On This Page Day 1: Off the Bus and Into the Gemba Day 2: Presentations and Peer Learning Day 3: Getting Our Hands Dirty What Attendees Said Sustaining Enthusiasm with TWI ShareShare on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare via Email It’s not every day that a healthcare trainer, a manufacturing supervisor and a consumer goods continuous improvement leader find themselves in the same room, working through the same problems. But that’s exactly what happened over three days in Kansas City this past May, and everyone left with invaluable insights they could take back to their field. Hosted by TWI Institute on May 12–14 in Kansas City, Missouri, the first 2026 TWI Peer Exchange brought together professionals from across industries for three days of plant tours, presentations, workshops and peer-to-peer conversation. This year’s theme was sustainment: not just how to launch Training Within Industry (TWI) programs, but how to keep delivering results year after year. To bring the theme to life, TWI Institute drew upon the success of four Kansas City-area client companies: Church & Dwight (Arm & Hammer), Hallmark Cards, Panasonic Energy and the University of Kansas (KU) Health System. Representatives from each offered a candid look at what long-term TWI practice actually looks like on the floor. TWI Institute team members guided the experience throughout, adding their own expert insights. Day 1: Off the Bus and Into the Gemba Before the presentations kicked off, attendees spent Day 1 on the floor, exactly where TWI belongs. Three tour groups set off across the Kansas City region, each led by a member of the TWI Institute team. Master Trainer Shawn Volland guided the first group through KU Health’s pharmacy and Church & Dwight’s facility. President and CEO Scott Curtis led the second through Church & Dwight and Hallmark Cards. Vice President and Senior Master Trainer Patrick Graupp took the third through Hallmark and KU Health’s respiratory therapy department. By the end of the day, every attendee had seen at least two of the client companies up close. What they saw was TWI as a daily reality in working facilities where Job Instruction (JI), Job Relations (JR) and Job Methods (JM) are woven into how people actually do their jobs. It was clear that all share a common pride in deploying and sustaining these programs, and were eager to demonstrate what TWI has helped them build. As Matthew Eade of G&W Electric noted, the tours offered “real examples of what it takes to make TWI stick.” Particularly eye-opening for many was seeing TWI in a healthcare setting. KU Health’s implementation, spanning pharmacy, respiratory therapy and more, demonstrated that these methods aren’t industry-specific, but human-specific. That realization set the tone for everything that followed. Day 2: Presentations and Peer Learning Day 2 moved into the Colonial Ballroom at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown for a full day of presentations, with TWI Institute team members and clients taking turns at the front of the room. After a lively Q&A session on the previous day’s plant tours, Panasonic Energy opened the presentations by explaining how TWI was foundational to a large plant startup. They were followed by Church & Dwight and then Hallmark trainers who gave presentations on how TWI has transformed their operations, and how they are restructuring TWI to fit their unique circumstances. One of the day’s most popular sessions came from Petal Bartlett of KU Health System, whose presentation, “Blueprint for Impact,” walked through how KU Health pairs TWI Job Instruction with established improvement frameworks like Plan-Do-Check-Act, the Kirkpatrick Model, Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model and a RACI matrix. Rather than treating JI as a standalone tool, KU Health embeds it within a formal training lifecycle that runs from planning through execution to demonstrated results. Petal used the concrete example of a targeted tourniquet training initiative for phlebotomists to show how the approach translates directly into measurable, sustained outcomes on the floor. Dozuki followed with a live demonstration of digital work instructions and AI integration, showing how technology can support and scale what TWI practitioners are already doing by hand. The afternoon wrapped with roundtable discussions where attendees swapped challenges, wins and practical ideas. By the time the group moved to the after-hours reception, there was no shortage of conversation to continue. Day 3: Getting Our Hands Dirty If Day 2 was about learning from the front of the room, Day 3 was about learning by doing. Attendees split into morning and afternoon workshop tracks, each designed to give practitioners direct, hands-on experience with specific methods and tools. Dozuki led a session on creating digital work instructions and Job Instruction Breakdowns (JIBs), bridging the gap between traditional JIBs and the digital platforms many organizations are now adopting. Running parallel were sessions on Standardized Work with JM and a sustainable JR workshop hosted by Hallmark Cards, which gave participants open time to practice and problem-solve together. The afternoon brought three more focused sessions: KU Health demonstrated offline training in a Dojo setting, showing how dedicated training spaces can raise consistency and quality before workers ever hit the floor. The event MC and Master Trainer Shawn Volland led a group of attendees who were new to TWI, where he answered basic questions on the TWI methodology. In a session that generated great energy, key TWI Institute clients gathered with Institute team members for a candid focus group on where mature TWI programs are hitting walls, and what kinds of support would help them push through. The conversation in the last session was as practical as it gets: specific challenges, specific ideas and a direct line between what practitioners need and what TWI Institute can build. What Attendees Said The post-event survey results were overwhelmingly positive. Of 39 respondents, 79% rated the Peer Exchange “Exceptional: Well worth the time” and the remaining 21% rated it “Good: Gained several new insights.” Not a single negative rating was recorded, and 72% said they were ready to implement what they learned either immediately or with minor support. The written responses pointed to a few consistent themes: the value of seeing TWI practiced across different industries, the quality of the hands-on workshops and the energy that comes from spending time with people who are working through the same challenges. “The TWI Peer Exchange was so valuable,” wrote one attendee. “The connections made, the workshops, the tours, the collaboration — it was all exquisitely planned and executed.” For some, the biggest value was less about new information and more about renewed focus. “This connection was so needed,” wrote one participant. “Being able to hear from people who are practicing JI and JR more regularly gave me some great ideas.” In the days that followed the event, attendees took to email and LinkedIn to share what the event had meant to them. “Probably the most worthwhile gathering — from the perspective of lessons learned and relevant contacts made — I have attended since entering this industry almost seven years ago.” – Paul Riley, Hallmark Cards “It always reignites the fire and just gives me time with like-minded people to geek out about it.” – Michaela Jones, Church & Dwight “TWI works best when it’s more than a training tool. It has to be part of how the operation builds skill, solves problems, supports frontline leaders, and sustains standard work.”- Matthew Eade, G&W Electric “Great program. Learned a lot, got some aha moments, and made some great connections.” – Matthew Jackson, Church & Dwight “I had such a great time and learned so much.” – Teri Reynolds, Hormel Foods “Great event, speakers, topics, and people.” – Lauren Ernst, 3M Sustaining Enthusiasm with TWI Three days of tours, presentations and workshops surfaced a lot of ideas, but a few themes ran consistently through the 2026 Peer Exchange. The most important: TWI is most powerful when it’s treated as an operational system, not a training program. The client companies didn’t suceed because they ran a good JI course, but because they built TWI into how their organizations hire, develop and support people every day. The cross-industry dimension reinforced this. Seeing KU Health’s implementation alongside those of manufacturers and consumer goods companies made clear that the methods aren’t tied to any one sector. Where there are people doing work, TWI applies. The focus group with key clients surfaced specific ideas for where TWI Institute can deepen its support for mature programs, including: Follow-up coaching for new trainers Management workshops backed by implementation data and case studies A subscription-based monthly support model A newsletter featuring innovations and real-world examples A frontline management development pipeline Be sure to subscribe to our Improvement Network newsletter to see how these developments take shape in the coming year! Of course, none of this happens without the organizations that opened their facilities and gave the TWI community an honest look at what sustained practice looks like. A sincere thank you to TWI Institute clients Church & Dwight, Hallmark Cards and the University of Kansas Health System for sharing their experiences with TWI. Be on the lookout for more information on the next Peer Exchange, to be held in the fall of 2027. Interested in learning more about TWI Institute’s programs and upcoming events? Explore our training programs or get in touch to discuss your organization’s needs.