Tell us about Ipsen U and what it can do for heat treaters.
The Ipsen U class provides a great learning experience for everyone from entry level to department supervisors or engineers. Classes cover a variety of topics from basic furnace operation and function to furnace troubleshooting and maintenance, to process related discussion on heat treating and brazing. There really is something for everyone to learn in this class.
Ipsen U is a three-day course. How did you decide on that length?
Three days seems to be about the right length for this training based on the broad range of content but also in the amount of time that our customers can be absent from their plant. If the class was any shorter, we wouldn’t have sufficient time to cover valuable content. If the class was any longer, we might miss out on some attendees that simply can’t leave their critical plant operations longer than three days.
What kinds of upgrades have been added to Ipsen U for this year?
This year, Ipsen U will be more interactive, encouraging more Q&A and attendee participation. We will provide as many live demos in front of an actual furnace as we can. Based on feedback from our 2022 classes, we have also added new classes around furnace processes. Another update we are very excited for is that attendees will receive course materials on an iPad to take with them so they can easily reference anything in the future.
How will the curriculum be tailored to meet attendees’ individual needs?
We will take a look at the attendees’ industries, job functions, and what type of furnaces they have to determine the best curriculum for each class. This might include breakout sessions on different types of controls, taking a deeper dive into processes such as brazing or increasing the focus on troubleshooting and maintenance. We also plan on sending out a pre-class survey to everyone registered to get direct input from those who will be in attendance. For anyone interested in an even more customized offering, we also conduct on-site Ipsen U trainings directly at customers’ facilities.
How often will the course be offered during 2023?
We have four classes scheduled at our Vacuum Technology Excellence Center in Cherry Valley, Illinois. Those dates are April 11-13, June 6-8, August 8-10, and October 3-5. We will also continue to conduct on-site classes, allowing us to work directly with the customer’s heat-treating equipment and even further tailoring the training for their specific needs. Last year we did 10 of these on-site classes and expect to do even more this year.
If someone is interested but can’t make the scheduled times, are there any alternatives available (i.e. online recordings or transcripts)?
Right now, we do not provide the trainings online. We believe it is valuable to experience the class in-person with our hands-on approach. However, we are currently in the process of building a more robust knowledge base for our customers that will include some educational resources. More to come on that later.
Do you have any plans to expand on Ipsen U in the future?
Our goal is to continually improve the class based on customer feedback. After each class, we will evaluate what went well and what can be further improved upon.
MORE INFO ipsenglobal.com/event/ipsenu
