Machine Operator Training at PBC Linear

In the manufacturing industry, training operators is essential. However, this process isn’t always easy. PBC Linear, a company that makes linear motion products, faced a lack of operator training that led to some major losses. With the help of Taqtile and Manifest®, the company leveraged augmented reality ROI through impressive cost savings and reduced product losses.

A Retiring Workforce Reduces Expert Training Staff

Tim LeCrone, director of manufacturing engineering at PBC Linear, told our team about some of the machine operator training challenges he faced before using Manifest. One of the biggest challenges LeCrone faced was a high volume of retirees who were the most experienced operators on his floor. He found his team was then lacking enough experienced trainers to inform new employees.

LeCrone noted that there’s a trickle-down effect when a workforce isn’t well trained. The cost to make parts increases as it goes through each stage of manufacturing. When a new employee makes a mistake in the last stage, the part gets scrapped, and a lot of money is lost in the process. The more mistakes that are made, the more the operation suffers. 

As more knowledgeable employees left the floor, LeCrone found it hard to maintain the expertise he required among his operators to keep everything running smoothly.

How Manifest Transformed Heavy Equipment Training for PBC Linear

When LeCrone found Taqtile, he finally had an ideal solution for turning expert knowledge into instruction and sharing it with every new employee. Manifest software removed the need to pair new workers with experienced employees and created uniform training modules for every new hire.

LeCrone worked with his experienced employees and used Job Templates in Manifest. With these templates, critical instructions about machine operation were clearly documented and easy to follow for a given machine. Job Steps showed leader lines to physical equipment to guide the training process, and new operators could follow along.

With the help of Manifest, PBC Linear and LeCrone found they can train new employees in as little as three days — down from three weeks. That’s an 80% reduction in training time. Other results of using Manifest for their manufacturing operator training program include: