Original Date: 03/06/2006
Revision Date: / /

Raytheon-Louisville’s Training Program has established well-defined training requirements and documentation for both employees and supervisors by providing better visibility into training achieved, training needed, and team member capabilities and proficiencies. The program supported the company during a production ramp-up and large-scale hiring. Increased plant efficiency and reduced cycle time attest to the success of Raytheon-Louisville’s Training Program.

An integral part of Raytheon-Louisville’s mission is maintaining a knowledgeable, skillful, and successful workforce. To accomplish this, the company had to provide training to maximize current and future job performance, provide skills for improved performance, and increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Past practices for acquiring training were not administered on a consistent basis.

In response to growth in 2003 that resulted in a hiring ramp-up, Raytheon-Louisville embarked on refocusing its training program. The Louisville facility has historically had a very stable workforce with a low turnover rate and a minimum of new hires. With no formalized planning or tracking for training prior to 2004, employees received on- the-job (OJT) training. The ramp-up challenged Raytheon-Louisville to create a new training program that could bring new employees into established work groups and to train them without sacrificing quality or safety, at the same time training existing employees who had been put into new positions.

Raytheon-Louisville realized that its existing training program was not adequate to maintain a knowledgeable, skillful, and successful workforce. A major concern of management was the possibility for a decline in the quality, efficiency, and safety of the program. In late 2003 and early 2004, a Six Sigma team created training modules for each of the Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) intended for new or transferring employees. These modules familiarized employees with general concepts for each IPT and with job-specific concepts. Raytheon-Louisville also partnered with Raytheon Professional Services (RPS) to develop comprehensive tools for the program to track training accomplishments and needs at the functional and employee levels. Real-time training requirements and existing proficiencies are currently documented for each employee, with visible documentation such as the team training rosters and the training curriculum matrix. In addition to the training provided to employees, Raytheon- Louisville recently developed the Supervisor Training Program (STP) that is required of all new and existing supervisors from all levels of management. The STP includes 13 classes tailored to help train supervisors in many areas including conflict, communication, performance development, and labor relations.

Supervisors have been able to manage the training of the large numbers of new employees, in part by hiring a predetermined number of employees per month as well as by providing same-type training for those new employees on the same date. All training for new employees must be completed within one month of their hire date. Along with the new employees that receive training, employees that are transferred to a new job in a different work area are trained at the same time. Raytheon-Louisville is able to gather feedback from both newly trained and recently trained employees to use for future training improvements.

Raytheon-Louisville’s Training Program has achieved better visibility into the training needs of employees and supervisors, enabling them to become more proactive instead of reactive. The Louisville facility has increased plant efficiency and reduced cycle time during its ramp-up period by providing effective training for new hires and existing employees.

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