Training people to think ahead and solve workplace problems has delivered very significant results for a Levin-based manufacturer.
Outdoors garment manufacturer Swazi have established an enviable public profile over the last ten years, thanks to their founder Davey Hughes, an outspoken advocate for New Zealand manufacturing.
Swazi's growth in the face of low cost overseas competition has been hard-won. Key to their success has been the development of their people as problem solvers.
According to Executive Officer Sharee Harper, "To succeed against competition from low cost manufacturers you need to work smarter."
ATITO assisted Swazi with a company-wide course in Supervision and Firstline Management and with a Time and Motion course for sample machinists.
"ATITO's training delivered a 15% improvement in efficiency in the last year," said Sharee.
"We found that the Supervision and First Line Management had a transformational impact on our people. Their abilities to think ahead, to predict problems and function as an effective team were greatly enhanced."
Swazi were also impressed with the benefits their people enjoyed outside of work.
"The skills required to get around obstacles and solve problems are a great help in everyday life. Our people are rapt with the personal benefits they gained from this training."
Swazi is a strong advocate of workforce training and will continue to develop their people.
"Bruce from ATITO has been very helpful and we've got the numbers to show that their training delivers real benefits," said Sharee. "Kiwi manufacturers must have highly skilled staff to be competitive in our global market. ATITO gave us the roadmap for staff development and delivered both the funding and the training to make it happen."
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