English Classes Help Solve Profit Problem

Big George’s brow furrowed as he considered the question posed by the instructor:

“Did you go to the moon last night?”

“No,” he replied, “I don’t.” “Didn’t,” corrected the teacher, Tru Hoften-Siegel, a native of the Netherlands and a master of Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and English.

Big George is one of 14 Spanish-speaking workers at Fireplace Manufacturers Inc. in Santa Ana who take English lessons on their lunch break. Workers pay half the cost of the daily class and their employer pays the other half.

FMI, which makes ready-to-install residential fireplaces, began the language training program about a year ago so that the company’s mainly English-speaking managers could communicate better with the production workers, most of whom are recent emigrants from Latin America and have minimal English skills.

But FMI didn’t stop with sponsoring the English classes for workers. Management workers take Spanish classes, and the company’s newsletter is bilingual.

“Communication is the key to running a smooth business,” said Bill Harris, FMI president.

Harris says he is certain the classes have helped make the company more efficient. Turnover has been significantly reduced and quality has increased “quite a bit,” since the program began, he said.

Like just about every other industry, fireplace making is getting more complicated and competitive, thus increasing the need for smoother communications.

For example, FMI recently designed a fireplace with greater heating efficiency and a “space-saver” fireplace that takes up less room than other models. “Because the workers were able to communicate the assembly problems, we were able to improve our design, lower our costs and improve productivity,” said Joseph Coscione, vice president for engineering.

Because of the communications chasm before the company began the language training, some workers in the eight different departments on the big factory floor actually didn’t know what product was being produced at the plant. One loading dock worker apparently believed the cartons he was loading were television sets, Harris recalled.

“The ability to understand precise job directions leads to a faster task-learning process as well as higher quality in the final product,” said Hoften-Siegel. It also translates into fewer mistakes, reduced production line problems and less wasted time, which means higher profits, she noted.

Competition Cuts Profits

Just a few years ago, FMI was cruising along with a 14% profit margin. Turnover was high, but a willing supply of new workers was waiting at the gate each morning.

By last year, however, increased competition had trimmed the profit margin to 3.5% and the company called in a consultant, who recommended switching to just-in-time parts delivery and instituting the language classes.

Now, FMI is operating under a “whole new philosophy,” Harris said, and the company credits the classes, inventory reductions and other “low-tech” improvements with a 28% boost in productivity.

Just about everything at FMI has a bilingual flair. John Hornsby, general manager of the plant, takes pictures to illustrate problems and improvements on the factory floor and posts them with captions in Spanish and English. The company also pays $1 to $3 for each suggestion for improvements that workers make and pays up to $500 for those suggestions that are implemented.

The company’s profit margin is now up to about 8%, Harris said, and revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31 should be about $10 million, up from $8.5 million for fiscal 1985. The company completed its initial public offering in April, 1984, and has about 5 million common shares outstanding.

Other Firms Offer Classes

In its last fiscal year, about 31,000 fireplaces moved out FMI’s back door; this year, the company expects to make about 43,000 units, with retail prices for its nine models ranging from $500 to $2,000.

With the large number of Latino production workers in the county, other companies are inaugurating language training programs at their work sites.

American Poly Vinyl Corp., a custom fabricator of vinyl and canvas products, said an English class it ran for three months beginning in November “was really beneficial.” The Santa Ana-based company said it is considering establishing another class.

English programs also have been started by Ciba Geigy Corp., which makes composite materials for the aerospace industry at its plants in Fountain Valley and Santa Ana; Irvine-based St. John Knits Inc., a clothing maker, and Irvine-based Marshall Aluminum Products Inc., a maker of doors and window frames.

Besides improving efficiency, the programs have made the workers “more confident in the outside world,” said Gilda Vernon, a spokeswoman for St. John Knits, which has given about 35 supervisors English language training during the last year.

At FMI, the zeal to become bilingual sometimes produces amusing results. “They (production workers) want to (practice) English and I want to (practice) Spanish,” said Don Bowker, production manager at the plant, which has about 100 employees.

Drills Are Fast-Paced

On a recent day, Hoften-Siegel moved around the crowded classroom, firing questions at the workers as part of the day’s drill--which involved when to use do , does and did .

To maximize the practicality of the class, Hoften-Siegel devises drills that incorporate terms useful on the shop floor and has the students ask each other questions. So Alejandro asks Fernando: “Is the gate locked?” And after Fernando answers, he asks a question of another student: “Do you go to the park last night?”

“Did,” corrects Hoften-Siegel.

Hoften-Siegel keeps the class moving at so rapid a pace that each student ends up speaking several times in the half-hour class. She limits class size to 15 students so each one gets numerous opportunities to respond to and initiate questions.

Management and production workers seem unanimous in the assessment that the language training programs have been a big success.

Workers say the proficiency they gain in English helps them in everyday life as well as on the job. And the company has initiated a promotion track that allows workers to progress to positions of greater responsibility and pay as their English proficiency and job skills improve.