It's been a while since my last published article. 10 years ago I was a regular contributor to Skeet Shooting Review and was once published in FAMA Magazine (Freshwater and Marine Aquariums) on the families successful trail to keep our marine aquariums alive during Hurricane Andrew and the extended power outage. It's been awhile since I've done anything publishable but I was encouraged to write about a very successful project I manage. Probably not something most of you would read but a personal accomplishment none the less. It just came out in Power Engineering Magazine.
LUMINANT ACADEMY: ALLIANCES DELIVER RESULTS
By Greg Mallory, General Physics Corp.
Dirk Hughes, Luminant Academy Director, likes to tell a story about a Luminant employee who came to him one day and said she’d like to be a supervisor. He told her that there were only two questions she needed to answer. “What was the company’s most important asset?” “People,” she said. “Right answer,” he responded. “Now for the second question: Do you really believe it?”
Luminant management had an objective: To found a new academy to provide technical and leadership training for Luminant’s 3,500 employees. The initial challenge was to create a physical training center, with curriculum, for new employees at three of the company’s new power plants with a target opening date of March 2008. According to Hughes, that project would be the answer to his second question.
Luminant (formerly TXU) had operated a training facility from the early 1970s until 1995. Due to stable workforce conditions and limited growth, the facility was underused and eventually closed. But with the construction of three new power plants and attrition levels due to an aging workforce, management realized that training was a critical piece of the future planning process at Luminant.
When Hughes took on a new role at Luminant in 2006 with the single goal of resurrecting the training program, he had his work cut out for him. The only training materials in existence were on Betamax, floppy disks, and overhead projector slides.
Luminant management interviewed four colleges in search of a small to medium-sized college or university to partner with. Tyler Junior College (TJC) in Tyler, Texas met the criteria: they actively supported continuing education, they had experience working with industrial customers, they were receptive to working with organizational behavior, and the college was centrally located in Luminant’s service area. Luminant and TJC entered into a business agreement for managing floor space within the Tyler Junior College’s West Campus Skills Training Center for the Academy.
Luminant Academy was founded and announced to the employees of Luminant in October 2006. But Luminant did not want to re-create the wheel, nor did the management team have time to develop new curriculum for their new worker classifications. In early 2007, Luminant contacted General Physics Corp. (GP) to discuss the potential for another alliance.
The objective of this new alliance was to design, develop and implement a “best in class” workforce qualification program that would support numerous power plants and mines. The project encompassed full workforce training program development including both immediate and long term visions.
With an investment of $2.5 million, a state-of-the-art, two-floor, 25,000-square-foot training complex was constructed. The key to designing the Academy’s facilities was enabling the curriculum to focus on hands-on training; in addition to traditional classrooms, the facility offers technical labs containing process simulators purchased from Lab-Volt. These training simulators provide the students hands-on experience with electrical and mechanical technologies including pumps, piping, lifting, rigging, hydraulics, pneumatics, wiring and tubing.
The keystone of the academy’s audio/visual catalogue is the video conference room. Two 60-inch plasma screens present material on one wall and high definition projectors present the same materials on five-foot screens on the opposite wall, giving students a 360-degree view. The room also boasts ceiling-mounted speakers and microphones, an AMX control panel and a Sympodium touchscreen interface from Smart Technologies that makes any instructor an accomplished artist at the electronic whiteboard.
The academy also will house eight high-fidelity distributed control system (DCS) simulators site-specific to all coal-fired generating stations in the Luminant fleet. The $7.8 million Emerson contracted and GSE-built simulators use the same digital control system as the units they simulate, allowing students to be trained in safe start-up and shut-down of a power plant. Operating anomalies can be programmed into the simulator, so the students also get training for unusual operating events. Elbert Page, plant operator and Academy student said, “Being able to get on a simulator pays off; then when I get down to the plant and we get ready to start it, we don’t make million-dollar mistakes.”
Tyler Junior College’s responsibilities include providing assurance that courses offered by Luminant Academy meet the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for Texas Colleges and Universities. TJC maintains a permanent record of each student’s participation for both stand-alone certified courses and certified curriculum courses, provides qualified instructors for courses taught by TJC, and maintains documentation proving the instructors’ credentials and experience. Luminant Academy’s responsibilities include working with TJC staff to ensure courses have proper documentation and curriculum structure to qualify for certification.
TJC receives continuing education contact hour reimbursement from the State of Texas per employee contact hour of training that is conducted at Luminant Academy. This money comes from the State of Texas—not from Luminant. It is estimated that Tyler Junior College will receive $475,000 to $500,000 a year from this program.
GP was contracted to generate a project plan, now known as Phase 1, and to outline Phases 2 and 3.
Phase 1: The project plan generated a single document that overviews the task and methodology for meeting aggressive Luminant goals. GP reviewed information from Luminant’s needs and skills assessments, collected survey data from the plants, reviewed the different approaches needed for the Luminant fleet mix (coal and gas generation divisions), determined the optimum “blended learning” delivery methods, and designed an e-learning approach that supports these programs.
Phase 2: GP designed curriculums for the “Equipment Specialist” Foundation, Process, Mechanical and Electrical technologies based on required knowledge, skill and job task analysis supplied by Luminant. A GPiLearn portal with specific integrated learning sequences enabled Luminant Academy to implement training immediately, with 24/7 access for the students. GPiLearn is GP’s web-based training, offering access to over 3200 lessons and exams designed for the power industry, the ability to be incorporated into the Luminant’s Learning Management System from Oracle and reduced training costs with potential for Associates or Bachelors Degree accreditation.
Phase 3: The curriculum work of Phase 2 resulted in an 18-week “Basic Skills Toolbelt” program required for all power plant employees.
GP has a large database of entry-level and apprentice training material for employees entering the power industry. Luminant Academy purchased several of the apprentice training programs and adapted them for training entry-level employees, saving man-hours.
GP also worked with Luminant Academy instructors and Lab-Volt employees in a teaming environment to develop a comprehensive hands-on technical skills training program using Lab-Volt equipment. Only Luminant instructors, however, were used in the Technical Foundation courses. These courses instill the culture of Luminant, so it was important that they be provided by Luminant Academy employees. GP conducted the initial power plant Technical Process training and provided oversight for Luminant instructors, who now instruct Technical Process. GP instructors are currently providing Technical Mechanical and Technical Electrical classes for the new “Equipment Specialists” and, starting in 2009, GP will provide instructors to the Academy to kick off apprenticeship programs.
After completing the Basic Skills Toolbelt, employees will begin Luminant’s apprenticeship program and will be required to take training in specific areas of process, electrical technologies, and mechanical technologies coursework. Successful completion of the coursework, along with demonstration of job performance measures and good performance reviews, will earn an employee a promotion and pay increase.
The launch of the first pilot Basic Skills Toolbelt Training class was in February 2008, two months ahead of schedule. This initial class gave Luminant Academy hints about how to adjust schedules and streamline content in anticipation of the coming flood of new employees. In March 2008, the first large class came in with over 40 employees. Since opening, more than 130 employees have entered Basic Skills Toolbelt Training.
The location of the Academy on the Tyler Junior College campus helps employees see this training as serious continuing education. Every student is given a GP pre-assessment test before beginning training and then given a similar test as a final exam. Results show the training is not only increasing knowledge, it’s sticking with students beyond graduation. “This tells me they are not only doing well in school when they graduate, but they are actually retaining the information,” said Hughes.
GP continues to assist Luminant with training needs. Supplemental work outside of the original three-phase scope has included additional Instructor-led Training, developing a Technical Coal-Handling series and supplying technical instructors. GP has also been contracted to develop site-specific systems training and procedure documents for Luminant’s new Sandow 5 CFB generating station.
Corporate University Xchange recognized Luminant Academy as a finalist for the 10th Annual Corporate University Xchange Awards for Excellence and Innovation. The awards establish high standards in eight important learning areas; the Luminant Academy was nominated in two of those areas, Alliances and Launching.
A year ago, the question posed by the management team of Luminant Academy was, “Can we do this?” Now, after forming strong alliances, the question is, “What can we do next?”
Author: Greg Mallory is Senior Training Specialist for General Physics Corp.
LUMINANT ACADEMY: ALLIANCES DELIVER RESULTS
By Greg Mallory, General Physics Corp.
Dirk Hughes, Luminant Academy Director, likes to tell a story about a Luminant employee who came to him one day and said she’d like to be a supervisor. He told her that there were only two questions she needed to answer. “What was the company’s most important asset?” “People,” she said. “Right answer,” he responded. “Now for the second question: Do you really believe it?”
Luminant management had an objective: To found a new academy to provide technical and leadership training for Luminant’s 3,500 employees. The initial challenge was to create a physical training center, with curriculum, for new employees at three of the company’s new power plants with a target opening date of March 2008. According to Hughes, that project would be the answer to his second question.
Luminant (formerly TXU) had operated a training facility from the early 1970s until 1995. Due to stable workforce conditions and limited growth, the facility was underused and eventually closed. But with the construction of three new power plants and attrition levels due to an aging workforce, management realized that training was a critical piece of the future planning process at Luminant.
When Hughes took on a new role at Luminant in 2006 with the single goal of resurrecting the training program, he had his work cut out for him. The only training materials in existence were on Betamax, floppy disks, and overhead projector slides.
Luminant management interviewed four colleges in search of a small to medium-sized college or university to partner with. Tyler Junior College (TJC) in Tyler, Texas met the criteria: they actively supported continuing education, they had experience working with industrial customers, they were receptive to working with organizational behavior, and the college was centrally located in Luminant’s service area. Luminant and TJC entered into a business agreement for managing floor space within the Tyler Junior College’s West Campus Skills Training Center for the Academy.
Luminant Academy was founded and announced to the employees of Luminant in October 2006. But Luminant did not want to re-create the wheel, nor did the management team have time to develop new curriculum for their new worker classifications. In early 2007, Luminant contacted General Physics Corp. (GP) to discuss the potential for another alliance.
The objective of this new alliance was to design, develop and implement a “best in class” workforce qualification program that would support numerous power plants and mines. The project encompassed full workforce training program development including both immediate and long term visions.
With an investment of $2.5 million, a state-of-the-art, two-floor, 25,000-square-foot training complex was constructed. The key to designing the Academy’s facilities was enabling the curriculum to focus on hands-on training; in addition to traditional classrooms, the facility offers technical labs containing process simulators purchased from Lab-Volt. These training simulators provide the students hands-on experience with electrical and mechanical technologies including pumps, piping, lifting, rigging, hydraulics, pneumatics, wiring and tubing.
The keystone of the academy’s audio/visual catalogue is the video conference room. Two 60-inch plasma screens present material on one wall and high definition projectors present the same materials on five-foot screens on the opposite wall, giving students a 360-degree view. The room also boasts ceiling-mounted speakers and microphones, an AMX control panel and a Sympodium touchscreen interface from Smart Technologies that makes any instructor an accomplished artist at the electronic whiteboard.
The academy also will house eight high-fidelity distributed control system (DCS) simulators site-specific to all coal-fired generating stations in the Luminant fleet. The $7.8 million Emerson contracted and GSE-built simulators use the same digital control system as the units they simulate, allowing students to be trained in safe start-up and shut-down of a power plant. Operating anomalies can be programmed into the simulator, so the students also get training for unusual operating events. Elbert Page, plant operator and Academy student said, “Being able to get on a simulator pays off; then when I get down to the plant and we get ready to start it, we don’t make million-dollar mistakes.”
Tyler Junior College’s responsibilities include providing assurance that courses offered by Luminant Academy meet the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for Texas Colleges and Universities. TJC maintains a permanent record of each student’s participation for both stand-alone certified courses and certified curriculum courses, provides qualified instructors for courses taught by TJC, and maintains documentation proving the instructors’ credentials and experience. Luminant Academy’s responsibilities include working with TJC staff to ensure courses have proper documentation and curriculum structure to qualify for certification.
TJC receives continuing education contact hour reimbursement from the State of Texas per employee contact hour of training that is conducted at Luminant Academy. This money comes from the State of Texas—not from Luminant. It is estimated that Tyler Junior College will receive $475,000 to $500,000 a year from this program.
GP was contracted to generate a project plan, now known as Phase 1, and to outline Phases 2 and 3.
Phase 1: The project plan generated a single document that overviews the task and methodology for meeting aggressive Luminant goals. GP reviewed information from Luminant’s needs and skills assessments, collected survey data from the plants, reviewed the different approaches needed for the Luminant fleet mix (coal and gas generation divisions), determined the optimum “blended learning” delivery methods, and designed an e-learning approach that supports these programs.
Phase 2: GP designed curriculums for the “Equipment Specialist” Foundation, Process, Mechanical and Electrical technologies based on required knowledge, skill and job task analysis supplied by Luminant. A GPiLearn portal with specific integrated learning sequences enabled Luminant Academy to implement training immediately, with 24/7 access for the students. GPiLearn is GP’s web-based training, offering access to over 3200 lessons and exams designed for the power industry, the ability to be incorporated into the Luminant’s Learning Management System from Oracle and reduced training costs with potential for Associates or Bachelors Degree accreditation.
Phase 3: The curriculum work of Phase 2 resulted in an 18-week “Basic Skills Toolbelt” program required for all power plant employees.
GP has a large database of entry-level and apprentice training material for employees entering the power industry. Luminant Academy purchased several of the apprentice training programs and adapted them for training entry-level employees, saving man-hours.
GP also worked with Luminant Academy instructors and Lab-Volt employees in a teaming environment to develop a comprehensive hands-on technical skills training program using Lab-Volt equipment. Only Luminant instructors, however, were used in the Technical Foundation courses. These courses instill the culture of Luminant, so it was important that they be provided by Luminant Academy employees. GP conducted the initial power plant Technical Process training and provided oversight for Luminant instructors, who now instruct Technical Process. GP instructors are currently providing Technical Mechanical and Technical Electrical classes for the new “Equipment Specialists” and, starting in 2009, GP will provide instructors to the Academy to kick off apprenticeship programs.
After completing the Basic Skills Toolbelt, employees will begin Luminant’s apprenticeship program and will be required to take training in specific areas of process, electrical technologies, and mechanical technologies coursework. Successful completion of the coursework, along with demonstration of job performance measures and good performance reviews, will earn an employee a promotion and pay increase.
The launch of the first pilot Basic Skills Toolbelt Training class was in February 2008, two months ahead of schedule. This initial class gave Luminant Academy hints about how to adjust schedules and streamline content in anticipation of the coming flood of new employees. In March 2008, the first large class came in with over 40 employees. Since opening, more than 130 employees have entered Basic Skills Toolbelt Training.
The location of the Academy on the Tyler Junior College campus helps employees see this training as serious continuing education. Every student is given a GP pre-assessment test before beginning training and then given a similar test as a final exam. Results show the training is not only increasing knowledge, it’s sticking with students beyond graduation. “This tells me they are not only doing well in school when they graduate, but they are actually retaining the information,” said Hughes.
GP continues to assist Luminant with training needs. Supplemental work outside of the original three-phase scope has included additional Instructor-led Training, developing a Technical Coal-Handling series and supplying technical instructors. GP has also been contracted to develop site-specific systems training and procedure documents for Luminant’s new Sandow 5 CFB generating station.
Corporate University Xchange recognized Luminant Academy as a finalist for the 10th Annual Corporate University Xchange Awards for Excellence and Innovation. The awards establish high standards in eight important learning areas; the Luminant Academy was nominated in two of those areas, Alliances and Launching.
A year ago, the question posed by the management team of Luminant Academy was, “Can we do this?” Now, after forming strong alliances, the question is, “What can we do next?”
Author: Greg Mallory is Senior Training Specialist for General Physics Corp.
