News

Training company uses kiosks to share info with plant staff

July 27, 2008

TROY, Mich. — O/E Learning, which designs and develops training and performance-improvement programs that can be delivered to employees via the Web, virtual classroom, CD/DVD or mobile device, recently upgraded more than 100 learning kiosks for a Fortune 500 manufacturing facility.

According to a news release, the company, which O/E did not name, is using the kiosks on the plant floor, where employees can access training required by the government's Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

In 1994, O/E installed the kiosks to provide a cost-effective and convenient way for the manufacturing facility to deliver training to thousands of employees who worked on multiple shifts and did not have access to desktop computers. The original solution provided plant floor employees with access to self-paced health-and-safety training. The video intensive courses were installed and run locally on each kiosk. This required each station to be updated and serviced individually.

But with the advent of Web-enabled Learning Management Systems and wireless connectivity within the plant, O/E has updated the original kiosks with Web technology, thus extending their lifespan, OE says.

"Given the advances in technology and the options now available, we have a great opportunity to help our client by implementing a sustainable kiosk solution. With hardware replacement programs and the ongoing LMS service/maintenance updates, our client can expect to extend the useful life of the course content and the kiosk workstations," said Michael Stolnicki, O/E's vice president of operations. "O/E will be updating the basic platform and deployment structure, along with the 18 courses that make up the Health and Safety Training Program."

O/E has outfitted each of the 113 kiosks with new computer hardware and software. The kiosks will be connected to a central server that will store and run the Health and Safety Training courses along with an LMS, which will track enrollment, completion and testing data for each learner. Changes made on the centralized server will be instantly available, and plant trainers and administrators will be able to access data through the online reporting capabilities of the new LMS.