Constructive learning: a new approach to deploying technological systems into the workplace
Lia A. DiBello, J.‐C. Spender · International Journal of Technology Management · 2014
High–technology production and information systems are becoming increasingly common in the workplace. Those who work with them need formal and knowledge–intensive skills that match the way these systems work. The traditional methods of shopfloor education, learning–by–doing from other skilled operators, or from the equipment supplier, are risky, expensive and inefficient. Classroom training does not work well either. We describe two–day constructive learning workshops designed to help introduce MRP, the widely used computer–based production and inventory management system, into a major transportation maintenance facility. MRP is notoriously difficult to install successfully. These workshops worked well and reduced the operatives' learning period by upwards of a year.