or location barriers, but also provide update “learning” access to develop new skills within the industry or company, so they can always stay relevant. MBP: CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE? DS: Let’s say, for example, a new machine has been purchased that none of the frontline workers have used before. So now the company is faced with a massive upgrade and training program to get their employees up to speed. Down time costs money not only for the company but for frontline staff as well. But with Beekeeper, our platform provides the channel for management to roll out new training plans simultaneously to frontline workers, translated to their language. This all happens through the Beekeeper app. MBP: ARE YOU ALSO WORKING DIRECTLY WITH PROCESSING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS AS WELL? DS: That is something we're looking into. We have built partnerships with a variety of vendors in the meat production industry. For example, we have partnerships with Kronos, which is a tool that is being used a lot in food production. We coordinate with the IT teams of our vendors to implement communication between their machine and the Beekeeper app. So if the machine spits out an error, in theory, our program is going to interpret that machine’s alert and translate it if necessary, so that the right person gets a real time directive from the machine. MBP: LET’S SHIFT OVER TO COVID-19 AND THE IMPACT BEEKEEPER HAD ON FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES WORKING IN THE PROCESSING PLANTS. DS: This year we had increased growth because meat producers had such a high infection rates of COVID-19. And this was not only our Canadian and U.S. customers, but our customers in Europe that were equally affected. What they realized is they needed an immediate channel to connect the employees that was beyond the bulletin board and the hope that their staff will read it. Things were changing so quickly. With food security being crucial, meat production had to keep going. Most processing plants had significant inefficiencies to communicate effectively. Individual text messages and emails were not the answer because there is no way to track whether employees received the message or provided feedback. But once your entire workforce is connected with a digital identity, now you can send them high-priority alerts and up-to-date training. We can digitize paper processes, and we all know there are a lot of paper processes in food production. 8 8
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Plus you cover the language barrier because the meat processing industry is a diverse, migrant based workforce. The ability to have real-time translation on a platform that can manage a collaborative, real time learning environment between staff, plus automated communication between machine, became hugely more important when the pandemic hit. The meat processing industry needed to update a lot of standard procedures with new safety measures and a new way of working. And if you don't have an effective way of rolling out new procedures to ensure the safety of the employees working on the farm, or in the barn, or on the processing floor, then this process is very lengthy and challenging. And let’s not forget that with new social distancing measures, you couldn’t have employees congregating around the bulletin boards. So by giving them the information digitally on their phones with Beekeeper, they didn't have to risk being too close together. They could work on their own and still be informed and connected, and aligned with last minute updates and company polices. Those are just some examples that Beekeeper was able to provide to improve frontline safety during COVID-19. MBP: HAS BEEKEEPER CREATED ANY SPECIFIC MODULES FOR THE APP THAT THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO HANDLING COVID-19? DS: We have specific templates - based on user cases from our customers - they can deploy throughout their organization. For example, forms, health and safety checkpoints that employees need to complete, ensuring they don't have any symptoms before they can start their shift. Business agility has been crucial during the pandemic. Making sure that every employee is connected and reachable, so companies can adjust quickly to ensure safety during production has been crucial. So, thankfully, this business agility was something that could be enabled through a platform like Beekeeper.
2019 | 100TH ISSUE
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