Learning Management System Launch

Transforming Learning at an Industrial Metals Startup

Screen capture showing industrial courses in the new digital course library.

Background and Desired Outcomes

A key part of any startup is operational readiness. An industrial metals plant in North Carolina was preparing to scale from 40 to 385 employees and full-time operation. Their initial training program was off to a great start, but it was hindered by manual processes that resulted in missing records, data entry errors, and incomplete compliance training.

Business leaders agreed that an online Learning Management System could drive the following outcomes:

  • 100% compliance in environmental health and safety training

  • An e-learning library available to employees 24 hours a day, including industrial, professional, safety, compliance, and software training

  • A central repository for all training records

Contribution

  • Business case development, project team selection, software selection, and procurement

  • Project management, configuration, deployment, and documentation

  • Internal product management

Process

Four LMS solutions were selected on the basis of cost, ease of implementation, potential for integration, and the following criteria:

  • User-friendly cloud-based SaaS with option to enable SSO

  • Ability to import user data, training records, and SCORM training content

  • Notifications for upcoming training deadlines and completions

  • Automated learner enrollment based on hire date, job title, or other user data

  • Reasonable cost/value for quality of LMS

A related project included building this computer lab to enable hybrid learning and a space for employees to complete training.

Screen capture showing a list of certifications with automatic renewal, expiration, and completion notifications.

Results

One year post-deployment, the Learning Management System has driven several positive outcomes:

  • Safety and environmental training compliance increased from 50% to 100% site wide

  • More than 23,000 online course sessions completed

  • Custom training reports are reviewed weekly, supporting on-the-job and compliance training planning and facilitation