures, real or otherwise, that are associated with conventional training. We do it by providing learning sessions that can be scheduled around production requirements or personal needs, offering it at the convenience of the trainee while giving management the ability to access, train and measure results real-time. And we do it more frequently and for less."