Jones Performance Products: Video Work Instruction for Onboarding New Employees and for Continuous Improvement

Jones Performance Products:

Video Work Instruction for Onboarding New Employees and for Continuous Improvement

JPP Video Work

Jones Performance Products (JPP), located in West Middlesex, PA, is a world-class manufacturer of custom-engineered and custom-made aftermarket truck hoods and truck components. JPP hoods and components are available for most semi and large truck manufacturers, including Volvo, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, Ford, International, and numerous others. Now in its third generation, the company has cemented itself as a leader in aftermarket truck hoods and components and is dedicated to growing within their specific market and continuing to be the industry standard.

Pictured: (L-R) Jay Witosky, Continuum Creative Media and Josh Calvert, Jones Performance Products (JPP). Jay records footage for a work instruction video of a hood being prepped for gel coat. According to JPP, there are very specific steps that need to be done properly and with finesse. Finesse is an extremely hard thing to teach. The video not only teaches it, but it puts a stake in the ground for others to improve on.

The Challenge

As with most manufacturers in Western Pennsylvania, the lack of skilled workforce has affected JPP’s ability to hire needed personnel. With JPP’s expected growth, the lack of tenured personnel to “show, tell, and do” is creating a gap in the required production goal. The capturing of tribal knowledge to keep production running and decrease downtime is vital to bridge the production gap. Downtime means money is not being made, productivity is affected, and on-time deliveries suffer. The trainers are newer themselves, and now, they are trusted to train the new employees without the knowledge or skill set to be an effective trainer. Having information on hand that is the same across the board is needed to ensure all employees are getting consistent and quality training.
The Solution

Based on previous similar projects with manufacturing companies, NWIRC made the connection for producing a series of work instruction videos using one of the qualified regional videography companies, Continuum Creative Media of Titusville, PA. Each video featured the following components: 1) step-by-step, beginning to end, process workflow with supporting video at each step; 2) subtitles to allow a viewer to retain information in a noisy environment, pause the video for taking notes, connect better with literary learners, easily find specific sections of the video and; 3) closing FAQ / Troubleshooting section – in the event of any issues, an employee can quickly reference this section of the video to correct any of the most found issues or hang-ups.

Client Success

The video project was completed for a total of 20 minutes of training for various processes. The end long-term goal for this training video library is to produce a more knowledgeable and happier workforce that will ultimately reduce employee turnover and increase profitability and work efficiencies. Company leadership noted, “The videos gave us a new appreciation for processes in the shop. We think they will be a great asset for training new hires when they start. Initially, the plan was to utilize the videos to streamline our hiring and training processes. In reviewing the videos, we found that we could also use them to correct errors and improve processes for current employees already on the job.”

Read the full Jones Performance Products story.