Playful learning
In order to build up the expertise of its operators and maintenance personnel quickly and sustainably, the Coca-Cola production site in Mannheim, Germany, is now relying on KHS’ Virtual Training Center or VTC. This facilitates learning regardless of the time or place – and makes it fun!
By tradition, training holds a high status at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Germany; in Mannheim, for example, the beverage producer was one of the first of 14 production sites in the federal republic to begin using augmented reality (AR). The company is also well aware of the effort involved: whether held on site or as online seminars, training courses take time, require planning and are limited in their flexibility.
Flexible learning
This is where KHS’ Virtual Training Center or VTC provides a unique solution: even short breaks can be used spontaneously and independently to get to know the functions of a line virtually without being tied down to fixed training schedules. This benefit held immediate appeal for Markus Straßer, head of Maintenance at Coca-Cola Mannheim. He was also convinced by the fast implementation thereof: just one week after submission of his request, the Dortmund systems supplier had provided him with access to the VTC.
KHS’ Virtual Training Center also runs on all standard Office computers without the need for a powerful graphic card.
In the VTC, employees can explore individual machines or entire beverage lines at any time.
Quick onboarding process
“An efficient onboarding process for our colleagues is essential for optimum operation. In the highly flexible operation of a modern filling plant, we must quickly enable our employees to carry out their duties independently, safely and with confidence.” Straßer is familiar with the challenges associated with shift models and the demographic change in the workforce. “There’s often not enough time for full personal induction into all of the details. This is why we need to keep learning inhibitions to a minimum. KHS’ training portfolio has thus quickly become an important module for us. Thanks to its playful learning approach that’s also fun, newer colleagues can get to grips with the various equipment functions on their own. This allows them to actively participate in the production process within a very short time indeed.” This is a great basis from which training can then move on to familiar study formats, believes Straßer.
“An efficient onboarding process for our colleagues is essential for optimum operation. The VTC from KHS has thus quickly become an important module for us.”
Head of Maintenance at Coca-Cola in Mannheim, Germany
The training center is also proving popular with Coca-Cola’s operators. With the help of an avatar, they can explore individual machines or entire beverage lines and navigate to study points on an exemplary digital twin. At the VTC they have access to interactive and instructive learning nuggets, i.e. small, compact teaching units. Employees who successfully complete these are given small virtual rewards and can track their learning progress themselves. As in a game, this encourages participants to finish the current unit with an even better rating or to complete the next one just as well.
High level of acceptance
“The initial response has been extremely positive,” states the maintenance manager. “Thanks to the intuitive and playful approach from the individual’s personal perspective, even our older colleagues are able to perfectly manage this setup.”
As the VTC can be used spontaneously at any time, such as during short breaks in production, new employees quickly gain an impression of the entire machine. “In our case, we’re specifically training people in palletizing,” says Straßer, who wants to further expand virtual training together with KHS in the future. He’s convinced that although “it doesn’t replace in-person formats, it will become a fixed feature of onboarding.”
“The VTC gives employees great satisfaction and adapts itself to suit each user’s individual level of knowledge.”
Head of the KHS Training Centers in Bad Kreuznach and Worms, Germany
Further languages and machines
For KHS, too, the study format currently available in English and German is just the beginning, explains Marco Palme, head of KHS Training Center South and VTC project manager. “As no additional hardware is needed other than a totally normal Office PC, we can roll the VTC out worldwide within a very short space of time indeed.” The only limiting factor is the age of the customer’s system; it needs to match the digital twin in the VTC for learning to be as effective as possible. “Over the next few months, we’ll be integrating more languages and all other machines in the KHS Group for all standard container types, one after the other,” Palme adds.
Our short video shows
how the VTC fits in with the KHS Campus training program – and how it facilitates playful learning regardless of the time and place.
Virtual supplement to classic training format
In coming up with its VTC concept, last year KHS closed a gap in the market. The module supplements the system provider’s training program pooled in KHS Campus. Training on site, seminars on more complex topics or specific personnel development are still the key tools in the program that provide customers with the best way of teaching specialist knowledge and expertise in each specific case and necessary level of detail.
