Benefits of the TWI Programs

In early 1940, if a company had all the available equipment necessary to make lenses and wanted to increase its lens-grinding capacity by training another lens grinder, it would have to wait 5 years because that is how long it would take the average person to master the art and science of lens grinding. By the end of 1940, that time period was reduced to 4-6 months. In 1945, it was again reduced to less than 6 weeks.2 The equipment, the companies, the employees, the supervisors, and the management all remained essentially the same. The major change was in how the company trained its employees. Training a lens grinder in 6 weeks instead of 5 years is impressive given the fact that producing optical lenses is a complicated process. I cite this lens-grinding example because during World War II (WWII), there was an urgent need to increase productivity in lens grinding, and the fledging government agency, Training Within Industry Service (TWI), used this urgency to help launch four training programs. Between 1940 and 1945, these programs were monumental in changing how organizations in the United States trained people to improve production. The four programs were:

1. Job Instruction Training (JI). Trained workers in how to instruct a person to perform a job correctly and safely; and to be productive as quickly as possible, while creating less scrap, rework, and damage to tools and equipment. (Chapters 6 and 9)

2. Job Relations Training (JR). Trained employees in how to solve personnel problems using an analytical, nonemotional method combined with some basic foundations of human relations. JR emphasizes that you must treat all people as individuals and by understanding people on all levels, supervisors can achieve results working through people. (Chapters 7 and 10)

3. Job Methods Training (JM). Trained employees in how to improve the way jobs are performed in order to consistently produce greater quantities of quality products in less time using the available manpower, machines, and materials. (Chapters 8 and 11)

4. Program Development (PD). Trained employees to solve production problems that were unique to their organizations. PD solves problems related to personnel through training while problems related to other resources are solved through technical means. (Chapters 9 and 12)

The first three programs were generally referred to as the “J” programs. Table 1-1 illustrates some testimonials and statistical data to illustrate some of the benefits of the TWI program during WW II.