Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1535954
How will you define success for The Training Connection? Success is when you start seeing a return customer who needs to get a recertification and the next level of training. That will be the first level of success. The second level is growth. If people are talking about you and competitors are talking about you, and you're starting to see some results, success can be measured in several ways. Right now, we do a lot of free consult- ing, if you will, where customers ask, "What do you mean by this?" It's a quick phone call or email, and you address that question. It's when they stop calling that you've got problems. The Test Connection is see- ing that type of growth. But The Training Connection is also see- ing that growth. We brought three people to IPC APEX EXPO this year to sit on committees and stay updated with different certi- fications and idiosyncrasies with the standards. When my team is being asked questions, they can say, "I walked on the show floor, and I saw one vendor is doing it this way and another doing it this other way." When you look at the benefits of training, you keyed in on some of its personal success, but there are other benefits, like reduced errors, minimal material waste, and optimized production. How do companies measure that return on investment? There are three ways that we're seeing success with people spon- soring the training. One is indi- vidual: I need to get a job, I need to better myself and differentiate myself. This person will invest in themselves, that's one thing. Second, the companies will also invest in growing their talent base, and they'll fund that. It's a business partnership, so not only do you have to show the busi- ness success, but you also need to show that you're a partner. Businesses see that you're will- ing to work with them, and there's that partnership. Third, the government is trying to put people back to work. There are grants and programs we've found for that: "I was a truck driver," or "I worked at a grocery store and I need to get the next job." You do see some government funding of programs. Staying up to date and communicating with both the local and the federal governments in the U.S. is key for us. Other coun- tries are doing this already, and the U.S. is catching up. When a student comes to your facility, oftentimes they had to travel to get there. Tell me how they go from signing up to being in the class. Right now, it's more of a manual process: You see what class is available online and sign up for the class. However, we're creat- ing a program called the Training Concierge, where you just sign up for the class, and we'll work out your travel arrangements. That includes booking your hotel and bringing you to and from the airport. We do everything but take the class for you. We're also embracing virtual training. You lose the hands-on aspect in a virtual class, but if you can't fund going to Baltimore or Tampa, or can't afford to get away from work for a week, we offer self- pacing programs. They could be a three- or four-day class, or maybe last a month. These work espe- cially well for international cus- tomers. We really want to embrace the technology that's available. Everybody's talking about AI. How is this playing into what you're doing? We're always looking at AI. It's already in the tools we use in manufacturing inspection—your