Your managers have probably had business training. Your financial people have taken accounting and financial courses. Perhaps they have MBA's. Your secretarial staff is proficient in word processing and similar functions on a computer. Have your production and process control personnel been trained in ceramic technology? What is their ceramic technology IQ? If it isn't high enough, how do you expect to prosper??
It's not just the specialized knowledge they possess, although this is obviously very important. Their attitudes and morale are better if they feel competent and up to the job! Almost everyone likes to do a good job, and proper training is one of the most important tools you can provide.
There aren't many ceramic schools, and they are geared to turn out ceramic enginners, not to train your personnel. If you have ceramic engineers on staff, can they do your training? Perhaps, if they aren't so overwhelmed by their regular duties that they have some extra time on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, in the real world, training often takes a back seat. But there are places to which you can turn.
Carl Frahme has proven experience in and commitment to training in ceramic and materials technologies.
Co-founder of CCI- Carl co-founded Ceramic Correspondence Institute in 1972 to help provide training in ceramic technology for those who could not get it. CCI is now owned and operated by The American Ceramic Society and has served well over 2000 students from more than 50 countries. Now, World CyberUniversity, the educational service of Frahme Consulting Services, Inc. and CCI have joined forces to bring the CCI program on-line with new and fully updated courses.
Instructor in Short Courses- Carl has been an instructor in dozens of short courses, including Fundamentals of Ceramic Technology and Quality Control in the Ceramics Industry for The American Ceramic Society and refractories courses for The Center for Professional Advancement.
Instructor at UCLA- Carl was a part-time instructor at the Materials Science and Technology Department of UCLA, teaching Ceramic and Glass Processing.
In-Plant Training- Carl has instructed ceramic courses on an in-plant basis.
On-line Courses- World CyberUniversity, the educational service of Frahme Consulting Services, Inc., has teamed with Ceramic Correspondence Institute, an educational service of The American Ceramic Society, to bring ceramics and materials courses on-line over the Internet, thus bringing a new dimension to training in ceramic technology. Link to On-Line Courses for more information.
FCS can offer on-site training programs in ceramic technology. One of the big advantages is the direct interaction with your people. We can custom-design courses for your needs, or we can build them around on-line or CCI courses. We can be very flexible as to course content and scheduling. Give us a call so we can discuss your needs!
Ceramic Correspondence Institute and FCS are now offering courses on-line. This takes the concept of correspondence courses to a new medium and a higher level. On-line courses offer more in-depth content, faster updates, and more student interaction. Look at On-Line Courses in this Web site. All courses are also available in print versions as well. For more information, link to Ceramic Correspondence Institute and CCI Courses.
FCS has re-established a direct tie to CCI. Carl Frahme has, in a sense, returned to his roots in ceramic education! Use the links above or contact The American Ceramic Society's Customer Service office at (614) 794-5890, or Fax at (614) 794-5854, or E-mail at customersrvc@acers.org. CCI now offers nine on-line courses in association with WCU (many written fully or partially by Carl Frahme) and five diploma programs- link to Occupational Certificate Programs. The CCI program has over thirty years of proven effectiveness.
Let us propose a program that combines our Training Programs with our Process Control and Problem Solving services. We really believe this is a most powerful combination!! Let us put on a Process Control Training program at your facility or at a location of your choice. A program might look something like this, although we will need to customize it for your company. The program would be initiated by signing up your "students" in a series of CCI courses (on-line and/or in print), including Fundamentals of Ceramic Technology, Ceramic Processing, and Statistical Process Control for Ceramics and Glass. To supplement the course material and to customize it for your company, FCS would put on a four-day, in-house classroom program, most likely built around two half-day sessions each of the four days. We will divide your staff into two groups and train half in the mornings and half in the afternoons. It is usually difficult to remove all your people from your plant at one time; someone has to run the show! Now, here is the unique part! At the end of this somewhat traditional session, we will divide your newly trained staff into appropriate small groups along functional lines. During the following weeks, each group will perform a detailed audit of the ceramic processing and processing control in their assigned areas, with long-distance support from FCS. Their goal will be to take a hard look at processing and control to find ways to make improvements. At an appropriate time, we will meet personally with each group for about a half day to get a report on what they have learned. These sessions will include your company's management. As a group we will determine where problems and opportunities exist and what can be done about them. Specific plans for improvements will be devised, and over the ensuing month(s), these plans will be implemented by each group, again with FCS support. At an appropriate point, a final meeting with FCS will be held to determine how things are going. At this point, involvement by FCS should no longer be necessary. Your company will have improved processing and process control and, most importantly, better trained and more highly motivated personnel. Of course, the start-up costs of such a program are not trivial! However, we think the payback in lowered losses, improved product, increased process throughput, and staff productivity will be impressive indeed! Give us a call so we can discuss your needs.