Situation:
Upon joining Sanmina Corporation, Plant Manager Gary Freiberg identified a critical need for employee development. After assessing organizational needs and gathering feedback, it became clear that the company lacked structured training and leadership development. This gap was contributing to high turnover, low morale, and underperformance. Drawing on previous successful experiences, Freiberg reached out to the UW-Stout Manufacturing Outreach Center (MOC) to implement the Training Within Industry (TWI) Job Relations (JR) and Job Instruction (JI) programs to rapidly enhance supervisory skills and leadership capabilities.
Solutions:
Sanmina partnered with the MOC to roll out TWI JR and JI across the organization. These programs were designed to build leadership capacity, improve communication, and standardize training processes. The initiative was embraced by employees and integrated into both onboarding and ongoing development efforts.
Results:
- Employee Retention: Retained 3 employees previously considered for replacement.
- Cultural Transformation: Empowered employees to become problem-solvers.
- Improved morale and reduced turnover
- Enhanced team collaboration and communication.
- Training Efficiency: All employees now participate in TWI JR & JI.
- Anticipated 75% reduction in total learning curve time.
- Operational Improvements: Better tools and skills for addressing daily manufacturing challenges.
- Expected improvements in quality, delivery, and employee performance.
- Sustainability: TWI training has been fully adopted and is driving continuous improvement.
Teams are proactively solving long-standing issues.
Testimonial:
“I had a record of success working with the MOC at two previous companies I’ve been involved with. This has been the second time I’ve called on Nick Ford & Matthew Wakefield to work with me on TWI training and implementation. As certified trainers with an enormous amount of industry experience & knowledge to rely on, Nick and Matt quickly establish trust, open dialog, and an environment that is conducive to the success of those they are working with. They take the time to make sure everyone is prepared and give the support they need & when they need it. As a result, the implementation of TWI JR & JI has been extremely fast and without any of the issues you typically experience. We are seeing incremental improvements to our KPI’s every day, but more importantly our team members are owning the process, solving problems and driving the success we are now starting to experience.” - Gary Freiburg, Plant Manager