AIB’s mission in developing skills in the Baking Industry

Since 1919, the American Institute of Baking has been committed to building knowledge and skill in professionals for productive service to the baking industry. By investing in courses delivered by AIB’s School of Baking, companies and individuals have enjoyed significant returns-on-investment in terms of improved performance, increased self-confidence, reduced operating costs (reduction of waste and downtime), increased innovation, and protection of the brand.

AIB’s efforts in training Maintenance Professionals

As the baking industry became more automated, AIB was asked to design a training program for Maintenance personnel, because the reliability of equipment has an extremely significant impact upon operating costs. The objective was to deliver the knowledge and skill necessary to realize the benefits of automation without fear of excessive downtime.

This AIB program provided the following options:

• 23 lesson correspondence course in Maintenance Engineering
• 5 lesson correspondence course on Bakery Overview for the Maintenance Engineer
• 11- week resident course in Maintenance Engineering (which included a one-week course in Maintenance Management at the end)
• 3 one-week technical seminars in the subjects of Electrical Motor Controls, Programmable Logic Controllers, and Refrigeration Technology. In recent years, AIB also offered a one-week course on Ammonia Refrigeration.
• 3-day course on Maintenance Fundamentals that was available in regional locations

• Increasing availability of other training options for these skills
• Greater reluctance to travel
• Shortage of trained persons (making it more difficult to release a promising person for training)
• The AIB program was not comprehensive enough to meet all of the needs of the industry.

Actions taken by AIB to help the Industry

The first priority for AIB was to determine the actual needs of the industry in the development of Maintenance Professionals. In the year 2007, AIB began to study job descriptions for any responsibility related to the maintenance function in bakery production and in field service. In this effort, AIB enlisted the help of Jim Kline, recently retired from George Weston Bakeries in the role of Director of Capital Projects, and Susan Hancock, who is a professional Instructional Designer, recently hired by AIB as a full-time employee. These two people worked closely with AIB faculty members, potential partners, and an advisory group comprised of leaders of the maintenance function in ten (10) of the larger companies in the Industry.

The results of these initial efforts produced the following information:

• Development of Learner profiles, which outlined the “day in the life” of a mechanic, field service technician, and Maintenance supervisor
• Results of focus group discussions on what it takes to be successful in these jobs
• Evaluation of current AIB courses in Maintenance Engineering
• Analysis of recent enrollment trends in these programs
• Analysis of competitors’ offerings

• Mechanic: 46 skills (10 in electrical, 2 in facilities maintenance, 5 in management, 13 in mechanical, 3 in process maintenance, 3 in safety, and 10 in maintenance shop skills).
• Maintenance Supervisor: 70 skills (the same 46 skills for the mechanic with an additional 1 skill in electrical, 16 skills in management, 2 in mechanical, 3 in process maintenance, 1 in safety, and 3 in project management).
• Maintenance Manager: all 85 skills (the same 70 skills for the Maintenance Supervisor with an additional 5 skills in electrical, 2 in management, and 8 in project management).
• Project Engineer: 43 skills (9 in electrical, 1 in facilities maintenance, 12 in management, 2 in mechanical, 3 in process maintenance, 3 in safety, 11 in project management, and 2 in maintenance shop skills).
• Field Service: 46 skills (10 in electrical, 1 in facilities maintenance, 6 in management, 10 in mechanical, 3 in process maintenance, 3 in project management, 3 in safety, and 10 in maintenance shop skills).

• On-line or correspondence courses to address as many of the skill requirements as possible.
• Focused “hands-on” courses of very short duration (not more than a few days) to provide skills that are not available via distance learning courses. A second reason for “hands –on” courses is to provide assurance that the trainees actually possess the needed skills.
• When it makes sense, offer an AIB certification for completion of the total program for each of the 5 skill categories.

On-line courses

AIB has partnered with Coastal Training Technologies, which is a division of DuPont, to provide three separate suites of on-line courses that are common to all 5 skill categories. These three programs are summarized as follows:

• Foundations- 30 core courses with 31 supplemental (optional) courses
• Cornerstone- 30 core courses with 12 supplemental courses
• Capstone- 14 core courses with 11 supplemental courses

• All of the participants took the on-line courses from home.
• All of the participants stated that the information about each course was easy to find.
• All of the participants stated that it was easy to navigate through the courses.
• All of the participants learned from the courses, and all of them liked the courses.

1. Enroll Maintenance Professionals in the Coastal on-line courses OR the AIB Maintenance Engineering correspondence courses. Prices are for individual subscriptions.
   
   • AIB 23-lesson Maintenance Engineering correspondence course- $ 470
   • AIB 5-lesson Bakery Overview for the Maintenance Engineer- $ 70
   • AIB International Point of Contact
     Aimee Montoya
     Training Resources Coordinator
     800-242-2534 x 157
     amontoya@aibonline.org
   
   
2. For companies who wish to enroll a group of employees in Maintenance Professional training, AIB recommends on-line courses developed by Coastal Training Technologies. These courses comprise an integrated set of three "suites" of lessons. Suites flow logically from more basic to more advanced, but may also be used on a free-standing basis, depending upon the needs of an organization. Details and Coastal contact information are as follows:
   
   • Coastal Foundations suite - $ 700
   • Coastal Cornerstone suite - $ 700
   • Coastal Capstone suite - $ 700
   • Coastal Training Technologies Point of Contact
     Mike Glynn
     Key Account Manager
     757-450-4086
     mikeg@coastal.com
     


3. Enroll Maintenance Professionals in the following “hands-on” courses:
   
   • American Trainco 2-day courses. Topics include HVAC, Boilers, Electrical controls, PLC’s, Facility management, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Mechanical, and Safety. American Trainco offers AIB members a $ 50 per-day discount. The cost of most of these courses is currently $ 490 per day, which would be reduced to $440 per day for AIB members. These courses are offered at multiple locations around the USA.
     • American Trainco point of Contact:
       Dan Sciantarelli
       Vice President
       303-531-4560
       dans@americantrainco.com
       
       
       
4. Marshall Institute 3-day courses. Topics include many of the same technical courses as well as many management courses. The standard price for each 3-day seminar in the current year is $ 1095. Marshall Institute offers AIB members a 10% discount.
   
   • Marshall Institute, Inc. Point of Contact
     Tom Furnival
     Marketing Coordinator
     919-926-2419
     tfurnival@marshallinstitute.com
     
     
5. If there is sufficient interest, AIB would develop “Industry specific” training programs in 2011 or 2012. There are areas within the skill matrix that are not covered by the first two steps in this list of recommendations. AIB invites ideas from interested persons in this potential development effort.



6. AIB is providing the Maintenance Skill Matrix free of charge to assist interested companies and individuals in the development of necessary skills in the Maintenance field.