SwipeGuide

“Technology is only a catalyst. It’s not the solution.” What does Willemijn Schneyder mean by that? It means that… Yes, technology puts value to #frontline knowledge. Yes, it’s the best way to make sure that you’re tapping into the expertise of this workforce and passing that knowledge to those who need it. But you’ll also need to invest in a culture that embraces continuous improvement as a way of working. Without a change in mindset, technology will lose its impact. Want to watch the full podcast from Manufacturing Happy Hour? We’ll drop a link in the comments! Thanks again to Chris Luecke for collaborating on this awesome content 💪

Welcome Omar! 🎉 He joined our support team as Product Support Specialist this week. Omar is from Italy but (shockingly) does not drink coffee. He does make a killer tiramisu though that we still need to try. Already excited. What’s his role going to entail? He'll be taking over Katheline's role as the first point of contact for SwipeGuide users, providing excellent support and resolving any issues. We're excited to have him onboard! PS. To our dear Kath: we wish you a lovely maternity leave! #NewTeamMember

✅ ❌ “I don’t think I’ve come across a customer who doesn’t use checklists in some way, shape, or form already, or at least identified an opportunity to use them.” Let that sink in for a sec. Checklists are one of the most common tools in the manufacturing industry for ensuring compliance, quality, and safety (amongst other things). You probably use them day in, day out. So why are they still delivered on paper? In this video, Chris takes a deep dive into our Checklists feature with our Customer Improvement Lead and Success Manager Molly Price. She’ll give you the ins and outs of exactly how digital checklists can make a huge impact on your operations. #Checklist

Remember when we told you to listen 👂 to your users? How about that other time that we said that you should listen to your users? Trust us. It’s important. Our customers do it, with fantastic results. Check out how Johnson Controls engages with user feedback to boost continuous improvement at the #frontline. Want to see more use cases? We'll drop a link in the comments.

Are you using a training matrix to close skills gaps? 👀 Awkward follow-up question… Are you using a training matrix correctly and to its fullest potential? If you’re not fully integrating it with your job aids, there’s a chance that you’re missing out on opportunities to upskill, reskill, and cross-train your frontline teams. Check out our most recent article, where we give a deep dive into how to best use your training matrices, with a great demo video attached. 🔗 Link to blog post in the comments!

Skills management is a process 💡 It means understanding the skills of your frontline. It means knowing which processes need which people in order to get done right. It means having accurate data in your skills and training matrices, in order to put people where they need to go and close skills gaps. The logical solution is to use a skills platform that gives you a bird’s eye view of each step of the process. Here’s our Customer Enablement Specialist extraordinaire Adele Switzer explaining in detail the best practices for setting up an EFFECTIVE skills matrixf or frontline teams: 1. How to create a skill profile 2. How to assign skill profiles to teams 3. How to construct a visual skills matrix #SkillsDevelopment #SkillsManagement #SkillsMatrix

Okay okay, fine. You caught us 🚨 We want the world to know about frontline excellence. And we’re not afraid to use a poodle 🐩 to get what we want. But at least she’s wearing PPE, right? We’re using our YouTube channel to post deeper dives, industry content, explainers, vlogs, use-cases… you name it. If you want to know more about how to make the industrial #frontline as amazing as possible, this is the place. Here’s a link in the comments! 

Work instructions suck. But they don’t have to. Honestly, you deserve better. 

"Every Friday at 5 PM, the entire value of our company walks out the door." If you’re not thinking about your #frontline workforce as the #1 value driver in your organization, you’re approaching it wrong. The growing manufacturing skills gap is a hot topic for a reason. It’s growing steadily, while manufacturers are still slow to fully invest in the resources that will help alleviate it and reverse the effects. In this episode of the Manufacturing Happy Hour podcast hosted by Chris Luecke - we hear from industrial recruitment expert Ann Wyatt and Ryan L. from Mission Design & Automation , as well as our own CEO and co-Founder Willemijn Schneyder. They’ll discuss: ♻ Reskilling and upskilling 💡 Redefining ‘hireability’ 🧠 The importance of flexibility in the hiring process 📱 Leveraging tech as a key tool in solving the skills crisis 💯 And much more! We’ll include a link to the full episode in the comments so you can check it out for yourself.

Every step towards a level playing field and a more inclusive industry is essential. This $2,250 to the WiM Education Foundation will go towards supporting the advancement and education of women at all stages of their careers in manufacturing. Once again, a huge thank you to Chris Luecke and the Manufacturing Happy Hour Podcast for making this road trip and donation a reality. And another shoutout to Women in Manufacturing, WiM Western Michigan, and Women in Manufacturing Minnesota for the work they’re doing to elevate and empower women in #manufacturing. #womeninmfg #podcast #donate