The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors

Striving to answer that question more than 60 years ago sparked the development of the most powerful training methodology that has impacted U.S. industry -- Training Within Industry (TWI). During World War II, major production increases were demanded by the U.S. military - TWI, which trains supervisors, was developed comprising three separate programs:

Job Instruction -- how to instruct employees so they can quickly remember to do a job, correctly, safely, and conscientiously. Job Methods -- how to improve methods for producing greater quantities of quality products in less time by effectively using available workforce, machines, and materials. Job relations -- how to lead employees so that problems are prevented and analytical methods are used to effectively resolve problems. Toyota was the earliest company to adopt TWI after World War II, and this methodology planted the seeds for the development of the Toyota Production System -- the gold standard of manufacturing excellence.

In The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors, Patrick Graupp and Robert Wrona teach supervisors how to apply a four-step method for each of the three respective programs with numerous examples and exercises. In these exercises, supervisors will participate in hands-on application of the four-step method to actual jobs and employee problems from their own worksites.

The TWI Workbook will teach readers:

• A method, which works every time, for teaching people to quickly learn to do jobs correctly, safely and conscientiously.
• How to break down jobs for instruction so that learners get just the right amount and the right kind of information to master jobs fully in a short amount of time.
• A method of analyzing jobs for the purpose of improving them which focuses on making the best use of resources currently available.
• How to discover, develop, and implement improvement ideas through a series of questions and a new-method development and application process.
• A method for handling "people problems" which ensures that supervisors take decisive and proper actions that achieve their objectives.
• How to develop sound relations with people that create good performance and prevent problems from arising in the first place.

About the Authors

Patrick Graupp has been a trainer of all three of the TWI programs for over 25 years. Having learned TWI at the Corporate Training Center for Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. in Japan, he delivered the programs to Sanyo staff from all over the world including doing training programs in the US., Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, India and the UK. In particular, he has specialized in giving train-the-trainer programs that trigger a "multiplier" effect spreading the program methods quickly and effectively.

In addition to TWI, he is an experienced trainer of Quality Control Methods, Management Technique, and Cross-Cultural Skills. He is a licensed trainer of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" seminar as well as another program by the Franklin/Covey organization, "The 4 Roles of Leadership." During his 20 year career at Sanyo, he spent five years in a compact disc fabrication plant in Indiana where he was put in charge of order processing, customer service, plant load scheduling, inspection, final packaging, and shipping. For six years he was head of Human Resources for SANYO North America Corporation, the regional headquarters of the Japanese electronics giant.

In 2002, he became Executive Director of the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, which allowed him to act independently as a trainer and consultant. Since then, he has put on TWI programs throughout the country and, in 2005, began devoting all of his time to promoting and delivering TWI.

Pat graduated with Highest Honors from Drexel University with a degree in Humanities/Communication. He earned his MBA from Boston University and, having lived in Japan for a total of 10 years, is fluent in spoken and written Japanese.

Robert J. Wrona joined the Central New York Technology Development Organization (CNYTDO) as a Lean Project Manager in 2001. He has over 20 years experience as a TQM and Lean consultant having worked with small and midsized companies coaching leaders to establish performance improvement goals and then implementing culture change strategies either as a contract employee or by forming, training, and facilitating teams to meet those goals. Trained as an IS09000 Lead Assessor, he documented quality systems for several companies before focusing on implementing the TQM, Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing strategies for manufacturers. Years of looking for better ways to engage the people who did the work in the improvement process led to the discovery of the Training Within Industry Program (TWI) that he now promotes nation wide.

Bob has over ten years corporate experience in manufacturing split between the Chevrolet-Division of General Motors in Tonawanda, NY and Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY. But, it was during his eleven years in retailing with Fay's Inc., a high volume retail discount drugstore chain, that he learned just-in-time lean concepts. As Vice President of Organizational Development for nine of those years, he involved people at all levels to create and document operating systems and procedures that enabled that company to profitably expand from 12 to 118 stored stores within a ten year period.

Bob earned an AAS Electrical Engineering, from Erie Community College, a BS Economics, from Canisius College and an MBA Marketing, from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.