Last month, our new designer Candice Ivaska flew back to Green Bay, Wisconsin for training in KI product knowledge and software systems. New field CAD designers representing KI furniture from all over the US come to training throughout the year, but they also have offices globally. Training offers a well-rounded introduction to KI: its history, its furniture, and its mission to provide smart contract furniture solutions for any environment.
Training focused on a few key KI products and components throughout the week: electrical, Connection Zone collection, Unite panel systems, Wireworks, and veneer and laminate casegoods. The field CAD designers got a lesson on product knowledge and then had the opportunity to apply it in their AutoCAD software, practicing space planning with the products they had just learned extensively about. She said that electrical was by far the most difficult concept to catch onto, but once she practiced it a few times, it slowly became easier.
On Wednesday, the field CAD designers took the Green Bay Factory Tour, where the majority of KI products are manufactured. Candice said it was fascinating to watch the assembly of the product on such a large scale. Sustainable manufacturing is a focus for KI and being able to bring that knowledge back to Denver was essential for client communications and overall product knowledge. She also got to meet District coordinators, CAD Department Managers and Customer Service Managers, which are the people our team communicates with on a daily basis at Canter.
She went to training after being with Canter for one month. For her, this was perfect timing because it allowed her to familiarize herself with Canter’s processes and introduced her to the product Canter represents. Once she headed out to Green Bay, it was easier for her to give backstory to everything she had learned so far at Canter, allowing her to understand Canter’s product and processes on a more in-depth level when combined with all of the training knowledge from KI.
When she wasn’t training, she had the opportunity to tour Lambeau Field, home to the Green Bay Packers. She also got to sample some of the many delicious cheese curds that Wisconsin is known for – I must admit myself that this is a must!