Excerpts from an interview with Mal Murugan, Vice President | Magna Electro Castings Limited:
What are the key challenges you face in your job?
I got in without having hands-on knowledge about a foundry—which is a challenge because I had to make a lot of decisions and I needed sufficient data points to make value decisions.
What training programs did you complete prior to THORS?
I was exposed to quality tools, Six Sigma, lead auditor and other programs, but this is the first foundry related course I ever took!
Why did you start the THORS training program?
THORS is designed in a way that for beginners it serves as an orientation course and for experienced professionals it acts as a refresher. In fact, we are now working on a proposal where our employees should receive a qualification from THORS for the appraisal programs as a minimum requirement.
What is the value your organization got out of the program?
"My beginner-level employees are able to understand how to apply a lot of things. They are able to handle the work without support. Mid-level employees gain additional exposure to the root causes and potential causes. Experienced employees found that these courses filled the gaps in knowledge they had before."
Can you measure this value in terms of return on investment?
I can safely say that we have received much more than what we have invested in this program. THORS is going to help us resolve issues in the future that would cost us time and money.
If you had this program when you first started your career, what difference would it have made?
I would have made better use of my time and energy. I would have been able to create more value if I had this knowledge back then.
