What is TWI
The United States Government developed a training method referred to as TWI, Training Within Industry, back in the 1940′s. The focus of the effort was to get unskilled labor up to speed as quickly as possible as our skilled labor had been sent off to war. As we shipped our skilled manufacturing labor out to war our needs for manufacturing soared. It was an emergency situation that was given immediate attention.
TWI was established in the Office for Emergency Management, OEM, and consisted of representatives of the War Department; Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and the Navy; Federal Security Agency; War Production Board; Selective Service System; and Civil Service Commission.
With so many women entering the workforce for the first time there was a need to train supervisors to approach employee issues and methods of operation in a new way. The method combines seeing, hearing, and doing and has had a proven track record of real and measurable success.
As the war ended and our skilled labor returned home, this method was not continued and its value lost. We are seeing renewed interest, however, as global competition forces organizations to be as efficient as possible. TWI helps us look at improving methods, valuing people, and training people how to do a job safely and consistently.
Three core skills were developed:
- JI, or Job Instruction – teaches the student how to do a job safely, correctly, and conscientiously.
- JR, or Job Relations - focuses on leadership.
- JM, or Job Methods – focuses on improving methods.
As part of their lean initiatives many companies have adopted this method. Toyota, for example, has used Job Instruction in their workplace as a part of their core methods for over 60 years.
JI, JR, and JM belongs in any workplace that is implementing lean methods and attempting to change their culture.
More lean training is available at www.gembaacademy.com