One of the great benefits we deliver to our members are programs that educate us on new automation techniques. Most every profession requires some type of ongoing education, and PE’s and CAP’s are no different. However, most of us don’t necessarily need to meet this requirement. So, why is learning the latest and greatest in our field so important?
Several months back you might recall a post from me opining about the Great Resignation and how automation can play an important role in righting the ship while looking for new crew. So, what about the new crew? How do they come in and troubleshoot the work of the previous crew?
I’ve witnessed some of this firsthand in my career lately. Having to pop the hood to figure out what the last team did to solve the problem while not anticipating the wrench currently being thrown into the process.
While I was growing up, my Dad, an engineer, taught me a very important lesson in troubleshooting: start with the easiest fix and work your way down to the most complex modes of failure. This method really started to hit home around the time I turned 16 and had to start to take care of a car.
Now I can think of many instances of business processes I have had to unwind and find what was causing the current issue, but lately it sure seems like this has become a near daily occurrence. Part of the reason – nearly every process has some level of automation in it now. Over the years assembly processes and even reporting processes have all been automated. Then, lo and behold, someone makes a change unknowing to what it does the unmanned work going on behind the scenes.
While my Father’s approach is still spot on, one still needs to have the grounding and education in the field they are working. Enter Continuing Education. Let’s go back to my car example. My first car was a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am (I loved that car, and still have fond memories of it). For a moment, I want you to think about the systems that car, or other cars from that generation had, and now think about the systems on a Chevy Bolt or the Electric Mustang or a Tesla. The series of events that would lead me to buy and apply fuel injector cleaner to the ol’ Grand Am would never transpire with these EV examples. Hopefully I was wise enough along the way to educate myself on these new systems so I can now properly maintain them.
I see similar examples in my career where I use lots of data automation tools. I’ve worked with my very skilled team to automate as much of the data analysis as possible so critical reports can be accessed with a few clicks day or night. We use reports and queries that various people, some no longer with the organization, have created. From time to time, a change is made, usually close to the data source, and it effects all the data flowing into our reports. To keep everything working properly and efficiently, my team and I frequently pop the hood and trace the processes back. We start with the easiest fix and start working our way down – paying attention to ways we can improve and ease these pain points for future hood-poppers. Understanding what forced those changes through continuing to learn and train on all the tools and programs we use in the data supply chain helps us greatly improve the speed we can react to the inevitable issues that pop up from time to time. Along the way many of us have studied and become certified in the new tools and approaches there are, allowing us to properly maintain the systems we operate.
No matter what the work – maintaining business processes, utilizing automated machinery in assembly processes, or just working on your own vehicle – continuing education has always been and will always be important to keeping our world running. So be sure to stay in touch over the summer months as we begin planning our 2022-23 Program Year. You can count on us to help deliver the continuing education programs needed for us to stay on top of the latest automation techniques and tools.
Cory N. Kniepp
ISA St. Louis Section, President
P.S. Did you know our technical programs qualify for PDH certificates? If not, please contact a Board Member to find out more.
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