The Daher factory, located in the Brais zone of Saint-Nazaire, produces thermal acoustic insulation mattresses for A320, A330 and A350 Airbus planes. In 2020, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Daher decided to implement the Alex app to replace their existing Excel-based skills management system. Formerly, the simple act of linking a worker’s proof of skills and training to an Excel matrix was grueling. Each audit required several days of work and inconsistencies were inevitable.
The Brais Team’s Goals for Using Alex
1. Training New Hires: proof of skills only existed in paper versions so new and updated training information often got lost.
2. Sharing Access to the Versatility Matrix: team leaders often managed the versatility objectives on their own Excel sheets that were not accessible when they were absent.
3. Tracking and Verifying Proof of Training: Maintaining the factory’s versatility matrix was time consuming and unpredictable.
4. Eliminating Discrepancies during Audits: The goal was to reduce discrepancies and save time preparing each audit.
Implementation of Alex
First, the Production, Quality and Human Resources managers reproduced the factory’s workstations in Alex. Then they entered the required skills for each workstation, the training program to acquire them, and imported a list of workers.
Once the frameworks were uploaded, they introduced the tool to the operational staff (team leaders, trainers, workers) and explained how it would be used daily.
Results: Audit Discrepancies Eliminated and 50 Work days Saved
For 60 production workers, 30 workstations, 1,200 proof of skills documents and 3 audits/year, Daher and Yelhow estimated the amount of time saved on skills management when using Alex:
1. Audit Discrepancies Omitted: Both the French organization AFNOR and the client Airbus identified versatility management as a strength of the Daher factory in Brais.
2. Audit Preparation: A few hours before the audit, Alex created a report of all the workers’ skills, the dates they were completed and the associated proof.
3. Automated Skills Tracking and Renewal: The Daher factory in Brais manages 1,200 skills and needs to renew an average of 250 per year. With Alex, the time-consuming activity of tracking expiration dates in Excel becomes an automated process.
4. Easy Training for New Hires: Alex allows you to post the dates, locations, and latest training materials, as well as have people register and fill in the sign-in sheets directly from their phone.
5. Empowered Team Leaders: Managing versatility is no longer a chore. The ease of the Alex app has naturally engaged team leaders in managing and monitoring skills.
Download the full version with best practices for implementation and the detailed calculations of time saved below.
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With Alex, discrepancies during audits were eliminated at the Daher factory in Brais.
For a team of 60, that’s 50 work days saved per year.
Clear job integration procedures and empowered teams.
