KMMG Team Members Depart for Training Abroad
Posted on August 5th, 2009 by Patrick Sands
WEST POINT, Ga. (August 5, 2009) — On Monday morning, 43 Team Members at Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) left the comforts of home to begin two weeks of intensive training and cultural experiences over 14,000 miles away at Kia’s Research and Development Center in Namyang, Korea.
These 43 Team Members are part of three waves that will be heading to Korea for training during the next few weeks. Overall, about 120 KMMG Team Members will be in these three waves. This will bring the total number of Team Members who have experienced overseas training to more than 350.
Randy Jackson, KMMG’s Director of Human Resources and Administration, was among several Kia executives to see the group off. He told the Team Members that it was important to work hard at all aspects of the training, but to also take advantage of this opportunity to learn about a different culture.
“Our Team Members are about to have the experience of a lifetime both professionally and personally,” said Jackson. “Giving Team Members the chance to learn firsthand from experts on the exact equipment they will be using at KMMG will pay huge dividends for this company. This just further proves our commitment to producing world class vehicles here in Georgia. In addition, Team Members will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of cultural activities while traveling abroad.”
Through their work at the Kia Georgia Training Center, the KMMG facility and at Kia facilities abroad, the KMMG Team Members have made outstanding progress while getting ready for production at Kia’s first North American automobile manufacturing facility. Production of the next generation of the Kia Sorento is scheduled to begin during the last quarter of 2009. KMMG is currently in the T2 Trial Phase and has more than 900 Team Members on board. By the end of August, there is expected be around 1,200 Team Members.
“We are very impressed with the strides that our Team Members have made,” said Jackson. “This speaks volumes about the quality of this region’s workforce and the outstanding training each Team Member has received. Our training program promotes the teachings of team work, continuous improvement and having a ‘can do’ mindset that make up the Kia Way.”
Namyang R&D Center is a cutting-edge facility that encompasses the whole design process, from pre-design studies, prototyping and full-scale aerodynamic testing to crash testing along the extensive on-site test track.
Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) is the first manufacturing site in North America for Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, Korea. KMMG is located on 2,200 acres in West Point, Georgia, and is scheduled to begin production in the last quarter of 2009. At full capacity, the plant will have the ability to produce 300,000 vehicles annually and employ approximately 2,500 team members.
