Technology is moving 5 times faster than management – should you be paranoid or excited?
These words were recently attributed to Dominic Barton, CEO of McKinsey & Co, and apply as much in our world of spare parts management as in any other aspect of management.
One specific area that has moved 5 times faster than management is online inventory management training.
Not that long ago if you wanted synchronous, real time training it needed to be done in person. That is, with the trainer and the trainees all in the same room. Today, you don’t even need to be on the same continent!
A lot of companies have been slow to catch on to this because they are not moving as fast as the technology and those companies need to be paranoid about how this will leave them behind in terms of the skills development of their team. Especially as budgets get squeezed and travel curtailed.
Some companies, however, have moved with the times and reaped the benefits of live, in person, online inventory management training. These companies are excited about what technology can deliver.
One such company is Karachaganak Petroleum Operations (KPO), a partnership between five oil and gas companies developing the vast reserves of the Karachaganak field in western Kazakhstan.
For KPO we conducted a live online training program that included: six training modules, workbooks, open tutorials, and weekly quizzes. Plus, by conducting a desktop evaluation of their systems we were able to tailor the training to KPO’s specific issues. The program covered:
- Review Findings and Best Practice
- Basics of Inventory Management
- Inventory Optimization Techniques
- Storeroom Management
- Inventory Management Policies
- Maintenance and Spare Parts Integration
Central to this training was the back up of full access to the resource center at SparePartsKnowHow.com. In addition we created a dedicated KPO page where we provided video recordings of each session and the workbooks so that the KPO participants can access all the material online to refresh their learning and reinforce the lessons.
KPO staff were able to log in from any location to join the sessions. So it didn’t matter whether or not the participants were on site or on shift.
For KPO this provided a massive cost benefit because there were no airfares for their staff (or me), no accommodation costs, and no backfilling of positions while people undertook the training. These are massive ‘hidden costs’ for most group training.
Here is the feedback we received from KPO’s spare parts superintendents:
Phillip Slater’s online training program helped my team to better understand the complexities of spare parts management, the applications of policies, and the importance of maintenance engagement.
Phillip’s presentation style made the online sessions enjoyable and the use of webcams and webcast technology meant that our staff could attend the training even when they were off shift.
By having Phillip evaluate our systems before the training he was able to integrate our issues into the training sessions.
I would recommend Phillip for anyone looking to expand their understanding and skills with spare parts management.
Askar Andirov & Sabit Trumov
Spare Parts Superintendents, Karachaganak Petroleum (KPO), Kazakhstan
Very kind words indeed.
Technology is moving fast and if that excites you then contact us for more information on conducting an online training program for your team.
You might also be interested in these article:
How Do You Know That Your Spare Parts Warehouse/Storeroom Personnel and Managers Are Qualified?
Identifying Best Practice Inventory Management
Author: Phillip Slater