How do you train and empower your shop floor operators to use your MES effectively and efficiently?

Here simplicity is the key. - Simplify UI/UX - Simplify Training - Simplify Documentation - Simplify Change Management - Simplify Integration(System & Device) - Simplify immediate help tools(So Operators can reverse their actions) MES is there to empower Operators and Shift Leaders and not complicate their jobs. Requirement gathering workshops shouldn’t be limited to business process owners(Production,Maintenance,Inventory and Quality). Rather it should also be done with the Operators and Shift Leaders. It will help the project team to capture their pain points and consider them in the design phase regardless of MES being a off the self product or a custom solution. Its easier said than done, but the effort must be put on.

The key to successful training and adoption of shopfloor operators is to engage them early and often. Get them excited about using MES! It is going to positively impact their jobs going forward. MES implementation projects can go on for a number of months. Perform a skills gap assessment early in the project and then continually close that gap by education throughout the project. Add a certification path for operators that gives the team motivation to get a valuable, transferrable skill.

For successful implementation and adoption of MES in organization OCM plays a key role. Identify the role and function for whom MES is beneficial and support their day to day operation. If required prepared customized training program. On job training and instructor led sessions will increase faster adoption.

It's important to get a feel for the scale of the transformation required. The MES implementation will only be successful if it is adopted by all personnel. A good MES should empower operational users, improving visibility and communication, and ensuring they only need to use one system - but to achieve this it must be well designed with the end-user in mind.

A blended approach is good, but it's also important to provide training in the local language. The MES should be simple to use and intuitive - therefore it should require minimal training. If the. MES you've selected requires online courses, instructor-led sessions, videos, simulations, quizzes, and manuals for your operators - then you've probably made a bad MES choice. Keep it simple, ensure everything the user needs is on one screen, and train up key people on each shift to assist with queries in the early days. Remember, you will have new staff join - so it's critical to ensure the onboarding period is quick - MES should be easy to use, making the operators life easier, and systematising the business process to avoid mistakes.

Again - if the MES is so complicated to use that the operators need regular training to use it effectively then you've probably chosen the wrong MES. In the selection process choose an application that is simple, empowers operators, and gives users everything they need to do their job.

You should be able to identify continuous opportunities for training from the quality of user data entry and their interaction with the system. Immediately after a new feature is released, if there is a sudden spike in data without any change in the manufacturing process, it could be because the user didn’t understand the system instructions or how to enter the data.

In addition to traditional training, consider cross-training your shop floor operators to diversify their skill sets. For instance, operators trained in multiple aspects of MES operation can adapt more easily to changing production demands. This flexibility enhances efficiency and reduces downtime. Furthermore, it empowers operators to troubleshoot and resolve minor issues independently, reducing reliance on IT support. Cross-training fosters a dynamic workforce capable of maximizing MES capabilities and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives.

System design drives the training content, and I believe at the time of system designing itself, you need to consider how users will interact with the system. MES user base is not typical computer users. Some users may be wearing PPEs or gloves while working, some may access the system on handheld devices, and some may access it on monitors mounted on forklifts. Hence, if you carefully do not factor those things in, it may frustrate users. Hopefully, the design team would catch such an issue earlier in the cycle. Still, I have seen cases where only during the mass training does the user find that the system will be challenging to use while working, and it is not a training issue but rather a design issue.

Keeping it simple and silly is the key. 1. Making the Ux as intuitive as the consumer grade applications 2. Great documentation- rather than just help documents,using click streams and a little bit of smart coding ( not talking about fancy ML algorithms here ) to understand where the operator is stuck and provide instant help. Just like Clippy in previous version of MS office 3. Adding a bit of analytics to the MES layer that provides contextual information to operators to make their day to day activities little bit easier 4. Making MES flexible to adopt to the specific needs to individuals not just having roles based reports and screens. 5. Using MES as a collaborative tools leveraging new generations of tools like MS teams etc

Every person in your facility should understand how their role supports the metrics on the MES dashboard and the management staff should walk the floor regularly as a group to discuss the metrics of the chosen workstations. When operators see that management truly care about the data coming out of the system and that they react appropriately to the outputs, you will see an improvement in operator engagement and use.