Sidel’s Blended Learning platform enhances skills while contributing to a sustainable business performance

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.