Taurus International Inc. is moving into its new manufacturing facility in Bainbridge and its workforce will be ready to begin production on day one, thanks to Quick Start.

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Taurus, which manufactures two types of firearms, is moving its North American headquarters and production to South Georgia from Miami. As the facility was being completed, future employees recently were trained by Quick Start on eight assembly workstations at Southern Regional Technical College’s Bainbridge campus.

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“Georgia is way ahead when it comes to this kind of training,” said Gayan Kodikara, senior manufacturing engineer with Taurus, who built the eight assembly training workstations. Quick Start’s help with the training means “we can go live quicker. And we can see who has the aptitude and dexterity and see where employees are more comfortable on individual stations.”

 

Taurus assembles a Taurus TX22 semi-automatic pistol on its newest production line. Employees are tasked with assembling the weapon in under 50 seconds. Taurus also assembles the Heritage Rough Rider Revolver. “That line can produce a revolver every 25 seconds,” he said.

 

Taurus is expected to create 300 jobs and invest more than $22.5 million in infrastructure and operations as it establishes its plant in Bainbridge. Taurus is building a new 200,000-square-foot facility.

 

“Quick Start’s training included orientation and safety, as well as hands-on assembly that duplicates the manufacturing process at Taurus,” said Susan Williams of Quick Start.

 

Being able to use Quick Start “is huge because with the transition of moving, [finding and training employees] presents a ton of action items that are challenging,” said Joel Duque, Lean specialist with Taurus. “With someone available to assist with the training aspect, it’s a burden that is lifted.”

 

Duque said Taurus has certain ways it likes to train its employees and he was skeptical of Quick Start’s abilities.

 

“I was actually expecting less, but once the training started, I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “For the company, it means the world. There would have been a delay in starting production. But with Quick Start’s training, we can stand back. We certainly see the true value of what Quick Start is providing here.”