Our Mission, Vision, and Values

The Principals and Associates of North Pacific have been developing defensible competency-based operator training since 1988 to increase profitability and performance. We have a solid record of success that proves our approach works. It can work for you as well.

Our Mission

Our mission is to assist mining companies and equipment manufacturers to create and implement defensible training systems that increase safety and production and reduce accidents and environmental incidents due to operator error.

Our Vision

A well-trained, safe, and engaged workforce is a cornerstone of your success.

Our Values

Long-term business relationships built on quality and trust benefit all parties. We prefer to work with clients over time because the better we understand your company goals and culture, the more value we can provide.

Business works better when the communication path and content is clear and understood by all. This applies to the relationship between your trainees and your trainers. It also applies to the relationship between you and North Pacific.

The true value of what we offer lies in your company becoming self-sufficient in delivering competency-based, job-focused training systems. Even when you become totally self-sufficient, we will always be available to assist if you have questions or need help on a specific project.

Our work should help you become more successful and more profitable. There must be a financial benefit to you as a result of hiring us.

Our Uniqueness

What is it that makes us so effective? There are many companies offering training services. Some have manuals with excellent illustrations. Other have experienced trainers. Some have simulators. Still others have extensive on-line content.

What makes us unique is that we look first, and always systematically, at the trainee's learning needs. Everything flows from those. Often in the scramble to implement training and keep track of who's been trained on what, the trainee and his or her learning challenges are an afterthought. Trainees get pushed through the training system and out on the job as quickly as possible, competent or not.

If the trainee’s learning needs are not addressed, how can the training be of any real quality? And how can it ever stand up to the scrutiny of an inquiry after an accident or death? Addressing learning needs means that when the training system is designed, you take into consideration things like learning sequence, the correct balance of presentation, application and feedback, and a consistent and fair method of assessing skills.

We bring a solid base of instructional design knowledge to the table. The principals of North Pacific, Dan McFaull and Jim Tallman, each have more than 30 years experience in instructional design, and many of those years have been spent applying their expertise to operator and trades training. Dan and Jim don't keep that knowledge to themselves--they pass it on to younger associates so the company gains from the depth of their expertise.

We understand what's critical to learning and where cuts can be made, if needed. Because we understand instructional theory, we know which rules must be kept and which ones can be relaxed, depending on the situation. We know the course development proess inside out, from beginning to end. There are many steps to developing a training system. Depending on the training components already in place at a client site, we logically and systematically select which steps must be included and which can be bypassed.

We have training structures developed specifically for mobile equipment and plant operator training. We've tested and refined these systems over decades of working with trade and technical clients. North Pacific Partner, Jim Tallman, first designed these formats in the late 1980s. The model has been picked up by other companies since then, but those companies don't understand the underlying principles. Their models have become watered down and the absence of critical components means they no longer provide a true competency-based program.

We have made course development and training systems our careers. We are ourselves constantly learning about the latest instructional trends and theories to improve what we do. We've been here through good times and bad. We haven't seen it all, but we've seen most of it. That knowledge, insight and experience is reflected in the training development systems we use.

We have experience working with operators. We have worked with operators in mines, pulp mills, waterfront bulk terminals, power utilities, and more. We know how operators think—at least enough to know what kind of training courses work best for them. That means we're not experimenting when we arrive at your site—we know what to do, how to do it and the order in which it should be done.

The People Who Work on Your Projects

When you work on a training project with North Pacific, a project manager—who is also a senior instructional designer—is assigned as your single point of contact. This ensures that the lines of communication and accountability are very clear. You always know who to talk to.

Your project manager works directly with you or your assigned personnel to perform a needs assessment, create a project plan, take on-site photos, interview experienced workers, and keep you updated on progress. Behind the scenes, he or she is also working with a North Pacific team to create your course materials:

Technical Writers write training manuals and quick reference guides in a clear and logical manner. In our company, they work closely with you and your technical people.
Instructional Designers design and create trainer guides, lesson plans and assessment tools that ensure the training meets the promised goals.
Transcribers turn the audio notes taken during data collection into text. This significantly speeds up the development process.
Subject matter experts provide technical knowledge and experience in the required subject areas. Subject matter experts are often supplied by our clients, but if you are unable free up the time of experienced personnel while your project is underway, we can supply subject matter experts ourselves. They work directly with the technical writers over the course of your project.
Technical Illustrators create technical drawings.
Desktop Publishers create professional-looking pages from ordinary word-processed documents.