Case Study
Woodcarving company finds state funded training provides valuable
rewards
When you walk onto the floor of the factory, it's like a busy
hive, with workers leaning over tables, benches and machines
as the whir of saws and cutters fills the air.
At Enkeboll Designs, in Carson, California, the buzz you hear
is from the employees enthusiastically applying concepts learned
at a recent job-training program. The payoff is already visible
from the program, designed to teach the staff to streamline the
plant's processes and improve the efficiency of the work.
Roses, ribbons, ornate spirals and even animal heads are the
results of this intricate (and noisy) cutting process. These
craftsmen start with the highest quality lumber and transform
it into works of art to decorate walls, drawers, staircases,
fireplaces, back bars, tables and more.
The continuous-improvement training for Enkeboll's 215 craftsmen,
sales and administration staff was customized by Quest Consulting & Training
Corp to the specific company goals. And partially funded by the
California Employment Training Panel (ETP), a state agency created
20 years ago to keep high-paying, highly skilled jobs in California
by helping businesses stay competitive.
Enkeboll Designs in Carson has been doing such intricate woodcarvings
for nearly 50 years, since the late Raymond Enkeboll founded
it in 1956.
The company has supplied the world with architectural woodcarvings
that have enhanced homes, offices and even ships. The products
can be as simple as molding with some minor details, or as complex
as mantel bases in the shapes of larger-than-life lions or swans.
Although the training just ended a few months ago, Enkeboll
has already seen a number of good results from it, said Barbara
Nannini, director of human resources for the company.
Company-Specific and Process-Specific Training Pays Off
"We've implemented 16 or 17 improvements suggested by the
teams formed during the training," Nannini said. "We
don't have any objective measurements yet. But subjectively,
we've seen some very positive changes."
Most of the changes have been in the woodworking shop, where
some tools have been modified to make them more efficient, setup
processes have been streamlined to increase productivity and
the inventory system has been modified to make sure workers don't
run out of supplies they'll need, Nannini said.
" I think there are going to be results that can be objectively
measured by next year," she said.
Although it's too soon to know the bottom-line results at Enkeboll,
other manufacturers who have used similar ETP-funded training
to teach streamlining processes and problem-solving skills have
found that productivity increased as much as 10 percent afterwards.
Enkeboll doesn't allow photographs in its shop because the
company has proprietary technology it doesn't want competitors
to see. But the showroom in Carson has a museum-like collection
of woodcarvings and samples that can be seen during office hours.
Life-like lions' heads look out from mantels. Grapevines dangle
along a wall. The sides of one room are filled with carved moldings,
while another room shows standard items as simple as wooden knobs
for drawers and decorated corbels. One wall is covered by wooden
panels that show finely detailed people carved into intricate
scenes and stories.
Easy, Accessible State-Funded Training
California state funding is available to train your workforce
through Quest's Training Consortium, using existing grants. In
the last ten years, the Consortium has received over $8,000,000
in State of California funding and successfully trained more
than 7,500 employees in 400 companies throughout the state.
The process is not complicated. And not time consuming for
you. The Consortium handles all the paperwork, collects the funds
and pays the trainers. You simply tell us your needs. Within
weeks you can get started. It's the most affordable way to give
your employees the skills they need to improve their performance
on the job. And the state picks up the tab.
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