Leave it to a machine shop owner to pioneer online vocational education.
Academics, consultants and technology experts have written books about the best way to train workers on the Web, but they had no vested interest in whether their plans were effective. Jack Schron did.
Schron, president of Tooling University Ltd. and metal tool manufacturer Jergens Inc., created Tooling University to help manufacturers like him survive to the next generation.
He combined the Old World concept of apprenticeship programs with Internet technology to create Tooling University Ltd., an online education system that provides manufacturing classes and lessons on a variety of subjects.
Schron and his staff had the expertise to design classes for building metal tools and machine parts but didn’t have the familiarity for subjects like drilling, metal punching, differences in materials and how to read blueprints. That meant he had to request content from other trades, which was a tough sell.
“The biggest challenge was to get people to buy into the concept that you could do online training for industrial subjects,” Schron says. “But we got them to buy into it, and once we had some classes and some momentum, then it became easier to get the next guy and the next guy.”
The program was launched in spring 2001 and today offers 35 classes. Schron’s goal is to have 120 to 150 classes. Students can take classes from a home PC or at work during a long manufacturing run. Most take less than an hour.
The site charges a per-person subscription fee starting at $399 for a year, which includes hundreds of hours of instruction.
“We had to spend some money to do it,” Schron says. “Only time will tell whether this was a good concept or not. Nobody else was out there doing it, so as a result of taking a risk, we’re two years ahead of anyone else.” How to reach: Jergens Inc./Tooling University Ltd., (216) 486-2100 or www.toolingu.com.
