Training Within Industry, commonly referred to as TWI, originated in the United States in the 1940s during World War II. According to the TWI Institute, a national network of industry professionals was drafted to develop techniques to quickly train unskilled workers entering the war production workforce as many skilled laborers went off to war.

TWI was introduced in Japan after the war for rebuilding purposes and is still in widespread use there today, most notably as part of Toyota’s Production System. It has helped drive success for Toyota in continuous improvement, standard work and in its ability to sustain those improvements.

While its use in the U.S faded over time, TWI has seen a resurgence in recent years as industries such as healthcare, construction and manufacturing are reaping its benefits.

Simply put, this proven tool applies to anyone who teaches anybody to do anything. It’s ideally suited for supervisors, team leaders, and those indirectly managing others. A superior training methodology, particularly in a mass-production setting, TWI helps to facilitate greater speed to market and remove waste associated with training time. Once it’s taught, it helps sustain high performance and excellence in quality.

For manufacturing companies concerned about retiring employees taking their production and operational knowledge with them, TWI can help capture that experienced know-how and transfer it to the remaining workforce.

TWI teaches workers more than just what to do to complete a specific task, it reinforces how to do a job and gets them to understand why the job must be done that way.

TWI-JI

One of the first courses of Training Within Industry is Job Instruction (JI). The purpose of TWI JI is to get workers fully trained and adding value to the organization in the shortest period of time possible while preventing problems that could arise from faulty instruction. JI establishes a single best method for doing a job and allows a trainer to transfer knowledge to a learner quickly while also verifying comprehension.

TWI-JR

Another TWI program is Job Relations (JR) training. JR training involves teaching supervisors how to handle problems, how to prevent them from occurring, and it helps develop a logical approach to tackling issues with a people-centric view. The core elements of JR teach the basics of consensus-building and individual problem-solving leading to positive employee relations.

TWI-JS/JM

TWI also offers Job Safety (JS) which enables supervisors to decrease employee injuries and potential causes; and Job Methods (JM) which assists employees in recognizing the waste inherent in current methods and how to reduce those wastes utilizing existing resources.

TWI is an improvement process with a set of standardized programs that addresses the essentials skills needed by anyone who leads the work of others. It can help transfer valuable knowledge of seasoned workers to younger and newer employees in an organization. And it can ensure that a job is done correctly and consistently over time.