Digitizing work instructions improves team commitment, clarity and follow-up. A key lever for increasing efficiency and modernizing operations.
Against a backdrop of rapidly changing industrial and logistics environments, operations managers face a major challenge: to train and inform their teams effectively, while maintaining a high level of performance and safety. Historically based on paper, work instructions are now showing their limitations. Digitization has become a strategic lever for improving clarity, efficiency and commitment.
On average, it takes 18 minutes to locate a document.
Paper documents have long been the norm for transmitting instructions. However, they have a number of weaknesses: they are difficult to modify, subject to obsolescence, and sometimes poorly understood or applied in the field.
Document retrieval remains one of the most universal and time-consuming challenges in the workplace. According to several studies, 46% of employees find it sometimes or often difficult to locate the files they need. On average, it takes 18 minutes to locate a document, which represents between 7.5 and 8.8 wasted hours per week - or almost 1.8 hours per day(source).
Conversely, digital media offer a much more fluid and interactive experience, adapted to the expectations of today's employees.
Digital formats (videos, podcasts, interactive infographics) bring learning to life. An operator can visualize a precise technical gesture on video, rather than reading a text description. This facilitates memorization and reduces execution errors. Komin.io notes that companies that digitize their instructions see a better understanding and a reduction in incidents in the field.
Digital technology makes it possible to track learning paths down to the finest detail: reading rates, integrated quizzes, user comments, notification of content to be reviewed... This data gives operational managers a clear view of how teams are developing their skills, and enables adjustments to be made in real time. Digitall Conseil emphasizes that this data-driven approach increases the relevance of training courses and their long-term effectiveness.
Creating an instruction once, then duplicating, adapting or translating it in just a few clicks, becomes possible with the right digital tools. Likewise, updates are simplified: a simple click is all it takes for the entire organization to benefit from the latest version. No more mass printing and obsolete documents circulating in production.
In regulated or critical environments, every instruction must be validated before distribution. Digital workflows speed up this process: notifications, review circuits, electronic signatures... Everything is traced and documented, reducing lead times without sacrificing rigor.
By digitizing content, it becomes possible to plug in artificial intelligence for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG ). This enables operators or technicians to ask a question (e.g.: "How do I change this component?") and receive a contextual answer from internal instructions, directly in their own language. This represents a huge productivity gain, transforming access to knowledge in real time.
Generation Z employees and young professionals expect modern, intuitive, mobile tools. According to ObjetConnecte.com, digitizing work instructions is also a lever for attracting and retaining talent. Providing a modern user experience strengthens team commitment and improves efficiency.
To effectively digitize work instructions, several steps are essential:
1. Assess needs: map critical processes and identify the irritants of the paper format.
2. Choose a suitable platform: easy to use, accessible on mobile, compatible with internal tools.
3. Involve field teams: users must be involved in the design of digital media to guarantee their relevance.
4.Measure results: monitor usage, consultation rates, feedback to adjust and improve.
Switching from paper to digital transmission of work instructions is no longer an option, but a strategic necessity. Operations managers who embark on this path strengthen the quality, safety and performance of their teams, while aligning themselves with modern knowledge management practices. By investing in digital solutions, they build a sustainable competitive advantage and a culture of continuous learning.
What's more, it's the easiest and least expensive digitalization project an organization can undertake.
"With Komin, we have documented our operating procedures 10x faster than with paper"
- J. Cerruti (Methods & Industrialization Manager)
