Story 01: Manufacturing on the Frontline

Occupying an area of roughly 10,000 square meters in one corner of the Mobara Branch Factory, the Plant Operation Technology Training Center features a methanol distillation training plant, training apparatus for basic operations, a DCS control room and cut-away models of a wide range of plant components. Training is provided by a team of 13 instructors and is aimed at around 2,000 operators at Mitsui Chemicals' six domestic works and operators working at overseas plants. In the five years since the center opened its doors, a total of 2,000 operators have undergone training, with a further 200 trainees and guests visiting from other countries.

As an example, domestic operators have to come to the center four times; once when they joined the company and then again after six months, three years and seven or eight years. Although individual training sessions cover a wide range of topics, including safety skills in the event of an accident, explosion or fire, practical operating exercises using training plants, and the structure and principles behind items of machinery, the one common factor throughout is an emphasis on hands-on training. “We use a range of safety apparatus to simulate accidents, by lifting trainees up in harnesses around their waist for instance. We try to encourage a high level of sensitivity to safety issues, as well as training operators to question why things happen for themselves.” (Handa)

Handa has also devised a curriculum that aims to hone trainees' sense of awareness even further. This involves “training human resources so that they are capable of identifying weaknesses in their own plants and coming up with solutions.”

“The culture within each plant is shaped and molded by key members of staff at that moment in time. We want operators to create a new culture for themselves, one that isn't overly focused on the past. Unless we try to achieve that, we will never be able to provide manufacturing support for overseas plants in a global era.” (Handa)

It is Naoshi Hagihara's job to take on board Handa's ideas and plan training for domestic operators. In addition to identifying trainees' needs, he also has to carefully align them with the company's own requirements. “Our aim is to train operators to think for themselves, so we always try to produce a curriculum with an emphasis on understanding why things happen. At the end of the day however, the first thing we have to do is to make the center appealing enough that trainees want to come back.”

Takashi Fujibuchi meanwhile, who is responsible for planning training for overseas operators, explains that “we are planning to set up training facilities at one of Mitsui Chemicals' plants in Singapore before the end of 2011 so that we can roll out activities into Southeast Asia as well.”

As people often assume that chemical plants are fully automated, with no intervention required from human operators, they don't tend to associate the petrochemical industry with manufacturing. That is precisely why we need as many operators as possible who have a real “feel” for everything from operating machinery to safety and equipment. That is the only way to lay solid foundations for manufacturing.