Why Cut Your Training Budget?

Training Day Pays Off in a Much Bigger Way

From time to time I am solicited to do specialized training on HSMWorks and InventorHSM in the CAM arena. It is very specific to the software mentioned above but I see a wide gap in skills in the supporting software. The supporting software packages of Solidworks and Inventor are the two packages that are most requested by my clients and I find myself scratching my head at the lack of both willingness and readiness to have the basic skills to manipulate model geometry and add things to make life easier in general.

Let’s be clear that both software programs require a basic skill set and as great as the internet is, all students/users would benefit from a crash course in basics. As a trainer of software for the better part of my career, it is amazing to see the progression on a well-trained workforce. The benefits are visible and almost instantaneous. The ROI is almost immeasurable because what you get back is TIME. Your most valuable asset.

I have taught anywhere from one student to 12 at a time, and in my opinion, the max number of students should be no more than four. You might ask me how I came to this conclusion? There have been many classes where I felt, that for what the price tag for an Essentials Class ($2500.00), the value diminishes exponentially without personalized service. For training to be effective and not just time away from your normal workload, it needs to be personalized and pinpoint. Challenging yet helpful. There are plenty of instructors out there that can regurgitate a training manual.

If I know what you value as a business most and what you produce, I can tailor a first class training to fit your industry and guarantee better performance and collaboration out of your team. I will stand behind my work 100% and if you are not satisfied with the outcome, will repeat the training or hone it in to be more specific and do it for free. I am a teacher, first.

What to Expect on the Day ‘Of’

All good subject matter for training comes from a wealth of knowledge gained by a pretty large set of questions to be filled out by team members to understand what they feel their weaknesses and strengths are. A separate questionnaire is given to management to get a feel as to where improvements could be made and some personality screenings to find out what management styles are currently in place. What is working and what isn’t. A report and suggestions for grouping of students is the first piece of the puzzle that is reviewed and refined to pull together a curriculum specific to the organization’s growth plan and current needs. This phase typically takes 1-4 weeks.

A curriculum is generated and students are broken into groups of Four. I have found that if we categorize the skill levels and try and get at least one power user per group, that I can work together with them to leverage time. I like to do two, 4-hour shifts in a day – that way I don’t get bored and neither do they. There are plenty of topics that come up from which students need help with that fill up an entire week. Some of those include modeling essentials to workarounds and heavy surfacing.

Let’s take a look at a few benefits for the “bang for the buck” on industry specific Solidworks training with a custom curriculum.

  • The normal Solidworks curriculum is supposed to be somewhere around a 1-year process (not true). That package could cost a pretty penny not to mention the time away from work.
  • No training provided by the Reseller will be industry specific based on pulling books from the Solidworks catalog.
  • What if I told you that I could give you all the tools needed to be better in a week? You see my point.

So as someone who values their time and cash flow, I want you to consider the Benefits vs. the Cost. Let me show you and prove to you that you should not be cutting you training budget. As your workforce grows and evolves, we can work on an internal training program with your company where your team members leverage their experience to train new team members. The goal is to make everyone a better user that uses time and resources efficiently!

Be a Maker.

-Todd

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