Quick start [Vol. 19, no. 1 (Winter 2017)]

For the past 10 years, Suniva has been a model for how to successfully commercialize high-tech university research. Originating in Georgia Tech's University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education, the innovative technology behind Suniva 's best-in-class solar cells have made it the largest solar cell manufacturer in America.
Suniva's achievements have earned it a Georgia Manufacturer of the Year award, and its growing popularity has prompted the company to expand its Norcross facility, where it will nearly triple cell

production from roughly 78,000 cells per day to 230,000 cells per day.
"Suniva is an example of American manufacturing at its finest," said Steve Haro, then-U.S. Department of Commerce assistant secretary for legislative and intergovernmental affairs. "They produce industry leading products, right here in the United States, and their global leadership has made for the type of conditions that create clean energy jobs across our country. Suniva is an example of the strength and resilience of American modern manufacturing."
Continued on page 6

Quick Notes

"... we at Quick Start have steadily refined our methodology and developed a deep expertise in designing customized pre-employment assessment programs to help companies
2
assess their job candidates."

A t Quick Start, we know that selecting the best-qualified candidates for a job i
.L\.. one of the greatest challenges facing a new or expanding company. That per-
son needs to have the right combination of persona l attributes and technica l skills to be successful.
That's why we at Quick Start have steadily refined our methodology and developed a deep expertise in designing customized pre-employment assessment programs to help companies assess their job candidates .
One of the recent projects to benefit from this expertise is our collaboration with Suniva. As you'll see, Quick Start's pre-employment assessment has helped the company identify exceptional talent to work in such a sophisticated, high-tech, advanced manufacturing environment. Suniva is one of the great success stories in Georgia, and Quick Start is proud to help the company shine even brighter.
In this iss ue we're also pleased to update readers on two exciting, ongoing projects . First is the re-launch of Quick Start's website: www.georgiaquickstart.org. Long-time media veteran Richard Warner helped us with invaluable market research and design strategies, and now we're better able to share our success stories with a global audience.
The second piece of news is the debut of the first artist's renderings of the new Georgia Advanced Manufacturing Training Center. This new center will be located at the intersection of Interstates 95 and 16 near Savannah. It will be a showcase of Georgia's commitment to advanced manufacturing, and a significant resource for industry thro ughout that region and all of Georgia.
We're looking forward to a ribbon cutting in 2018, so stay tuned !
jackie Rohosky Assistant Commissioner Economic Development Programs
j ro hosky@georgiaq uicksta rt.org

Table of Contents

3 Events Around the State
4 Pedal to the Metal Textron and Quick Start team up again

8 The Big Chill Quick Start bundles up to deliver training for Nordic Logistics' cold storage operation

5 A Cut Above Quick Start helps Club Chef get off on the right foot

10 Performance Enhancing Quick Start helps the best get even better

Cover photos - Top: Solar cells at Suniva are flipped during the production process to ensure a proper coating on both sides of the cell; Bottom: Scenes from Suniva's state-of-the-art nine-step manufacturing process for their PERC!Artisun-STAR Photovoltaic cells. This process produces PV cells with enhanced efficiency and performance, and helps Sun iva stay competitive as the market leader in solar cell manufacturing.

Volume 19, umber 1 Published by Georgia Q uick Start www.GeorgiaQuickStart.org Q uick Start is a registered service mark of the Techn ical CoUege System of Georgia- Gretchen Corbin, Commissio ner. Please address comments and questions to: Dr. Rodger Brown, Executive Director of Marketing and Strategic Media rbrown@georgiaqu ickstart.org Georgia Q ui ck Start . 75 Fifth St. NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308

Events

KGTC Hosts Siemens Event

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal discusses the importance of a strong bond between companies, the state, and the community.
SIEMENS

In September, th e Kia Georgia Training Center in West Point, opera ted by Quick Start, was the site of an event staged by Siemens to announce a donation to the ca reer aca demy in LaGra nge in support of careers in manufacturing and engineering. Speakers included Governor Nathan Deal, the U.S. President of Siemens Digital Factory, Technical College System of Georgia (T CSG) deputy commissioner M att Arthur, then-Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD ) commissioner Chris Carr and other Siemens officials.
In his comments, Deputy Commissioner Arthur said, " For us, this is all a bo ut partnership . It's all a bout communication with businesses. It's all a bout lea rning that we need to partner with industry to learn what we need to be teaching, to write the curriculum, get the right equipment in the rooms, and to train the future workforce."
During the event, Gov. N a than Deal emphasized Georgia's commitment to further fostering public-pri va te-aca demic partnerships to train the workforce of the future. "We va lue the continued investments from Kia and Siemens in Georgia and we respect the vision of the companies' leadership," said Deal. "The strong relationships between the company, the community and the state are a mod el for the kind of partnerships we strive for, as we cultiva te the next generation workforce."

From left: Matt Arthur, TCSG deputy commissioner ; Chris Carr, then-GDEcD commissioner; and john Billings, Vice President and Head of Siemens Automotive, Aerospace and Turnkey Solutions U.S., Digital Factory Division.

New Center to Support Advanced Manufacturing
For the past year, a team consisting of Qu ick Start, the Technical Coll ege System of Georgia , and th e architecture firm BRPH have been developing the plans for a new Georgi a Advanced Manufacturing Training Center, which is to be located near Savannah , Ga .
The new Center will be equipped with state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing technology to support industry throu ghout the state . Th e Center will be operated by Georgi a Quick Start, and is expected to be compl eted in 2018 .

Quick Start Redesigns Website-
With sit e locators relyin g more and more on web research to do initia l evalu ations of potential sites for new bu sin esses, a clear, informative we bsite is a ba selin e requirem ent. To help better showcase Qui ck Start's capabilities and pa st successes, w e have rece ntly launched a new des ign for Quick Start's website. Ch eck it out at www.georgia qui ckstart.org.

Advanced Manufacturing

Pedal to the Metal
Textron and Quick Start team up again

T extron Specialized Vehicles, maker of golf cars, utility and personal transportation vehicles,

professional turf-care equipment and ground support

equipment has joined with Georgia Quick Start and

Augusta Technical College to provide customized

workforce training to support their announced expan-

sion, which will create approximately 450 new jobs

in the Augusta area.

4

This is not the first partnership among the three.

The Bad Boy Stampede 900, one of the specialized vehicles made by Textron at their Augusta, Ga., facility.

Textron and Quick Start have partnered before, with

Quick Start supporting their initial hiring operations, and both parties have agreed to future training as

lEX IRON

Textron finalizes plans to bring its Jacobsen business to the Augusta area.

~~~~~~~SPECIALIZED VEHICLES

"Textron is a great company that has chosen to

in Augusta. Since then the company has shown clear

z repeatedly invest in Georgia. We are honored to be able dedication to workforce development. As Textron

0
~

to work with them to bring these high-quality jobs to Specialized Vehicles President and CEO Kevin Holleran

V> the state," said Jackie Rohosky, Technical College

recently said, "To continue that growth, we must have

2: System of Georgia assistant commissioner for economic a viable, well-educated and prepared workforce to be

c 3

development programs and head of Quick Start.

the engine behind our manufacturing." By the end of

0 >-'

Textron has seen signifigant growth since 2011,

the year, Textron expects to employ approximately

z-~ when Textron employed approximately 600 people

1,200 people at the Augusta location.

0

Textron manufactures vehicles under brands such

as E-Z-GO, Cushman, Bad Boy, Jacobsen,

Ransomes, Dixie Chopper, TUGTM and DouglasTM.

The partnership extends beyond just Quick Start.

Augusta Technical College has been an essential

collaborator, offering continued training to Textron.

"Augusta Technical College and Textron have enjoyed

a strong relationship for many years," said Terry Elam,

Augusta Technical College president. "We are very

pleased to support the company during this exciting

time of major growth and expansion."

From left: jan Melcher, Quick Start director of Eastern operations; Heather Meyer, Textron Specialized Vehicles Augusta plant manager; and Terry Elam , Augusta Technical College president pose for a picture at the recent training plan signing.

Food Industry Operations

A Cut Above
Quick Start helps Club Chef get off on the right foot

I f you like eating fresh, you like Castellini. The Castellini Group

of Companies combine to form one

of the largest distributors of fresh

produce in the United States. For

consumers in the Southeast, that

comes in the form of Club Chef,

which provides a huge variety of

fresh-cut fruits, vegetables and

salads to grocery stores and restau-

rants all over the region.

When the Castellini Group

announced that Club Chef was opening a new processing and dis-

Clockwise from above: Club Chef employee lap Chin checks the qua lity

tribution facility in Conley, Ga ., it immediately turned to Quick Start to help them manage their startup. Training began at the beginning of 2016, and has been running steadily ever since.
Quick Start puts Club Chef new

Conveyors with cameras sort tomatoes and similar items by specific color, enabling client

of tomatoes before they go through optical sorting; Club Chef employees secure packages of organic baby spinach for shipment to a client; baby spinach goes through the cleaning process on Club Chef's organic processing line.
5

hires through initial training, such companies to maintain a consistent made it really easy for us to get up

as company overview and safety

look to their produce. Club Chef

and running and train our employ-

awareness classes, and has provided also makes use of highly special-

ees," said Pam Baskette, Club Chef

the company with print resources ized lines that are capable of

human resources manager at

to ensure its team is working safely washing, processing, portioning,

Castellini's facility in Conley, Ga.

and efficiently.

and packaging organic products

"To any business that's thinking

Club Chef also makes use of

separately from other products.

about moving to Georgia," she

some of the most advanced tech-

"Quick Start has made my job added, "Quick Start makes it easy

nologies in the food industry.

so easy, really from startup. They

to get off on the right foot ."

The Sun Also Energizes

Continued from page 1

Am nca s Leadmg Solar
Matt Card , Sun iva executive vice president of commercial operations, speaks during the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Suniva expansion.

With steadily increasing demand for clean energy, Suniva's monocrystalline solar cells have become top sellers in a market forecast to grow rapidly in the commg years.
"We started with the belief that any global marketplace, but especially the global clean energy marketplace, needed a strong U.S. manufacturer," said Matt Card, Suniva executive vice president of commercial operation . "This is an intensely competitive industry with a lot of global competition, and what U.S. manufacturing has tradition all y done is lead the way with innovation, and set the standard with high quality and excellence around the world."

Partnership with Quick Start

From left: jackie Rohosky, Technical College System of Georgia assistant commissioner for economic development programs; Paul Schneider, Sun iva vice president of Norcross plant operations; and Dr. D. Glen Cannon, Gwinnett Technical College president pose while signing a training plan that outlines each group's role in supporting Sun iva's expansion .

To support the expansion, Quick Start will once again be partnering with Suniva to offer customized workforce training. Quick Start first partnered with Suniva to assist in its startup in 2008.
" I cannot say enough about the role that Georgia Quick Start has played in our success," lauded Card at the recent expansion ribbon cutting. "Quick Start has been alongside us every step of the way, and the resources they've provided, the

Suniva employee and pilot group participant Kierra Saunders (at right) requests Quick Start assessor Margaret Slusher to verify her work identifying defects on a replica solar cell. Potential employees are asked to spot defects in solar cells in order to assess their attention to detail. Inset: Saunders works on completing the quality assessment.

expertise and development knowledge to get us up and

moving as a business, have been invaluable to us."

Quick Start's training plan to support Suniva's most

recent expansion starts with pre-employment exercises

that assess candidates' ability to handle work on the

Suniva floor. "Quick Start's pre-employment assessment

training has been a real highlight of this expansion,"

said Paul Schneider, Suniva vice president of Norcross

plant operations. "It has accelerated hiring and train-

ing, and we've been very pleased with the

IVa

caliber of employees that have been hired

through this process."

From there, Quick Start will train new

employees on Suniva's high-tech manufac-

turing process. This training program is

highly technical and touches on subjects

like advanced manufacturing technologies,

POC13 diffusion, laser etching and plasma-

enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

Holistic Approach to Training

....---

Beyond just teaching the employees the steps required to perform their job, Quick Start strives to help them understand the process and what is happening at a microscopic level.

~~f>. . .
~

Quick Start developed visual aids to use in assessing potential Sun iva employees.

"The level of technical ability and understanding at Quick Start is unparalleled," said Schneider. "Quick Start made an animation video of what happens inside our machines that employees who have been working here for years couldn't visualize. But now we have a video that shows them what is really happening in that machine. That's world class."
The next step in the training includes soft skills and collaboration. Employees will go through workshops designed to promote teamwork and fo ter the company's unique culture, as well as help employees understand how their actions on the manufacturing line help influence the company's bottom line.
"The soft skills training starts where we are, enhances our skills, and takes us to the next level, so we are really excited about that part of the training," said Schneider. "That's why we have such good people; because we invest the time and energy into training them and making them productive, effective employees."

Distribution Center/Warehousing Industry

Quick Start bundles up to deliver training for Nordic logistics' cold storage operation

W ith access to two major highways and the fastest growing port in the United States, Savannah is quickly becoming one of the most important cargo hu bs in the co untry. Cold storage is an integral part of the Savannah distribution landscape, with fresh produce and agricultural prod ucts making up a sizable chunk of the business.
ordic Logistics, one of the country's leaders in this field, has seen this growth first hand. The

company has doubled its Pooler, Ga., location from 200,000 square feet to 400,000 quare feet, and has recently announced plans to add an additional 400,000 square feet in the next five years. And Georgia Quick Start's customized workforce training has been one of the big factors in that success.
ordic's training started with training in continuous improvement and productivity enhancement, including topics ranging from

AGR<!) A Proud Member of
Mefchonls Group
leadership and performance management to conflict resolu tion. From there, Quick Start began training employees on job-specific skills. From dock and warehouse operations to inventory control, and from safety and hazard communications to hands-on training with the specific software they

What is Cold Storage?
The Port of Savannah is the fastest growing port in the United States, a title it has held for the better part of a decade. This meteoric growth is due, in part, to the thriving agribusiness industry in Georgia . Cold storage plays an integral part in that supply chain . Cold storage distribution technology has been used to transport food in the United States since the late 1700's, but today's cold storage companies, like Nordic and United States Cold Storage, are on the cutting edge of modern technology. These facilities, which reach -25F, have enabled us to distribute food across the world .

((One of the most beneficial things we did was the [Quick Start] soft skills training ... It really brought the team together."
- Ross Maple, Nordic Director of Business Strategy

would be using, Quick Start

of the biggest items this process

prepared ordic's employees

turned up was ordic's train-

with the necessary skillsets to

ing aids. Quick Start's Eastern

work in the company's unique,

Operations team made customized

sub-zero environment.

training aids that visually detailed

"One of the most beneficial

performance tasks, making it easier

things we did was the soft skills

for employees to double check their

training," said

work. ot only

Ross Maple,

were these train-

Nordic Logistics director of business strategy. "It rea lly brought the team together.

ANordic employee moves boxes of frozen poultry into a refrigerated ca rgo container. Nordic plays an integral part in making Georgia th e largest exporter of chicken in the nation.

ing aids des igned to be visually appealing and easy to navigate, they were also designed to be

That training is

durable enough

when they really

for continued use

started to gel

in a frigid work-

and communi-

place like ordic,

cate, and they

where temps reach

really became

-25F.

a team. It was

"In addition to

truly beneficial,

quality and pro-

not only for the

ductivity, Nordic

company, but

invests in partner-

for the employ-

ships and people,"

ees themselves.

said Jan Melcher,

It was a great

Quick Start direc-

investment."

tor of Eastern

All of the

operations. "As

training Quick

we worked closely

Start provided

with Ross Maple

was specific to

and the ordic

Nordic. The

team, it was easy

project began by determining what to see why they are recognized as

ordic needed, and how Quick

one of the top cold storage compa-

Start could fill those needs. One

nies in the nation."

The Impact of Infrastructure

The rise in distribution around

the Port of Savannah could not be

accomplished without superior

infrastructure to support it. One

example of key infrastructure is the

Jimmy Deloach Connector, opened

in june. The Connector, which runs

parallel to State Route 21 , will

shorten travel time from the

Savannah Port to 1-95 and accom-

modate the increasing truck traffic

due to expansion of the Savannah

Port for the "Super Panamax" ships.

The project also saw the creation

9

of six new bridges, an overhaul of

the interchanges at Grange Road

and Sonny Dixon, and the mitiga-

tion of 11 acres of wetlands. The

state and local government's

support of the infrastructure is a

crucial part of the success of the

area 's distribution industry.

At right: Aforklift operator places a pallet of goods in the blast-freeze area of the Nordi c faci lity. Th is room uses fans to reach below -25F.

Performance Enhancing
Quick Start helps make the best even better
W ith about 95 % of Quick Start's projects involving advanced manufacturing, it's not surprising most people picture high-tech, hands-on, operational activities when thinking about customized training. But just as important as training employees to do their jobs well, is helping them do their jobs better. The key is a commitment to continuous improvement: better communica ti on, stronger teams, bridging gaps, leading the way, following a vision. The fo llowing two recent projects illustrate how Quick Start can help even the best get better.

.[UAN SI X SIGMA )

Cutting Waste, Not Corners

When major companies rely on of Six Sigma concepts. Today,

your components - and human

however, Quick Start has responded

lives depend on your quality-

to industry demand and the team's

you face the daunting challenge of Master Black Belts have developed

increasing production efficiency

curricula to certify Yellow and

while eliminating any defects.

Green Belts in Lean Six Sigma. Lean

10

This was the situation confront- Six Sigma is a business practice that

ing the experts at Hyundai MOBIS, combines elements of lean manu-

one of the major suppliers to Kia

facturing- which targets reducing

Motors Manufacturing Georgia.

wast e - and Six Sigma, a sta tistical Tim Gabel , Hyundai MOBIS quality specialist,

Hyundai MOBIS is responsible for some of the most important com-

practice used to eliminate product defects. The awarding of rankings

learns about lean Six Sigma methodology at the Quick Start training facility in laGrange, Ga .

ponents used by Kia and Hyundai

in terms of "belts" is borrowed

-including chassis, air bags, cockpits, headlights, and anti-lock brakes. In order to build a team capable of handling that load, Hyundai MOBIS turned to Georgia Quick Start to

from martial arts to indicate the level of training and organizational role for each individual.
Implementation at MOBIS

HYUnCRI
MOBIS

certify employees as Lean Six Sigma

Hyundai MOBIS is the latest

on these projects," said Frank Bue,

z
0

Yellow and Green Belts. In previous years, Quick Start

client company to benefit from this Quick Start capability. The

offered introductions and overview company brought together team

Hyundai MOBIS human resources/ training specialist. "That way you have fresh eyes looking at some-

members from

thing. That allows them to use the

different departments process to help everybody, and it

to practice Lean Six

leads to some different answer that

Sigma on rea l-world

we weren't expecting."

examples including

"It's Quick Start that is giving us

inventory control and that," said Bue. "We've had our

production processes. president come in and see the value,

"We deliberately

because when you're saving thou-

send people from other sands of dollars on daily processes,

departments to work that adds up."

Evange line Bunn , Hyundai MOBIS logistics team leader, and Tim Gabel , Hyundai MOB IS qu ality specialist, brainstorm ideas for improving the stockout process durin g a recent Six Sigma training session.

TEAM BUILDING )
Dream the Team

HITACHI
lnspire the Next:

The importance of collaboration together to work as a team to achieve

and teamwork in accomplishing

a goal. Broken into separate groups,

collective goals is so well known, it the employees must work together to

sounds like a cliche: "There's no 'I' accomplish a specific task.

in 'team.'" But a punchline for one person

Building the Team at Hitachi

11

is the bottom line for a business

In a recent team building

competing in today's marketplace. workshop held at the Hitachi

One of Quick Start's popular

Automotive Systems facility in

offerings is a team-building work-

Monroe, Ga., Hitachi employees

shop. Innumerable companies across were tasked with moving objects

different industries have credited

across a 'river' that was placed in

Quick Start's team-building workshop with helping them develop a positive, productive work culture.

the middle of the room. The employees were broken into
two groups. One built a bridge. The

z
:e("0
"'
't-

"Today, more than ever, compa- other built a cart to move the cargo.

c

nies must rely on productive teams Even while working separately, the

3
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to operate efficiently and effec-

teams practiced collaborative com-

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tively," said Ron Hartsell, Quick

munication to ensure the bridge and

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0

Start manager of performance

cart would be compatible.

technology operations.

"Team building positively

"Team building supports

in1pacts company culture by allow-

employees as they develop skills

ing each team member to have a

and competencies to enable them to feeling of significance in the process,"

work together to complete a task," said Hitachi Automotive Systems

Hartsell added. "Team building

Americas training coordinator

training allows participants to apply Shylene Reese. "When team mem-

a variety of exercises, activities and tactics used by effective teams to successfully fulfill both the organization's and the individual's goals."
The workshop brings employees

bers feel significant, they care about the overall success of the company. This inspires great ideas and sparks motivation and enthusiasm towards accomplishing common goals."

Above, from top left: Quick Start instructor j . Noble explains the goals of the team building activity to participants at the Hitachi Automotive Systems facility (1, 2); participants work together to build their components (3, 4) ; both components work seamlessly together to complete the

assigned task (5).

OUIC<~TA~T
TECHNICAL COLLEG E SYST EM OF GEORGIA
75 Fifth Street NW, Suite 400 Atlanta , GA 30308-1022
Survey Says... Quick Start #1-ranked Workforce Training Program in U.S.
For the past seven years, Area Development magazine has surveyed site location consultants and asked them to pick the best-in-class across a range of economic development issues.
For the seventh straight year, Georgia Quick Start has earned Georgia the #1 ranking for workforce development programs.
"Georgia, the overall top state for doing business, is tops in workforce development, according to the site consultants we surveyed," Area Development's contributor Steve Stackhouse-Kaelble wrote. "[And} the state's signature program is Georgia Quick Start. "
Georgia also took the #1 ranking as the "Top State for Doing Business" for the third year in a row.
"Site consultants have an insider's view into all of these [critical] factors - and an unbiased perspective, too," wrote StackhouseKaelble when introducing the magazine's 2016 survey results. "That 's why Area Development's "Top States for Doing Business" analysis solicits the views of in-the-know consultants."
Since 1965, A~ea Development magazine has provided business leaders and site location consultants with the kind of up-to-theminute market intelligence needed to stay competitive in a changing global market.