Pump Industry Training in a Changing World - Pump Systems Problems, Pump Repair, Pump Installation, Pump Help & Resources

Pump Industry Training in a Changing World

Written by John P. Miersma, The Walchem Group of Companies

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Working through partnerships between grantors and trainers is an alternative to employing grant consultants. For example, our companies have worked through the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership for lean manufacturing training. The Partnership is a non-profit collaborative effort of the University of Massachusetts - Boston and the state Department of Workforce Development. The Partnership both conducted the training and assisted the companies in obtaining grants for the training.

Ultimately, the grant process can be a "win" for both the grantor and the company receiving the grant, and the relationship between the parties can grow over time. Jane Kadlubkiewicz, the director of the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund, notes we were ". . . chosen for grants because of their strong outcomes and measures associated with achieving the goals stated in their grant applications."

A walk through your organization will, no doubt, reveal an array of independent training programs. Each company's strategic planning process should yield training goals and a comprehensive training strategy which, among other things, identifies training gaps, links training programs together wherever possible and tasks appropriate departments with developing and implementing training programs. This approach has both practical and financial benefits.

One product of the comprehensive training strategy should be a training matrix that shows what training will be performed, who will lead the training, when it will be performed and who will participate. A form should be developed that serves as evidence of employees' completion of training. The training matrix and evidence of completion meet both internal control review and ISO compliance objectives.

The comprehensive training strategy should consider the needs of employees who are required to earn continuing professional education credits to maintain professional certifications. To the extent possible, training programs selected for these employees should be capable of granting these credits.

Development of training by employees who are experts in their functional areas offers many potential benefits. From the employees' perspective, these might include:

Extra compensation in the form of payments for authoring and/or leading training.
Work outside of their daily routines.
Refreshed knowledge of training content.
Increased visibility and stature within the organization.
A platform for advancement within the company.

For employers, this represents an opportunity to motivate employees and build loyalty while developing skills for advancement within the organization - all important considerations in today's hiring climate. Recently retired employees should also be considered as experienced, skilled and wise resources for developing and leading training.

More affordable training resources are available online and elsewhere today than ever before. Employing new technology can result in highly effective training tools such as Pump Systems Improvement Modeling, a freely available software tool available at http://www.pumpsystemsmatter.org/ that is designed to help train users, engineering consultants and others about pump and systems interaction.

Likewise, technology such as web conferencing enables training to be delivered more efficiently.

The Hydraulic Institute's Expanding Role

The Hydraulic Institute (HI) represents a significant body of knowledge and expertise. HI has been writing standards since 1917 and is an approved ANSI standards writing organization. The Standards and Guidelines, along with HI's "Pump Knowledge Series" of white papers and centrifugal pump e-learning program, provide significant educational value to both pump users and those who design and specify pumping systems.

HI frequently works hand-in-hand with other industry organizations. The recent Pump Life Cycle Cost and Variable Speed Pumping guides are joint efforts of HI and Europump, while the new Mechanical Seals for Pumps guide is a collaborative effort of HI and the Fluid Sealing Association.

In 2006, HI expanded its mission in education. The core of HI's mission is to "expand knowledge by providing education and tools for the effective application, testing, installation, operation and maintenance of pumps and pumping systems." Related developments include:

Expansion of the HI Board of Directors, with the addition of a Vice President of Education and planned related additions to its staff.
Ongoing development of a positive displacement pump e-learning course. HI is recruiting positive displacement pump companies to sponsor this program.
Expansion of HI's Associate Member program, open to companies engaged in the North American manufacturing of motors, seals, bearings, component parts, gauges, controls, instruments and related software or pump-specific software for ultimate use in or with pumps.
Launch of a Standards Partner Program offering engineering firms limited access to HI and its products and services.

Also in 2006, the related Pump Systems Matter (PSM) educational foundation was created and articulated its mission "to provide end-users, engineering consultants and pump suppliers with tools and collaborative opportunities to integrate pump system performance optimization and efficient energy management practices into normal business operations."

A number of HI pump company members including our Iwaki America business and associate members, along with non-government organizations, are charter sponsors of PSM and continue to support the foundation. PSM is actively seeking additional sponsors to grow and expand its efforts.

PSM developed an Educational Roadmap that includes five different courses. The first course in this series, "System Optimization and Life Cycle Costing," was delivered recently at the International Pump Symposium. The second course coincided with the launch of PSM's online Pump Systems Improvement Modeling tool mentioned earlier. Other courses are currently under development.

Conclusion

I am confident that the training value equation will yield a positive result for all companies in the pump industry that are committed to investing the time and effort necessary to define the variables and "solve" the equation.

References

John Allen, "Executive Insights," Pumps & Systems (Jan 2006): 48.

John P. Miersma is the executive vice president of The Walchem Group of Companies, 5 Boynton Road, Holliston, MA 01746, 508-429-1110, Fax: 508-429-7433, http://www.walchem.com/. He is also the current president of the Hydraulic Institute, Inc., 9 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054, 973-267-9700, http://www.pumps.org/. HI is the largest association of pump manufacturers in North America.

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