• Testimonials

    Andreas Bischof
    Head of VET, Bühler Group

    “Every dollar invested in these promising talents is money well spent and a win-win for workers and companies. The Swiss apprenticeship model makes economic sense because it not only gives graduates a chance to start their careers fully prepared, but the company also benefits from a highly skilled workforce.”

    Kamesh Sundaram
    Head - People Development at Texmo Industries

    “When our students graduate from SkillSonics training programs they are ready for the shop floor and are immediately deployable as a productive workforce”

    Kirit Patel
    Assistant Manager, Swiss VET and Welding, GMM Pfaudler

    “Students are able to perform a quality check on their own – they are trained to identify and correct the mistakes when the required quality standard is not met. The Swiss methodology prevents them from making the same errors again.”

ACC Limited

The only cement company with “Super Brand” status in India.

ACC Limited is India’s leading manufacturer of cement and ready mixed concrete, and the only cement company to get Super Brand status in India. It has a presence in 20 locations and employs over 10’000 workers in India.

Summary

Cement production is a continuous process. Any interruption in the production cycle can lead to production slowdowns, material wastage and large expenses. ACC management wanted to improve their plant uptime and safety record. They mandated SkillSonics to upskill their workforce and train their trainers across 26 plants. Within 2 years, SkillSonics had trained 3’500 employees. Thanks to the program, plant performance and safety records improved significantly.

Challenges
  • Working with mixed groups of workers aged from 25 to 50 – uneven technical and intellectual know-how
  • Ensuring safety of workers and equipment
  • Bringing a clear sense of meaning and purpose to training for self-improvement
  • Working in different local languages
  • Coordinating the training program and the ongoing factory work schedule
How SkillSonics Helped

SkillSonics offered a two-year program to train and certify 6’000 employees across 26 ACC plants. Experts from ACC and SkillSonics jointly devised the program, training modules and specified the learning outcome for 287 trainee batches. The program was conducted in 2 phases (each of 1-year duration) and was completed successfully within the specified time frame. SkillSonics trained 3’500 employees in different plants. SkillSonics also trained ACC trainers in pedagogy and applied didactics. The trainers were inducted as co-instructors so that they could continue in-house training after the SkillSonics program ended.

Results

ACC carried out a skill gap analysis before the SkillSonics program began and after it ended to measure program benefits. Findings showed that the safety awareness and work skill programs resulted in significant improvements in team work, overall coordination, personal safety and safety of plant and equipment. Domain-specific training improved employees’ understanding of their jobs. Trainees achieved better results and positive recognition, which led to higher retention rates. In general, workforce stability improved and with it overall productivity at ACC.