Tips to Find the Most Effective LMS for the Manufacturing Industry

Viren Kapadia Jun 20, 2019
Tips to Find the Most Effective LMS for the Manufacturing Industry

According to a skills gap study report, the manufacturing industry might end up with almost 2.4 million vacant jobs by 2028. Scarcity of potential talent will eventually decrease the manufacturing GDP, causing a massive financial strain on the industry. Without a doubt, this is a serious concern that calls for remediation.

Employees in the manufacturing industry must be equipped with essential competencies that upskill their knowledge and talent, and manufacturing training administrators must look for learning technology solutions that comply with OSHA, FDA, and EPA regulations.

The major skills which seem to be lacking in many manufacturing employees are -

  • Critical thinking
  • Robotics and AI programming
  • Computer and technology skills
  • Digital skills
  • New tools and techniques

However, these may vary depending on the specific type of work handled by manufacturing employees and from one employer to another. So, it is the duty of the training administrators to analyze the skills gap, plan the training strategy and deliver productive training with the help of an LMS - learning management system.

If you need to make operational improvements or have experienced a failed audit, it’s time to check out some tips to find the right LMS that suits your specific needs. Here we go -

  1. Check for Onboarding Programs

    First of all, it is very important to note or check if the LMS has effective onboarding tools. When a new employee joins your arsenal, it is essential to have good on-boarding strategies in place, so that he or she gets acquainted with the work environment and develops a belonging to the organization’s goals. If your LMS has built-in social learning tools, mobile learning functionality, collaborative learning tools, and learning paths, it will be a great start for you as well as the new hire. Additionally, as safety compliance is essential for new hires, you must look for learning solutions that improve safety training and compliance.

  2. Compare Cloud-Based and Self-Hosted LMS

    There are different types of learning management systems available in the market, and two of the popular categories among them are cloud-based and self-hosted LMS. Which one suits you the best depends totally on your business needs.

    With the cloud-based option, commonly referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), you get freedom from most of the technical work, as it is done by the LMS. You also will not need to install hardware or assign resources to it. On the other hand, a self-hosted LMS may be ideal for you if you need to follow an exact architecture/hierarchy structure across platforms.

  3. Multi-Portals is a Big Advantage

    You may not have a single type of audience to train. You may need to provide simultaneous training sessions to packaging engineers, technicians, power plant operators, quality control officers, etc., and you’ll want to ensure that the LMS has multiple portals for training each type of audience, all managed with a single login. This makes training easier and smoother for users to access when they need to.

  4. Keep an Eye on Reporting

    Poor tracking can come back to haunt us in today’s business world. Employers are often recommended to look for an LMS that offers them easy and comprehensive reporting solutions. This feature will not just help you track learners’ exam performance, course progress, and training histories, but also help in improving their actual performance. Eventually, this will improve business outcomes and make way for continuous growth.

  5. Don’t Miss Gamification

    Whether a school-kid or an adult, studying can be unappealing to the student, so it is important to make learning fun and interactive. This is what gamification does in learning management systems. Through interactive and responsive features, it motivates the learners to learn the course, prepare for healthy competition and contribute towards meeting the futuristic goals of the organization. Gamification improves course adoption and completion of the course with a high level of engagement. This feature also offers levels, badges, and leaderboards, which are useful in determining the employees who have been top learners, or the level of knowledge each employee has acquired, etc.

Productivity level is directly proportional to the efficiency level of training. The better the training efficiency, the better will be the productivity level, and vice versa. So, if you wish to prepare your workforce for upcoming challenges in the industry, it is time to get serious about finding an effective LMS.