Work instructions are an important part of a safe, efficient, and productive working environment. Especially if they are up-to-date and accessible and understandable to everyone. That is why more and more companies are working with digital work instructions. How do you make it and what should you pay attention to?
Do you remember them, or perhaps you still have them? The work instructions in Word, Excel, or PDF, often printed and stored in folders that rarely anyone looks at? That could be better. Digital work instructions are easily accessible to everyone, always up to date and super clear thanks to the use of photos and videos.
What are digital work instructions?
Digital work instructions are instructions for recurring tasks in the factory, such as maintenance (autonomous maintenance), cleaning tasks, start-ups, changeovers, material changes and shift transfers. Digital work instructions usually take the form of a step-by-step plan with photos or a video. They are created and maintained centrally in a digital operator platform such as EZ GO. Users can create the digital work instructions themselves. They are available to everyone on the work floor via the platform, usually on a tablet.
The benefits of digital work instructions
Working with a digital platform has major advantages. The most important thing is that the work instructions are fixed at one central point and can be adjusted. If something changes, this change is immediately visible to everyone, and no old versions are left lying around. Another important advantage is that they are visual and therefore unambiguous and understandable for everyone. Moreover, they are a valuable training tool, they safeguard existing knowledge, and they are a good reason to optimize standard operating procedures.
Entering digital work instructions is not that difficult at all. There are a few things you should pay attention to.
Tip 1: use the visual possibilities
A digital platform offers the ideal opportunity to use photos and videos. Such visual work instructions are easy for everyone to understand. Also, for operators who are not fluent in Dutch. The photos and videos are also unambiguous; While people still interpret text differently, images make it clear at once what exactly the intention is and what the result and action should be.
Tip 2: Involve your employees when creating digital work instructions
We involve different employees in every implementation we supervise. For example, team leaders, continuous improvement managers, quality managers, operational managers, and operators. In this way, all the necessary knowledge comes together, and you arrive at the optimal work instructions. It also improves the acceptance of the system, which makes implementation easier.
Tip 3: Improve standard work
Most companies use the introduction of digital work instructions to improve standard work. If you are going to recreate procedures, it is better to immediately record the optimal working method. When you do this together with different people, you can be sure that you will arrive at the best working method. An additional advantage is that you safeguard the knowledge of experienced employees.
Tip 4: Update your digital work instructions on a regular basis
A major advantage of digital work instructions is that they are centrally recorded and can therefore be centrally updated. Use that opportunity! Of course, you use the input of operators and team leaders for this. After all, they deal with the operation every day and immediately see what could be improved.
A good digital operator platform offers an accessible option to communicate adjustments. In EZ GO, employees can create an ‘action’ in the app and assign it to a colleague or department. Photos or videos can also be added. It is easy to pass this on, it goes directly to the right person and can be immediately adjusted in the system. This provides extra motivation to do this more often: an employee sees that something is happening with his or her suggestions.
Tip 5: Use the work instructions during the onboarding
Digital work instructions make training new colleagues a lot easier. You are no longer dependent on the most senior employees because everyone can use the digital work instructions as a guideline during training. In addition, the new employee can quickly operate autonomously, because the digital work instructions are easy to consult.
Tip 6: Choose the right platform
To optimally utilize the benefits of digital work instructions, it is important to choose the right operator platform. You should pay attention to a few things:
- Is the user interface clear and easy to use by operators?
- Can you easily create new work instructions?
- In addition to work instructions, are there other applications in the platform, such as checklists, audits, and reports?
- Is there an easy way to add photos and videos?
- Can users submit improvement proposals themselves?
- Does the supplier offer sufficient support for implementation and maintenance?
Also involve operational users in this selection. Once you have chosen the right operator platform, don’t wait too long, use the momentum, and get started right away. The sooner you benefit from the benefits and improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of your processes.
Want to know how to create digital work instructions with the EZ-GO platform? Please contact us!