Implementing Digital Work Instructions to Improve Onboarding at an Ice Cream Manufacturing Plant

One of our clients is a leading gelato manufacturer in Germany. The company adheres to strict environmental standards and employs a manual process for packaging ice cream. Thanks to this unique approach to production, they are known for their high-quality products. However, like many manufacturing companies, they faced challenges in training new employees due to high staff turnover and a multinational workforce.

Problem: Onboarding Challenges in Production

The company experiences frequent employee turnover, particularly in the role of ice cream packers. Adapting new employees to their roles is a critical and complex process due to several challenges:

• Manual labor. The work requires strict adherence to standards, which can be difficult for new hires to master quickly.
• Multilingual workforce. The team speaks over 15 different languages, making communication and training more challenging.
• Urgency of adaptation. New employees must quickly learn the processes to maintain production efficiency.

As a result, traditional training methods were not effective in quickly and efficiently preparing new employees for their roles.

Goals:

• Create an accessible and clear training system that allows new employees to quickly learn work processes while reducing the burden on mentors.
• Develop standardized processes and checklists for ice cream packaging to minimize errors and improve product quality.
• Overcome language barriers by providing instructions in multiple languages for employees who don’t speak the company’s primary language.
• Enable new employees to train autonomously through the use of digital tools.

Solution: Implementing Digital Work Instructions and Checklists with ProcessNavigation

We proposed a comprehensive solution by introducing digital work instructions and checklists that standardized the training process and made it more accessible for all employees. 

Key Aspects of the Solution:

• Autonomous learning. Digital instructions allow new employees to familiarize themselves with processes on their own, without needing to distract experienced colleagues. 
• Process standardization. Our consulting team helped to digitalize the onboarding processes, creating the instructions that include text descriptions, photos, and videos that cover all key aspects of the work—from proper packing techniques to recommendations on equipment maintenance. 
• Training on equipment use. New hires gain access to detailed information about how to use and care for production equipment, including all the possible safety guidelines.
• Process visualization. The visual instructions show the correct steps at each stage of the work, helping employees better understand quality standards.
• Overcoming language barriers. We used AI-powered translation technology to provide instructions in over 15 languages with high accuracy (up to 90%), making the training process easier for the multilingual workforce.

Results: Faster and More Efficient Onboarding

After implementing the digital work instructions, the company achieved the following results:

• Reduced onboarding time. New employees mastered processes faster, allowing them to start working efficiently in less time.
• Improved work quality. Errors in ice cream packaging were reduced, which directly improved product quality.
• Lowered workload for experienced staff. The need for constant supervision and training decreased, allowing experienced workers to focus on their own tasks.
• Increased employee satisfaction. The ease of accessing instructions boosted the confidence and job satisfaction of new employees.

Conclusion

The implementation of digital work instructions by ProcessNavigation successfully addressed the company’s onboarding challenges. By standardizing and simplifying the training process, the gelato manufacturer improved employee onboarding, product quality, and adapted to the needs of a multilingual workforce. This case study highlights how our digital solutions help companies overcome traditional training challenges and increase productivity.