The Corporate University Model Building Sustaina
IAbizonline
(Posted On: 11/17/08)
The Corporate University Model – Building Sustainability
Written by Corporate College at Westerm Iowa Tech Community college
Iowa companies are addressing long-term and short-term sustainability needs by integrating training into their strategic plans. The Corporate College at Western Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC) is partnering with these businesses to create customized corporate universities for each company’s workforce.
It is no secret that in today’s business environment, companies face many challenges to stay competitive. For many organizations, the shortage of skills and knowledge for maintaining industrial machinery and equipment to achieve business goals increases this challenge.
The Corporate College at WITCC, along with its business partners, has developed the Corporate University Model that ensures business sustainability goals of reducing costs, maximizing efficiencies, expanding capacity, increasing workforce skills and improving profits are achieved.
The latest company to adopt this model is the Sioux City plant of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, a national packaging solutions company headquartered in Chicago, Ill. Approximately one year ago, Julie Keane, local employee relations manager for Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, began exploring the best ways to meet its company’s current and future goals. “We really needed a strategic plan to ensure our maintenance workforce increased and sustained a very high, competency level, particularly in electrical and steam expertise,” states Keane. James McCullough, the operations manager, adds, “The maintenance team is especially vital to achieving our aggressive production goals and meeting today’s industrial needs.”
To meet these needs, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation and the Corporate College joined forces to create a customized Corporate University Model called Box University, or Box-U. This multi-year educational and training program is geared to increase the competency levels of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation’s industrial maintenance workers. The program combines self-paced computer-based training and online courses with hands-on lab work.
The program was jointly designed by WITCC’s Corporate College staff and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation’s industrial maintenance managers and workers. Bob Schmeckpeper, a project manager in the Corporate College, is responsible for ongoing program logistics and coordination. Schmeckpeper says, “This joint initiative is beneficial for everyone. The company will benefit from the skills upgrading program by addressing its need for more highly-skilled workers in a rapidly changing technological environment. New employees will benefit by acquisition of advanced skills. Experienced workers will be able to increase their skills and receive ‘credit’ for the expertise and skills that they have already acquired.”
Box University officially began enrolling students in May 2008. Today many of Smurfit-Stone’s industrial maintenance workers are progressing through the courses and already demonstrating their new skills and knowledge. The current program includes courses such as blueprint reading, wiring, gauging and measurement, hydraulics, industrial safety, programmable logic controllers, motors and motor controls, basic electricity theory, basic machine technology, pneumatics, power transmission, electronics, fluid power and boiler operations.
“As maintenance professionals we know that training in these areas is crucial to the repair and maintenance of the equipment our industry depends upon. It can be the difference between production downtime of days or just hours,” observed Greg Johnson, a maintenance supervisor.
Martin Reimer, dean of the Corporate College says, “At the Corporate College our mission is to partner with businesses to help them achieve their strategic objectives. The Corporate University Model is a customized system that allows each individual company to identify and build its own sustainable training plan to stay competitive.”
Keane concludes, “This partnership will allow us to accomplish and exceed our strategic goal of increasing the competency levels of our maintenance workforce by utilizing state grants, developing an effective curriculum, and executing Box-U with our employees."
For more information contact:
Angela Lawson
Western Iowa Tech Community College
866-528-4024
lawsona@witcc.edu.
Julie G. Keane
AERM Sioux Complex-Smurfit Stone
712.293.4042-office
JKEANE@SMURFIT.COM
Workforce Solutions from the Community Colleges of Iowa
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