CONAGRA EXPANDS MAINTENANCE EMPLOYEES’ SKILLSETS WITH CUSTOMIZED TRAINING PROGRAM
ConAgra, known for their grocery products (especially frozen foods), has been in business for over 50 years and is one of the largest companies in the Frozen Foods Division in the United States. The company’s Marshall required customized training for their maintenance technicians, who needed to develop the necessary skills to operate CNC mill machines and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding applications.
ConAgra partnered with The LearningForce at State Fair Community College (SFCC) to facilitate this specialized training. Funding from Missouri One Start was used to offset the costs. training covered the following:
- Shop safety
- Machine tool math
- Drill press
- Turning techniques
- Milling techniques
- Better awareness of safe/correct setup procedures when welding
- Stainless steel fillet and groove GTAW welds in flat, horizontal, vertical, and overhead positions
- Improved heat control and education
Since April 2024, workers with little experience using CNC mill machines or performing TIG welding have received customized training from two SFCC trainers. Both trainers developed a curriculum specifically for ConAgra’s processes, combining classroom instruction with hands-on application to effectively educate and train the employees.
The LearningForce has provided custom machining and welding training to 16 ConAgra maintenance employees. The customized approach was a huge success, as 100% of employees found it informative and helpful in learning more about their machines and processes. One trainee highlighted that they learned a lot because their trainer was patient and explained processes thoroughly to help each individual.
Justin Moore, Maintenance Team Leader at ConAgra, has the following to say regarding his employees’ thoughts on the trainings: “They appreciated me letting them attend these trainings. They stated that they learned so much from them and felt comfortable using our new milling machine now to make parts for the lines as we need them. We are looking forward to scheduling more classes in the fall to get more Maintenance Technicians trained up so we can build more depth in our department.”
About Missouri One Start:
Missouri One Start is a Division within the Department of Economic Development. Training programs are administered regionally by local education agencies (LEAs). In addition to meeting certain eligibility criteria, companies must be making a capital investment five times greater than the amount of training funds they receive.
