AICC, The Independent Packaging Association, began offering free online education to member companies in April 2017. As of February 2022, employees of AICC member companies have completed over 10,000 courses. These courses represent 1,250 better trained employees, $1.6M saved in training costs, and over four years of cumulative training time.
“This significant milestone clearly demonstrates what an important pillar AICC’s Packaging School is to both current and future members of AICC,” said Gary Brewer, President, Package Crafters, Inc., and AICC Education Committee Chair.
Over 100 courses are currently online with more expected to be released this year. There are courses available that are relevant for every department, with material both for those newer to the industry and seasoned professionals. AICC has also translated over 20 online courses into Spanish. Several more will be available in the coming months.
“I’m excited to hear about the 10,000 online courses completed!” said Jana Harris, CEO, Harris Packaging Corp. “The online catalogue covers so many aspects of our industry. It is a great resource for our onboarding education as well as broadening our team’s knowledge across the board. The fact that our employees can start a lesson, stop it when they get busy and come back to it has been extremely helpful during these busy times.”
To help AICC members make the most of the courses available AICC has also created a Training Tracking Tool, a resource available which makes easy tracking of training accessible to all AICC members. Many companies see the need for ongoing training but are not ready to invest in a database or Learning Management System of their own. The tool was updated in February 2022 to generate additional reports on individual or group progress even when employees change departments internally. Members can download the Excel Tracking Tool and put it to use.
“Educating over 10,000 individual AICC members is significant and should be celebrated, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg,” said AICC President, Mike D’Angelo. “We track numbers closely and member engagement with AICC’s Packaging School grows each year. The benefit to the industry is real,”
One of the most recent courses added is Machine Primer. This resource introduces a wide variety of equipment used in today’s packaging industry. AICC members can click on various pieces of machinery in a virtual plant, read a description of it, see a diagram then watch a video of the machinery in action. This course is a great resource to those new to the industry.
Several of the current and upcoming courses are through the support of AICC Education investors, Fosber, BCM Inks, SUN Automation Group, Pamarco, JB Machinery, Printron, Absolute, Kruger, EFI, HP, Stafford Corrugated Products, and Bobst, who offer their time and expertise along with a financial commitment to create an online course with AICC.
Visit www.AICCbox.org/PackagingSchool for more.
