“Last year, we saw a 4.2 percent increase in sales. This year we are looking at an eight percent increase,” said Francisco Miranda, Carling Technologies plant and distribution center manager.

Behind him, tidy coils of thin brass, copper and steel alloys sit on pallets next to massive 25 to 125 ton presses or metal stamping machines. The advanced manufacturing plant, in Brownsville since 1973, cuts, punches, bends and forms components for electric switches and breakers. The components are then to assembled in Matehuala, MX and returned to the international Boulevard plant for global distribution. Carling Technology produces switches and toggles found on everything from Mack trucks to restaurant coffee makers.

Seeking to keep the plant competitive through higher productivity, increased efficiency, and improvements in on-time shipments, Carling applied for a Texas Workforce Commission Skills Fund Development grant. In late February, Carling received a $115,000 grant to upgrade the skills of 74 current employees and five new employees through 15 separate courses taught on-site by Texas Southmost College instructors.

“The grant came along at a very good time,” Miranda said.

The plant, which is ISO-9000 and ISO 14001certified, had plans to continue to upgrade employee skills. But the training that might have happened over several years now is slated for completion by November 30.

“The challenge for us is make it happen without affecting the production. The employees are trained during working hours, and it’s a big advantage that the training is right in the plant. Our investment is the time, space, and the employee. It’s a lot of training (346 hours total.) The university has been very good at scheduling,” to accommodate customer orders. Yet as important as the training courses are, meeting production schedule is the main priority.

Miranda said one goal is to reduce setup time on the plant’s 30 machines by one to five percent which would result in a $20,000 savings. Carling employees get hands-on experience with an instructor and then put into practice what they have learned on their own presses or in their own departments. Courses range from Statistical Process Control, PRO-E for drafting, quality control, warehouse operations and changing dies to Leadership training for supervisors, CNC machining, fire safety, Excel, Effective negotiations for buyers and Kaizen training. The course in Hydraulic and pneumatics is the only one slated to be taught at TSC.

Elsa Martinez, senior HR administrator, noted it took Carling almost a year and considerable red tape to apply for and secure the training grant. She credited Steve Sanchez and Jim Holt of TSC with helping bring the application to its successfully completion.

For more of this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the April edition of Valley Business Report, on news stands now, or visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Web site.