Customer Analysis of LearnTech® Training

The following is an email from John Hagan to his management regarding the purchase of the LearnTech® EMS Suite by Laser Drive Inc.

From: John Hagan
Subject: Purchase of LearnTech® Training Program

The LearnTech® training package has proven to be a very useful and effective training tool. Prior attempts at training programs that we have developed here at Laser Drive did provide some value, but cannot compare to the results we have documented in our three-month trial use of LearnTech® .

The major benefits we have experienced are as follows:

Repeatability - Every trainee gets identical training. This is one of the strengths of using computer-based training. The training classes that we developed at Laser Drive varied from instructor to instructor, class to class, and possibly even trainee to trainee.

Cost - Even though the LearnTech® has an initial investment of $4k, the time saved by Laser Drive developing a training class, implementing, and refining would cost at least that much in labor time of the instructor. In addition, the LearnTech® CD's take the trainee through more information in less time. This would cause fewer constraints on both the training program and production. Also this should allow us to get more people trained in a smaller time span.

Results - By far the most impressive aspect we have seen is the degree of knowledge obtained, and retained by the trainees after viewing the training CDs. In order to justify this purchase, we tested the employees prior to viewing the CDs. Most had been through our previous training program. The average score was 71%. After viewing the CDs the average final test score was 92%. But the true proof was the retention. The trainees were retested almost three months after viewing the CDs. There was no refresher course given. The average score of the retest was 85%. In addition, 71% of those retested scored an average of 1.9% higher than their final test score. This indicates to me that the same people are applying their training on the production floor.

Information Content - The information contained in this collection is more thorough, complete, accurate, and up to date than anything we could generate at Laser Drive. This training program goes far beyond our present practices. We presently do not do surface mount technology, but plan to in the future. This training program should satisfy our needs into the future and should not become obsolete quickly. The ESD control, mechanical assembly and inventory control information are subjects that we previously had no legitimate training courses. Finally, during our ISO audit, the auditor interviewed several new employees. One person has been here less than 2 weeks. The auditor was impressed with the degree of knowledge and awareness that a new employee has concerning bill of materials, inventory control and tracibility (ISO9001 para# 4.9, Process Control). This knowledge was gained through the LearnTech® training program.

Employee Buy-in - Instructors and trainees who have been in contact with the LearnTech® package are very pleased with it. I've attached several questionnaires that the trainees had filled out. Also as I outlined above, it appears that they are applying their training. Finally, from my perspective having an instructor sit with each trainee was somewhat of a drawback. However, that is what the trainees like the best. They can stop the program, discuss their questions with the instructor, and continue the program after their discussion. We have discovered that in most cases, and instructor is not needed for refresher training since the person is familiar with the computer and programs.

In summary, I cannot see how Laser Drive would not invest in this training program. I truly cannot find any significant drawback in adopting this training program. The money saved and knowledge gained is far better than anything we could develop.