Schumer Urges Feds to Designate CNY Technoloty Development Organization as National Manufacturing Training Center

SCHUMER URGES FEDS TO DESIGNATE CNY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION AS NATIONAL MANUFACTURING TRAINING CENTER

New Program, Training Within Industry, Provides Skills Needed To Implement And Sustain Lean Manufacturing

Schumer: Central New York Workforce Setting Trailblazing Example, Leading Nation in Efficiency and Quality

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to designate Central New York Technology Development Organization (CNY TDO) as a National Manufacturing Training Center. This designation would allow them to implement a new program called Training Within Industry (TWI) on a wide scale. TWI is a program which provides the skills needed to implement and sustain lean manufacturing. Manufacturers using the program have experienced immediate impacts including reduced costs, improved quality, quicker training time, increased production, and improved employee relations. These outcomes have led to a documented increase in global competitiveness; creating and retaining jobs in the United States.

"TWI is an essential tool that can make all the difference for our manufacturing plants," Schumer said. "This program should be offered to companies across the country, and CNY TDO is the perfect place to teach the fundamentals of lean manufacturing. This will give plants the ability to survive and thrive in the increasingly competitive global marketplace."

The TWI program is being successfully delivered by the CNY TDO, a member of NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST/MEP). Schumer said that with limited resources, CNY TDO is constrained in its ability to rapidly expand the program and provide the opportunity for other MEP centers to help manufacturers in their regions. In his letter, Schumer urged the Department of Commerce to provide the support necessary for CNY TDO to make this program accessible to companies throughout the United States.

Schumer advocated that the Department of Commerce make TWI a recommended MEP program, thereby eliminating barriers and encouraging the over 400 MEP offices nationwide to adopt the program. Several centers have been interested in offering TWI to their manufacturing clients, but felt constrained by the need for the MEP "seal of approval". TWI complements many of the MEP programs, particularly Lean Manufacturing. Schumer said CNY TDO is willing to work closely with MEP to provide all the necessary support to MEP to do this quickly and have submitted a proposal to present TWI at the national MEP conference in May 2006. Schumer pushed for CNY TDO to be designated as the central Certification Authority for TWI trainers, a role it is fully prepared to take on with an efficient and effective system for training and certifying trainers already in place. MEP centers could have staff trained through TDO or use external TDO Certified TWI trainers to provide the training. By designating TDO as the Certification Authority for TWI, the standards required to make the program successful will be strictly upheld.

TWI is a dynamic program of hands-on learning and practice, teaching essential skills for supervisors, team leaders and employees from all industries and vocations. These skills make or break the effort to implement and sustain lean manufacturing and continuous improvement efforts. The TWI program, with roots in the intensive World War II workforce training effort, has been refined and is being delivered by the CNY TDO. Their TWI program has already started to spread across New York and to companies in other states. The program is used in Japan and is credited for the success of the Toyota Production System and Lean Manufacturing efforts in general in Japan. As more and more trainers are trained nationwide in the U.S., the number of manufacturers able to be helped will increase dramatically.

In a personal letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, Schumer wrote, "By designating TDO as the Certification Authority for TWI, the standards required to make the program successful will be strictly upheld… As more and more trainers are trained nationwide in the U.S., the number of manufacturers able to be helped will increase dramatically."

Schumer has been leading a bipartisan effort to provide $112 million in funding for the MEP program, which helps upstate New York's manufacturing companies by offering worker training, management consulting, and suggestions for new business practices to companies. The Administration's budget proposal would reduce funding for MEP, which has helped over 1,400 manufacturing companies in upstate New York stay afloat, by 57% from $117 million in FY2005 to only $46.8 million. In New York, the MEP program is credited with creating 625 and retaining 2,041 jobs in New York; increasing sales by $46 million; and realizing $13 million in cost savings for participating companies in 2003 alone.

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/2006/PR50.TWI%20Letter.020706.html