Wilbert builds its skilled workforce by tapping into the cloud

At Wilbert Plastic Services Inc., school can be in session around the clock.

While some might grunt and groan at the thought of a 24/7 learning environment — cue flashbacks of a shrieking school bell and the rush of students scurrying to make it to class on time — employees at the injection molder and thermoformer seem to prefer it this way.

With Wilbert U, the plastics manufacturer's comprehensive, internal training program, employees have access to a wide range of courses on subject matters, from scientific molding to leadership development. The program was implemented in 2015 and moved to a cloud-based system in June 2018, enabling the company's roughly 1,300 employees across its eight ​ U.S. locations to complete courses and develop skills on the go.

"They can be at the library. They can be at their parents' house — wherever they are that has internet," Amelia Keown, corporate training coordinator and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Wilbert Plastic Services' headquarters in Belmont, N.C., said in a phone interview.

Now with the cloud-based version, which runs on the TalentLMS online learning platform, employees can access courses from their computer, tablet or smartphone. Wilbert U has also expanded from about 50 courses to an online catalog of more than 200, including topics on safety, manufacturing quality and IQMS's enterprise resource planning system as well as additional instructor-led courses.

Upon being hired, new employees are automatically added to the learning management system. Based on an employee's location and job title, the system will provide a list of required training courses. Operators, for example, might have 15 courses immediately assigned to them while a process technician might have 50-60 courses, Keown said. Employees at a supervisor level will have different courses, mostly on topics such as leadership and employee engagement. Courses typically take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or so to complete.

Since the June launch of the cloud-based system, Keown said about 91 percent of current employees have participated in Wilbert U. In total, those employees have completed more than 12,300 courses and have earned more than 9,400 certificates.

"For the past month, we have averaged close to 100 employees logging in to the Wilbert U system every day, even on weekends," Keown said in a follow-up email to Plastics News. "They are very excited about the program."

For required courses, employees are financially compensated for their time. Hourly employees get reimbursed at their hourly pay rate, though Keown said oftentimes the company is paying "above and beyond" that, especially if an employee has already worked 40 hours for the week.

"We're paying out up to 150 hours of pay each week to our hourly employees," Keown said. "That's how much training is taking place right now within the system."

And in total, the company has paid more than 3,270 hours of training to its hourly employees who have completed required courses. Employees can take additional courses voluntarily that they aren't compensated for, but the extra skills could lead to a promotion down the road.

"We're committed to providing superior training to our employees for their development, so it will benefit the company as well as benefit the individual," she said. "Wilbert U was created in order to provide training to our employees that was both needed by the company as well as a method for employees to further improve themselves."

From 2016-17, Wilbert Plastic Services reported an 18 percent decrease in employee turnover. While Keown acknowledged that she can't directly tie that figure to Wilbert U, she said the program is at least contributing, in part, to the decrease.

"I've had individuals who have told me that they have not seen a company that has offered this type of training to their employees," Keown said. "They've worked in manufacturing before. We're the only manufacturing facility that they've been aware of that's offering that training — consistent training — to them."

And the additional training with Wilbert U is putting the company in a much safer position as the skills gap widens.

According to data from the 2018 Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute skills gap and future of work study, more than half of the open jobs expected in 2028 — estimated at 2.4 million — could remain unfilled because of shifting skill sets from the introduction of advanced technologies, misperceptions of manufacturing jobs and the retirement of more than 2.6 million baby boomers who work in manufacturing.

The good news, however, is that manufacturers have options. And developing in-house training that engages millennials just as much as baby boomers happens to be one of the strategic approaches identified in the study to alleviate some of the pain from a skills shortage.

"In fact, the skills gap was the primary reason why we created Wilbert U," Keown said, adding that the company could no longer tap into the community to hire for positions like process technicians or engineers.

"They don't exist in the community," she said. "We have to build our own."

Wilbert Plastic Services, a company with annual sales estimated at $260 million, according to PN's most recent rankings of North American injection molders and thermoformers, has invested about $150,000 in its training program, Keown said, not including the weekly training payout to employees who complete their required courses.

With Wilbert U, the company can attract employees like 34-year-old Melissa McGlothen, who had never worked at a manufacturing plant before joining Wilbert Plastic Services.

McGlothen was hired as an operator in January 2008 and has worked her way up in the company, getting into roles of increased responsibility under titles like team lead, supervisor and production manager. Today, after 11 years with the company, McGlothen is the corporate program manager for automotive at Wilbert Plastic Services' facility in Bellevue, Ohio.

"Instead of going to college because I'm working here 10-12 hours a day, [Wilbert U] gave me the opportunity to work my full-time job and still get the education that I wanted," McGlothen said in a phone interview. She's a Six Sigma Green Belt, receiving her training under Keown, though she ultimately wants to be a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

McGlothen, a "bit of an overachiever," according to her LinkedIn profile, said she enjoys the competitive aspect of Wilbert U, which under the cloud-based version has gamelike attributes such as building points, gaining levels and earning badges. Getting her name on the leadership board also drove her to take more classes outside of the required ones.

"I'm kind of like a role model here at the Bellevue [plant]," she said. "Just because when new employees come in, and they come in as an operator, it's nice that they can take me as an example for the growth that people can look forward to."

As of December 2018, McGlothen had 46 courses completed and six in progress. She's also earned quite a few badges — 31, to be exact.

"We've had individuals who came into our company and then moved into maintenance or the tool room, so we're starting to grow our own rather than having to seek from outside sources," Keown said of Wilbert U's impact.

"And that's the key. That's what we need to do as a company," she added. "Provide employees with good jobs and then provide them with even better jobs."