Sidel Blended Learning platform

A proactive, inspired work culture and ongoing skill training are key factors in today’s beverage industry. Shifting demographics, growing urbanisation, globalisation, and digitalisation are all driving consumers’ drinking habits towards increased convenience, sustainability factors, and health benefits. To help manufacturers keep up with this highly demanding market, Sidel introduces its new e-learning portal, designed to train the company’s employees and the staff from customers’ side via a highly customised approach. The tool is an integral part of Sidel’s Blended Learning platform, where teaching is partly carried out digitally and partly face-to-face in hands-on training sessions. This results in greatly improving employees’ skills, safety, and productivity as well as contributing to minimise costs in the long term.

Manufacturers active in the food, beverage, home and personal care industries are continuously investing in training their teams to reap a number of benefits: minimised reaction time, reduced production stops, and increased overall efficiency and safety in the workplace, to mention but a few. Not less important, regularly attending training sessions helps operators increase motivation, engagement, and commitment.

An integrated learning experience

To help customers achieve this, Sidel trains over 5,500 people every year to advance their skill sets and adapt to changes in the production environment. This personalised training includes online courses, on-the-job training, practical and classroom lessons, as well as production simulation via virtual reality by combining the state-of-the-art equipment with the skills of the workforce, getting the best return on investment.

Blended Learning, Sidel’s integrated learning experience, combines face-to-face and online learning sessions in which the traditional face-to-face classroom focuses entirely on students’ development, while basic knowledge is acquired online via e-learning portals – an approach that has led to an impressive satisfaction rating among former participants.

Skill Matrix: tailored training for specific customer needs

The learning process starts with a competence audit, driven by the Sidel training team: customers can make targeted investments and provide training exactly where it is needed most by defining their employees’ roles and evaluating their abilities. They do this by applying the “Skill Matrix”, consisting of a detailed and evolving roadmap of the competences needed to run their lines throughout their lifecycle.

This method provides a clear overview of each operator’s existing skill level and potential gaps to be covered. Once the mapping process is complete, a multi-channel training path is suggested by linking specific courses in the catalogue. As a last step, performance is re-evaluated to ensure the success of the training.

Global knowledge at a local level

This highly customised program helps meet operators’ specific needs, while it is planned around the production schedule, so as not to impede on productivity of the customer’s line. Via personalised accounts on the platform, trainees experience a customised training offering. The Sidel training team guides each user, according to his or her needs, to fine-tune an individual learning plan. Thanks to an optimised and customised dashboard, which can flexibly accommodate different viewers’ profile needs – depending on the type of customer – trainees have a simplified user experience within the portal, making the training even more efficient and enjoyable.

The customisation of the training is not only visible in the online training sessions but is also a key component of the on-site courses. The on-site education – an integral part of the process – is available either directly at the customer’s own facility on their own lines or at one of Sidel Group’s 13 technical training centres that are spread across the globe. There, through a face-to-face learning experience, Sidel experts will help customers complement practically what they previously learned via the e-learning portal.