Jim Kelly, of M.H. Technologies, believes in-person training is necessary in most manufacturing jobs. | Flickr
Jim Kelly, of M.H. Technologies, believes in-person training is necessary in most manufacturing jobs. | Flickr
Jim Kelly, the director of training for M.H. Technologies, recently spoke on "The Paul W. Smith Show" on WJR to discuss job training.
Kelly's employer is a training company that supports manufacturing jobs.
"We offer several different training solutions from off-the-shelf classes that we've run many times with great success," Kelly said on the podcast. "We can also modify those classes to meet specific needs, or we can provide custom training where we meet with the client to define learning outcomes. And then we take care of the whole process from instructional design all the way through, of course, delivery."
Kelly said the instructors all have real-life experience in their fields and average at least 20 years of experience. He pointed out that they could all make more money working in their fields, but they have a passion for sharing knowledge.
Kelly said COVID-19 has definitely changed things at work.
"First of all, we comply with the client's safety protocols," Kelly told Smith. "You know, every company is different and... some companies go above and beyond the state guidelines. So we, first of all, comply with the company's protocols. We also have remote learning options."
Kelly explained that you need to touch things to learn, and you can't learn to program a robot without touching and moving it, for example.
"But we have found ways to reduce classroom time by teaching the theory part that doesn't need hands-on — doing that remotely," Kelly said on the podcast. "And then the hands-on stuff in person."
Kelly said M.H. Technologies also offers self-paced online classes that don't include any live instruction.
Kelly said the company's training programs are fully customizable, meaning the classes can be done as standalone classes or they can design a program that teaches a range of different skills to students.
"We can design a program that combines several different skills and gives you a person that has knowledge in a variety of skills to become a valuable maintenance person," Kelly told Smith.
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