A framework for training workers in contemporary manufacturing environments

Manufacturing experiments with full automation for manufacturing of goods, developed, promoted and attempted in the 1980s, have failed for economic and technical reasons. It is now widely accepted that humans are vital to efficient and effective operation of manufacturing processes. Historically, human resources in most manufacturing environments have been mismanaged, and while there has been a virtual proliferation of enabling technologies to support manufacturing systems, little attention has been paid to integrating humans into such systems. Now that humans are being reintroduced in contemporary manufacturing systems, it is necessary to pay serious attention to this most vital of all resources. One of the most critical and pressing human resource management needs is the training of workers, at all levels (line workers, managers, engineers, etc.) in skills they need to make a manufacturing organization competitive. In spite of this pressing need relatively little has been done to develop generic and fundamental methods for training manufacturing workers. This paper reviews training literature, identifies research deficiencies, and proposes a framework for training workers in contemporary manufacturing environments.