Like peanut butter and jelly, skills management and work execution are better when served together

Smart Skills Management software is helping manufacturers bridge the gap between training, skills, and work to build a more resilient and agile workforce.

Where are you on your journey with adopting new and emerging technologies? Many manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon for some of the latest tools that provide digital guidance to workers. Maybe you decided to implement digital work instructions to help workers safely and efficiently perform tasks. Or maybe you’ve bought skills management software to help you catalog and organize the skills and capabilities of different workers. But are either of these enough on their own to achieve all your production goals? Possibly, but unlikely.

Digital work instructions on their own deliver standard work guidelines but fail to consider the unique skills of each worker. Standalone skills management programs may offer a highlight reel of the skills and certifications of your workers but neglect to capture performance in real-time to provide accurate skills evaluations. Nor do they offer personalized training content needed to ensure workers perform their absolute best. Can we agree then these two features should go hand-in-hand?

One cannot exist without the other: Blending skills management into the flow of work

In the past, standalone skills management systems were sufficient because:

  • Turnover was infrequent so line supervisors knew everyone on their team and their current skills and endorsements, making it easy for the supervisor to assign work safely and optimally
  • Investments in training, reskilling, and upskilling were performed either in a one size fits all approach or through a purely subjective or anecdotal approach

Today, however, a different situation exists.

Line supervisors are dealing with team members that they don’t know well, new ones starting every day, and experienced ones leaving.  This creates safety issues and makes optimally assigning work difficult as not only are the workers variable, but their skill levels and certifications are a constantly moving target.

An integrated, closed-loop skills management system is the solution for this era of high workforce turnover and absenteeism.

 

skills and work

 

Skills management solutions that combine skills tracking capabilities with connected worker technology and on-the-job digital guidance can deliver significant additional value. Data from actual work performance can inform workforce development initiatives allowing you to target your training, reskilling, and upskilling efforts where they have the largest impact.

It can generate an abundance of valuable data to provide tailored training support and skills endorsements and identify workforce opportunities. What else is possible? Imagine reducing training costs, optimizing job scheduling, increasing safety, and improving productivity. And now consider what will happen when you add smart technology to this all-in-one package.

 

intelligently assign jobs

The power of smart digitization! Skills management and digital work instructions together boost productivity.

Connected worker solutions that combine skills management with digital work instructions, collaboration, and knowledge management are uniquely suited to optimize today’s variable workforce. AI-generated insights are pulled from patterns identified across all work activity in real-time. These insights identify where new and experienced workers may benefit from either reskilling or upskilling.

This combination of smart digital technology can also leverage your training resources, such as instructional videos, written instructions, or access to remote experts, to deliver personalized guidance for the worker to perform their best. These tools intelligently work together to help you assign workers to procedures based on required skill levels. No second guessing! Augmentir is the only smart connected worker solution to intertwine these management tools with AI making it a powerhouse for optimizing your operations and meeting production targets.

 

 

Learn how Smart Skills Management software is helping manufacturers bridge the gap between training, skills, and work to build a more resilient and agile workforce.

Download our latest eBook – The Future of Work: Connecting Skills Management with Standard Work.

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How to Track Employee Skills in the Manufacturing Industry

Learn how to track employee skills in manufacturing and discover modern approaches to effective skills tracking.

In today’s manufacturing environment, it is daunting and time consuming to keep track of employee skill levels across the many different job tasks. With the constantly accelerating rate of turnover in the workforce, Excel or paper-based skills tracking processes of the past have become obsolete.

Leading manufacturers are now turning to smart digital technology to streamline skills tracking and connect it with frontline operations, giving them a competitive edge and boosting workplace safety productivity. Skills tracking software can be a great help to identify workers’ current skills and find any gaps. In a nutshell, such a tool helps automate, organize and simplify the process of evaluating employees’ skills and better understanding your workforce.

track employee skills in manufacturing

Learn more about how skills tracking is changing and the importance of integrating skills management into the flow of work by exploring the following topics:

Five approaches to effective skills tracking

According to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company, companies reported that tracking and validating skills and competencies was their top talent challenge.

Effective skills tracking can improve safety, productivity, and worker performance by helping match the right people with the right tasks. For any organization, there are multiple methods and tools that can be used to track the skills of your workforce:

1. Direct assessment

This approach focuses on one employee directly assessing another. This may be done as a form of peer review between employees or by a manager.

2. Self-assessment

This approach consists of employees conducting self-assessments of their skills and qualifications through surveys every few months.

3. Anonymous peer assessment

This approach involves coworkers anonymously assessing each other’s performance on projects or other tasks.

4. Skill assessment using HR or learning systems

This type of assessment can be done using an HR system (or a Learning Management System) to assess and update employee profiles based on training completed. For example, workers can report any courses finished, track their training data or report new certificates.

5. AI-based skills tracking software

Any of the above 4 methods are commonly used, however, the increasing workforce variability, absenteeism, and turnover is forcing new requirements. Increasingly, manufacturers are turning to AI-based software solutions to help digitally track and manage skills, and connect them with work execution.

HR/Learning systems or standalone skills tracking software solutions that attempt to automate skills tracking fall short of meeting the needs of today’s manufacturers because they do not connect the “skills that workers know” with the “work being done”. These standalone solutions may have been ideal for the stable, unchanging workforce of the past, but they are not suited for today’s era of high workforce variability.

skills and work

An integrated, closed-loop skills management system is the solution for this era of high workforce turnover and absenteeism. Skills management solutions that combine skills tracking capabilities with AI-based connected worker technology and on-the-job digital guidance can deliver significant additional value. Data from actual work performance can inform workforce development investments allowing you to target you training, reskilling, and upskilling efforts where they have the largest impact.

Benefits of tracking skills in manufacturing

Tracking skills in manufacturing can help identify the skills your employees already hold and those they still need to learn to properly do their jobs. Furthermore, using AI-based connected worker solutions, organizations can digitize and easily manage skills tracking and training programs and connect them with frontline operations.

Some benefits of tracking your employees’ skills using this approach include:

1. Boosts productivity on the shop floor

An organization’s commitment to cultivating its team’s skills can influence their attitudes toward the job. A worker is likelier to perform better when valued and appreciated. Skills tracking also ensures that workers are qualified to perform their job.

2. Ensure safety

Solutions that close the loop between training/skills and the work being done allow organizations to validate at the time of work assignment who has the skill level to safely perform a specific task. This helps to mitigate risk and ensure safety.

3. Intelligently assigning work

Ensure the right person is assigned to the right job. Manage work assignments based on skill level, endorsements, and actual job performance.

4. Closes the skills gap

Tracking skills is a great way to identify gaps between the skills employees already have and the skills they need. With this information, the company can arrange for additional training or other ways to invest in their employees. Keep in mind that as your manufacturing organization evolves and grows, so should your employee skillset.

5. Boosts internal communications

Employers who actively develop their employees’ skill levels are likelier to retain them. Tracking skills can also motivate and spur connections with team members.

6. Identify upskilling or reskilling opportunities

Use data from actual work performance, combined with an employee’s current skills and endorsements to inform your reskilling and upskilling decisions.

7. Enhances competitive edge

Although the purpose of effective skills tracking is to aid in worker growth and development, a byproduct is a stronger, more competitive organization as a whole. Knowing where improvements need to be made can close any learning gaps and boost the overall success of a company. Optimizing your workforce can help improve productivity in every department, giving your company a competitive edge in today’s market.

Features to look for in skills tracking software

Having the right features in skill tracking software can help a company be more productive and efficient. This type of software should help manufacturing facilities no only identify, assess, track and cultivate employee skills, but also improve operational safety and performance.

It’s important to look for the following features when deciding which software is right for you:

Training management
This feature helps businesses see how their teams are progressing and evaluate whether training opportunities are making an impact. It helps store employee training records for real-time access and evaluation, and measure training effectiveness based on actual job performance.

Certifications management
This feature helps employers manage employee certifications. If a worker’s certification is expiring, the software’s tracking functions should easily notify the parties involved.

Skills tracking integrated into the flow of work
Skill levels and current endorsements ensure that workers can perform tasks safely and correctly and, therefore need to be considered at the moment of work assignment and again at the moment of work execution.

Live dashboard
Skills tracking software with customizable dashboards offer a real-time view of employee skills, qualifications, and any skill gaps that may exist. Managers will have a better idea of where to allocate resources to train employees and who is a better fit for a role.

intelligently assign jobs

 

Learn how Smart Skills Management software is helping manufacturers bridge the gap between training, skills, and work to build a more resilient and agile workforce.

Download our latest eBook – The Future of Work: Connecting Skills Management with Standard Work.

Download the eBook

 

Skills Matrix: How to Create and What are the Alternatives?

Learn about what a skills matrix is, how these can be used and alternatives to help track employee skills.

A skills matrix is a grid that maps employees’ skills and qualifications. Companies use this information to manage, plan, and monitor current and desired skills for a position, team, department, or project.

skills matrix

Having a place to store each employee’s skills and experience level can help managers decide how to divvy up tasks. It’s also a great way to gauge areas of improvement.

A skills matrix is usually managed using a spreadsheet, but there are alternatives to skill matrices. For example, cloud-based skills management software can help identify and track employee competence and correlate it with actual job performance. The software can also help managers filter employee databases by skills to assemble teams or assign work based on specific qualifications.

To help you learn more about the skills matrix and its alternative, this article explores the following topics:

What is a skills matrix?

A skills matrix is a tool used by employers to track workers’ skills and expertise. Typically maintained in spreadsheet format, it usually includes skills that workers already possess, ones that are needed but underdeveloped, and those that are required to complete a project or perform a job function.

Each employee is given a rating on their proficiency in each skill and their interest in developing it. This gives managers great insight into who is qualified to complete certain tasks.

What are the benefits of using a matrix to track employee skills?

A skills matrix offers multiple benefits that can increase team performance and boost productivity. Some of its benefits include:

1) Brings awareness to employee skills

This tool shows what area a team member excels at and where they can improve. This can bring awareness to what skills need to be cultivated and what areas team members are already proficient in.

2) Sets team expectations

With the matrix outlining what skills are needed to complete a project, employees have a better idea of what’s expected and required to be proficient in their roles.

3) Shows where new hires are needed

The matrix gives employers a better idea if someone needs to be hired to fulfill a certain role. Knowing which skills are missing helps managers determine what kind of employee needs to be hired for a specific project.

How do I create a skills matrix?

Creating a skill matrix can provide a wealth of benefits to a business. You can set one up by following the steps below:

  1. Determine which skills are needed for your team based on job function or responsibility.
  2. Evaluate your workers’ skills and qualifications.
  3. Create a grading system to rate each employee’s current skill level.
  4. Fill in the missing criteria and manage the information in a central skills management system.

skills matrix for skills management

How can skills matrices be used in the manufacturing industry?

The manufacturing industry is always seeking skilled employees. Skilled matrices are an excellent way to cultivate the skills of current production plant workers and boost productivity.

This organizational tool also simplifies the hiring process. For example, it gives managers a better sense of what skill areas are lacking and who may be the right fit for the role.

The better equipped an employee is to do their job, the better a company’s bottom line will be.

What are the alternatives to using a skills and competency matrix?

If you’re looking for an alternative to using a spreadsheet to manage the skills of your team, consider cloud-based skills management software. These programs help businesses identify and track worker competency.

For example, this software maps skills from a centralized library to job profiles and individual employees to help managers analyze the abilities of their teams, the desired skills for each role and any skill gaps that exist. Learn more about skills management software in our guide.

Furthermore, skills management software not only allows you to efficiently manage skills for your frontline workers, it also enables you to use this skills mapping to intelligently assign work or identify upskilling or reskilling needs.
skills job proficiency mapping

 

Interested in learning how Augmentir’s connected worker platform can help you digitize and effectively manage skills within your manufacturing operation? Get in touch with us for a free demo.

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3 Ways Manufacturers are Using Technology to Train, Develop, and Retain Talent

AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis.

AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis in manufacturing.

 

Is it just us or does recruiting, training, and retaining top talent today feel a lot like searching for that one elusive puzzle piece? 

The seismic shift in the workforce is forcing us to get creative and be adaptable like never before. We can no longer try to force fit the old model of staffing and training into a space that looks drastically different. It’s not just about a labor shortage or the supply chain challenges created by the pandemic. Workers themselves are changing. What they want from work, and how they want to work. 

It’s a new generation and if we want to remain competitive in hiring in this ultra-competitive environment, we need to embrace the variable nature of the labor market and meet workers where they are. 

The solution to this head-scratching puzzle? AI-based technology. Digital work instructions and individualized training and on-the-job support can improve productivity, reliability, independence, and safety for every worker. It offers flexibility in scheduling for operations managers. It reduces downtime. All of which contribute to a more efficient – and profitable – operation.

Sound too good to be true? Brace yourselves. It’s not. Here are three ways that AI-powered technology can help.

1. Moving onboarding and training closer to the point of work

Imagine if we can teach someone in the context of doing their work. We could see an increase in productivity as they constantly evolve their learnings.

AI is allowing companies to understand a worker’s skillset and provides the ability for personalized digital work instructions to guide them in the context of work while they are doing their job, whether it’s a new worker or one with dozens of years of experience. With an AI-based onboarding approach, organizations are able to hire a wider range of individuals with varying skill sets and get those individuals productive faster.

2. Give support at the moment of need

Are you a people watcher? We are. Ever take notice of who is on the factory floor? Last time I checked, we got the “newbies” and “veterans”. The variability of the workforce, both skilled and young, proves that there’s not a one size fits all approach to troubleshooting and performance support.

Enter AI.

Give workers the support and guidance they need, at the moment of need, whether it’s immediate access to a digital troubleshooting guide, or connecting virtually with a subject matter expert.  Delivering personalized work procedures for every worker allows for continuous learning and growth.

3. Improve engagement and retention

Workers that are connected and empowered with digital technology can discover and nurture diverse skills based on their unique competencies and experience. They can earn greater responsibility and independence. This increases confidence and job satisfaction. Which in turn can improve employee retention and slow the revolving door of continual recruiting and training. 

The aftermath?

Workers are likely to stay and want to grow in the company when they feel included. Shortly, workers begin walking with poise and a “can-do” attitude to their next job task.

 

What else is possible with AI-powered connected worker technology?

AI-based technology is ideal for training workers in this variable environment. AI-based systems individualize information about workers based on previous training and data-driven performance insights. It offers step-by-step guidance at the moment of need for regularly scheduled maintenance as well as troubleshooting. It helps managers learn about workers’ existing skills and build a rationale for specific roles, resources, and certification support and then make clear recommendations based on demands.

Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. Workers are the heart of your business, and you should adapt techonogy to fit your business, not the other way around.

Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. That includes how you train your workers. But no two workers are exactly alike. Each will learn and approach problems differently. So why not use the technology that recognizes and adapts to those differences to your advantage?

 

To learn more about how Augmentir can help you embrace this opportunity, contact us for a personalized demo.

Why it’s Essential for Equipment Manufacturers to use Connected Worker Software in a Post-COVID World

For equipment manufacturers, the traditional approach to installing, maintaining, and servicing their equipment has become increasingly challenging due to the current travel limitations and changing nature of work caused by COVID-19. Industrial OEMs are turning to AI-powered Connected Worker technology to transform how they service and support their customers and ensure field service continuity during […]

For equipment manufacturers, the traditional approach to installing, maintaining, and servicing their equipment has become increasingly challenging due to the current travel limitations and changing nature of work caused by COVID-19. Industrial OEMs are turning to AI-powered Connected Worker technology to transform how they service and support their customers and ensure field service continuity during this unprecedented time.

Connected Worker technology combines augmented reality (AR) with artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), allowing equipment manufacturers to improve the safety, quality, and productivity of their workforce both during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. 

Our vision at Augmentir is to transform connected worker technology with artificial intelligence and our software is the first of its kind to do so. Whether you have your own service force or work through a dealer network, equipment manufacturers can use Augmentir’s Connected Worker software platform to:

  • Enable your customers and 3rd party service companies to install, maintain, and repair equipment using easy to understand Augmented Guided Instructions
  • Provide remote and virtual support through integrated Remote Assist collaboration tools
  • Use AI-driven “True Opportunities” to shed light on inefficiencies and service, repair, maintenance process improvement opportunities within your direct service force, dealer networks, and customers
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Connected worker software helps manufacturing and service teams improve safety, quality, and productivity across a range of use cases.

Manufacturing

  • Guided Instructions for Assembly, QA, MRO (maintenance, repair and operation): Personalized work instructions deliver the right level of guidance, based on worker proficiency, along with 80% reduction in training and authoring times.
  • Remote Assist for Engineering Support: Integrated remote assistance tools provide industrial- level collaboration and support remote problem solving, QA checks, remote factory acceptance tests, while greatly enhancing efficiency.
  • AI-driven Continuous Improvement: Granular data collection on every job drives insights into Scrap, First Pass Yield, Production Bottlenecks and AI- based True Opportunities.

Service

  • Guided Instructions for Repair, Warranty & Recall: Improves quality and efficiency by moving from paper- based to digital work instructions while providing enhanced insights into compliance and operations.
  • Remote Assist Supports a Multi-tier Service Network: Integrated remote assistance provides a level of remote and virtual support to customers and dealers that they have never had before.
  • AI-driven Continuous Improvement: Day after day, year after year, AI-driven True Opportunities find ways to improve your processes, procedures, and worker skills.

It’s critical that we recognize this time as a major turning point in the way frontline workers interact and perform daily operations. Manufacturers will continue to face challenges in a post-COVID world and connected worker technology will allow them to keep their workers safe and businesses operating.

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Why Going Beyond Augmented Reality with Augmented Operations will take the Service Workforce of the Future to the Next Level

Augmentir CEO Russ Fadel outlines why the next wave of AR implementations in the service industry must harness also Artificial Intelligence. There has been a lot of advocacy for using Augmented Reality (AR) in the field service industry due to benefits from improved field technician performance to reductions in field service operating costs. However, what […]

artificial intelligence

Augmentir CEO Russ Fadel outlines why the next wave of AR implementations in the service industry must harness also Artificial Intelligence.

There has been a lot of advocacy for using Augmented Reality (AR) in the field service industry due to benefits from improved field technician performance to reductions in field service operating costs. However, what these early success stories don’t mention is how companies have been slow to adopt this technology and have struggled to move beyond the pilot phase.

It was believed early on that wearable technology would be the core of Enterprise AR by 2018 and thus, vendors were overly focused on getting work instructions on a variety of wearables. Many also heavily invested in using AR to present information to technicians with rich content and 3D CAD overlays. Since then, it’s become clear that these investments haven’t delivered enough value to the enterprise due to a lack of adoption.

What has been overlooked is the opportunity to create sustainable value throughout the entire organization by connecting to service workers not only by delivering personalized information, but also using artificial intelligence and machine learning to augment the intelligence of the organization.

This is the beginning of a new era, an era not of Enterprise Augmented Reality, but of Augmented Operations where AR is but one of many ways to present data, support, and guide field workers. This transformation is driven by the combination of two key technology trends – Enterprise AR and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.

Why is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Important?

Historically, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) has been applied against external data sets. A recent trend however, is to embed AI in software platforms, having it act on the internal data, eliminating the estimated 80% of AI/ML project efforts around labelling and cleansing external data. This is frequently being applied to solutions focused on improving business processes where the human worker is at the center.

At Augmentir, we use our AI engine to identify patterns in noisy data generated by technicians and highlight areas that can improve overall worker performance and also provide personalized procedures based on the proficiency of each worker in real-time.

The AI engine is able to continually deliver insights and recommendations based on that human worker data which is valuable intelligence that can be used to help drive continuous improvement across the entire organization – from operations to training to quality.

  • AI helps each worker perform at their peak by changing the instruction to one that optimizes for speed, while meeting quality and safety targets.
  • AI understands the patterns and outliers in the vast instruction/job execution data to identify the largest opportunities in the areas of: productivity, worker effectiveness, training materials effectiveness, and instruction effectiveness. Insights and recommendations are made on how to capture these opportunities and drive continuous improvement on a year-over-year basis.
  • With AI, companies can capture tribal knowledge through interactions between experts and frontline workers, making the expertise a scalable corporate asset over time.

With this concept of Augmented Operations (using AI/ML to deliver intelligence across the organization from your augmented workforce), we are seeing a change in how organizations are making informed decisions, empowering workers, and improving the productivity of humans in the workplace.

Augmenting the Service Workforce of the Future

Despite some early momentum, Enterprise AR alone isn’t enough to deliver sustainable value in the field service sector.

What has been ignored is a real opportunity to create sustainable value throughout the organization – not only giving workers the ability to consume information and apply knowledge, but also augmenting the intelligence of the organization relative to how it engages empowers, and continually improves its human workforce. At Augmentir, we are calling this Augmented Operations, and we believe that this will transform the service workforce of the future.

To learn more about how Augmentir’s platform leverages AR and AI to continually improve the productivity of your frontline workforce download our free white paper, “Rise of the Augmented Worker.”


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