Manufacturing Case Study: 17% Improved Productivity by Cross-Training Employees

Manufacturers face a dual challenge: a tightening skilled labor market driven by retiring Baby Boomers, along with increasing production complexity due to automation. Rather than simply adding headcount, forward-thinking companies are investing in their existing teams.

Why Scalable Training Methods Outperform Traditional Methods

They’re moving away from traditional shoulder-to-shoulder training and paper SOPs. Instead, they’re equipping their current workforce to handle more sophisticated work with modern, scalable training methods. These investments are yielding significant productivity gains even as team sizes remain lean. Unlike paper SOPs or shadow training, digital SOPs allow knowledge to scale across shifts, sites, and experience levels.

What Changed After Deploying Digital SOPs and Skills Tracking

• Faster time‑to‑proficiency for new hires
• Consistent process execution across packaging lines
• Real‑time visibility into operator skills and qualifications
• Greater employee autonomy with less supervisor intervention

One of our clients is a beverage manufacturer, producing multiple brands in each of their facilities around the world. In recent years, the organization has been forced to do more with less as large segments of their workforce retire. As their business evolved and the industry changed, they knew faced obstacles to productivity and process efficiency:

For example, on their state-of-the-art packaging lines, they previously staffed eight operators — one for each piece of equipment. A lack of available skilled workers required the team to become more efficient, both in training and deployment of existing human resources.

1. First, they optimized their process flows, eliminating unnecessary tasks and simplifying others.
2. Next, they ensured every person on the line was retrained using digital SOPs while they worked.
3. Finally, the team created redundancy to fill workforce gaps by cross-training employees in additional skills while dynamically tracking their abilities.

How Skill Visibility Improves Workforce Utilization

Skill visibility allows manufacturers to dynamically match available workers to operational needs without disrupting production. This enables the company to get the most out of its workforce. For example, when an operator calls in sick, others who share overlapping skills are available to call in as replacements.

Since deploying Acadia, the company has increased productivity and volume year-over-year. They’ve done so despite operating with fewer full-time employees each year due to retirements, and the outcomes speak for themselves.

Results: 17% Productivity Improvement Despite Workforce Retirements

• 17% increase in productivity year over year
• Higher employee capability and qualification rates
• Streamlined processes with fewer redundancies
• Improved retention through clearer career pathways

How Acadia Supports Frontline Workers

Acadia is a connected worker platform designed to deliver the right knowledge at the point of work. In this business example, Acadia made it easy to monitor process compliance and make relevant information available to workers while they were on the job. This translated into better process execution and consistency, reduced time-to-proficiency for new hires, improved visibility of employee skill assessments and career paths, and increased employee autonomy during work.

Those working in this environment are also more engaged and have a higher retention rate, driven in part by their newfound visibility into the continued advancement of their careers.

Curious about what Acadia can do for your business? Find out more here.