BW Manufacturing uses Tology’s chatbot to capture, leverage, and immediately access over 20 years of institutional knowledge.
- Knowledge Sharing: Every employee can answer questions like they’re hard-wired into the brains of veteran employees
- Investment in People: Interactive training workshops are created with ease as dramatically more effective than dry lectures or on-the-job trial-by-fire
- Cost savings: Production operators eliminate non-value-add time of asking questions or looking up specs. Instead, every part number, nut, bolt, and torque spec are at their fingertips.
The project started with enhancing BW’s library of technical information with audio recordings of customer demonstrations and training workshops. This was far easier than it sounds, and maybe even worthy of being called “fun.” Here are some behind-the-scenes details:
Leveraging Institutional Knowledge
Three long-term employees know every nut and bolt of BW, but it was hard to even know where to start with how to transfer all that knowledge to new teammates. Like many growing small businesses, they don’t have a surplus of time to create formal training programs or update every SOP manual. They bridged this gap by creating a quick outline of what they had and the top few items they wanted to capture. They then created a process of informal “interviews” where they had casual conversations around these topics. They uploaded the recordings into Tology and then asked it to generate follow up questions that would guide them through their list. These “conversations” became the most frequently accessed documents by their chatbot.
Supercharging Customer Service Support
Having all of this institutional knowledge at the fingertips of the customer service team has been transformative. Instead of needing to get a specific person on the phone to handle a complex troubleshooting case or to track down a replacement part number for an old machine, the Tology bot can provide an instant answer with a direct reference to the source material that it draws from.
Standardizing Production Operations
BW believes in the value of standardized processes, but even they would admit that there are gaps in SOPs that are only filled by institutional knowledge or mechanical skills and common sense. Rather than asking the production staff to be process writers, they can interact with the Tology chatbot for immediate access to technical information that may not have made its way from the machine’s technical specs to the SOP manual. Management can see what questions are asked and then create an automated process to enhance or fill in any gaps needed to support the team better.
Enriching Training and Development
BW Manufacturing recognizes the importance of continuous learning and development. The Tology chatbot serves as a virtual coach, providing customized training modules and scenario-based learning activities. New employees receive automated rundowns of standard and unusual circumstances they may encounter. The chatbot also incorporates real-life experiences and unique case studies, enabling trainees to learn from past challenges. This interactive and immersive training approach fosters skill development and aligns employees with the company’s core values.
Conclusion
BW’s institutional knowledge is its most valuable asset, and their initiative to create a Tology chatbot has revolutionized the way this knowledge is collected, shared, and leveraged. At the start of the project, they couldn’t imagine all the efficiencies and cost savings, but sparking the virtuous cycle of company-wide learning has proven to be an even greater benefit.