n Friday, February
13, seven Griffin-area residents proved that Friday the 13th can actually
be a lucky day: they became the first class to graduate from Quick Start’s
training program for Perkins Shibaura Engines.
During a ceremony held at Griffin Technical College, Paul Clark, the facility manager for the new plant, praised the trainees, who were to leave the next day to travel to Peterborough, England, to study the manufacturing processes at Perkins Shibaura’s facility there.
“You are the best-trained Perkins employees ever,” said Clark. “The work that Quick Start has done has been absolutely amazing. It has enabled you to develop at an amazing speed. I look forward to welcoming you back to Griffin after your time in Peterborough,” Clark concluded. “I’ll see you all back here in five weeks’ time. We have a facility to open!”
On the evening of the graduation, Jackie Rohosky, the DTAE assistant commissioner who directs the Quick Start program, added, “We’re extremely proud of this first graduating class. This is a great company and we wish you all the best in the next phase of your training.”
Perkins Shibaura’s Griffin facility is a joint venture between Perkins Engines, a division of Caterpillar Inc., and Ishikawajima Shibaura Machinery Company Ltd. The plant will begin production of diesel engines beginning in the summer of 2004. Quick Start will continue to provide training services as the facility gets up and running. The workforce at the plant will eventually grow to 130.
The company chose to locate in Georgia partly because of the availability of Quick Start’s workforce training services and the accessibility of Griffin Technical College.
“We discovered Quick Start by talking to Griffin Technical College, and learned that they could deliver this full-blown, wholehearted induction program for our employees and manufacturing operations, and all this could be done prior to us taking over the facility and starting production,” said Nigel Briers, Perkins Shibaura change facilitator. “That’s just something that you could not walk away from.”
Quick Start’s team of training professionals had previously visited the facility in England to conduct the initial project study for Perkins Shibaura.
“Quick Start has provided us with some fantastic training materials,” Clark said. “They came to visit our premises in the UK; four of them spent an entire week there and they really immersed themselves in our products and our processes and our people, so when they came back to the U.S., they were able to provide us with very high caliber training materials.”
Quick Start also assisted Perkins Shibaura with pre-employment assessments to help the company select the best candidates. As classes of new employees are formed, Quick Start will provide training in core technical skills, product-specific engine assembly and other team-building skills.
“This was the best training experience I’ve ever been through,” said Melanie Cox, who will work in the final assembly area of the new plant. “We were trained in engine basics, teamwork, one-on-one communication and other processes that will enable us to help get this plant up and running quickly. The Quick Start instructors were the best.”
“I’ve never seen a company that invested so much in their trainees,” said Brian Griffin, who will work in the testing area of the facility. “The collaboration between the company and Quick Start is a great way to do business.”
This first
class of trainees returned to Griffin in March, and are now helping train
the next class of Perkins Shibaura employees. 
