SUPPORT & TRAINING JLS® Academy helps automation careers soar

Robust in-house training program to benefit internal team, as well as customers

Strengthening a Growing Team

Like the food processing industry, the packaging and automation industries have seen massive growth in the past few years. As those industries continue to rapidly expand, it’s clear that the need for skilled labor within them will be increasing in demand as automated solutions become the status quo. While JLS continues to grow alongside this expansion, the need for a robust in-house training program to supplement this growth and properly train current and future team members has become clearer.

Craig Souser, President and CEO of JLS, says that one of the challenges he and his team have had as they scale the business is the ability to transfer necessary knowledge from existing to new employees. However, by institutionalizing this knowledge, Souser hopes to create a much-needed resource for onboarding and the development of their teams.

Creating Consistency with JLS Academy

Out of this need, the idea for JLS Academy was born. While JLS already has a solid training program in place for service group members, Souser and his team are now tasked with building a more formalized, robust training system for everyone else–from engineering to general onboarding. “It’s training for the entire company–any skillset should be consistent and measurable,” he says, “and people should be able to advance within the company through training and talent acquisition.”

For Souser, the question is no longer one of what is needed. Instead, it has become, “How do we templatize what we did for the service group, which has tripled in size in the past few years?”

The intention with JLS Academy is to do just that.

With this kind of training program in place, Souser hopes that JLS will set itself up for future success with everything from general onboarding of all employees to training highly skilled technicians–helping careers soar. With so much company growth in such a short amount of time, the Academy has also become a high priority for the company. In fact, getting JLS Academy launched is of such importance that it is one of JLS’ non-financial goals for the 2022 fiscal year, further strengthening JLS’ commitment to the program.

Academy Staff is Key to Success

Properly staffing the JLS Academy will be an important task, as it is essential to its success. While training is currently conduct- ed internally by employees who do it for a limited amount of their work time, Souser intends to hire externally to staff the Academy moving forward in order to further ensure its success.

“A really competent trainer is wired differently,” says Souser. “It takes a lot of patience, and you have to be wired like a teacher.” With the right people in place, the Academy will be able to achieve the success it hopes for.

The staff will be fully trained on a wide variety of topics such as the onboarding process, technical skills, customer service, and more.

In-House Customer Training

In addition to providing training for JLS staff, JLS Academy will include comprehensive training for JLS customers as well. With JLS machines conveniently located on-site and fully trained staff readily available for training, the Academy will conduct in-person training for customers at its York, PA headquarters.

Hands-on customer training will include a variety of topics, from machine start-up all the way through troubleshooting. By providing a space for customers to bring their employees on-site to train, JLS helps customers protect their investment and ensures the proper use of their equipment for years to come.

A Vision for a Better Future

Two years from now, Souser says he expects that the Academy will be running at full capacity, both internally and externally. For JLS and its customers, this means that a brighter future with more well-informed, highly trained team members and opportunities for growth are just around the corner.