Flame Furnace’s Unique Situation

Not many PHCE businesses have a technical/vocational school nearby, but Flame Furnace, in Warren, Mich., is one of the lucky few. Their management team can provide employment to recent graduates, but they’ve found that their new hires aren’t quite ready for the truck.

Needing A Complete Residential Online Technical Training Program

“They don’t know what they don’t know. We can build on whatever they’ve learned in the local tech school and really get them familiar with a residential call,” said Charlie Fisher, general manager at Flame Furnace. “We’re using NexTech because we can identify skills and experience they are lacking and then get them through what they need to know in about 17 weeks.”

Structure Is Important

“When we tried to come up with our own curriculum, the results we haphazard. We need something that breaks it down. We have 85 employees here and we not in the position to hire a full-time trainer. We’d have a hard time coordinating the in-person training and we need more flexibility,” said Fisher. Flame Furnace has dedicated field trainers that coach apprentices through the curriculum. The field trainers check in with students weekly and review their progress through the program and address any questions or concerns that arise. “Students and trainers review the material together and show that they are ready to move on at either the job site or in our training lab,” said Matt Marsiglio, service manager.

Modifying NexTech To Meet Their Needs

Because of their aggressive approach, the Flame Furnace leadership team has modified the curriculum and broken down what they would like students to accomplish on a weekly basis. The ability to adapt the program to their needs has made life easier on their field administrators and students.

Looking Forward

Their apprentices have not yet reached a point where they are generating revenue, but Marsiglio is excited about their potential. “I am confident they will out produce techs that do not go through the NexTech training due to the fact they will carry a higher level of confidence in their abilities, allowing them to be more customer-focused.”

Beyond their current plans for the program, the Flame Furnace team envisions using NexTech as continuing education for technicians. “It would be great to have technicians revisit specific modules,” said Fisher. The NexTech team is taking this feedback seriously and exploring this idea for future versions of the curriculum.

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