A 2017 Gallup report found that only 25% of manufacturing industry employees are engaged with their work.
Low engagement in the workplace leads to declining productivity for companies. In contrast, higher workplace engagement leads to greater company profits, better employee retention, less absenteeism, and fewer workplace accidents.
Innovative strategies must be applied to cultivate a stronger sense of employee engagement. Workplace digital signage is one of those strategies that can help achieve effective communication in the manufacturing industry.
Through the use of digital posters, digital displays, and live digital dashboards, workplace digital signage can overcome communication challenges in manufacturing that office spaces don’t struggle with.
Traditional Employee Communication Is Not Effective in Manufacturing Settings
Office environments can rely on its intranet, email, and face-to-face meetings for communication. These methods aren’t always available in manufacturing plant settings.
Emails and text messages may work where employees have immediate access to computers or smartphones. In factories, there is a possibility that employees are not carrying their cellphones.
Plus, it is not productive on the factory floor to access a cellphone every time it rings or vibrates, which can be dangerous as well. Even if workers check their phones at the end of their shifts, the information they receive may come too late.
Many Meaningful Ways to Use Digital Signage
Digital signage located throughout a manufacturing setting can communicate general and valuable real-time information to employees and will not interfere with production.
Some uses for digital displays throughout a manufacturing facility include:
1. The Motivation of the Workforce
Live company data visualization of such information as forecasted and actual production metrics, health or safety data, quality information, and other relevant operational data can motivate employees by making them feel they are an important part of the organization.
For example, digital signs displaying the number of accident-free days at a facility, in real-time, can encourage employees to work safer. Similarly, the digital display of live metrics and KPIs on production floors can increase employee productivity, as it did in the refineries for renewable energy company Neste.
2. Communication of Company Messages
Work announcements can be easily displayed on digital signs, which are more dependable for reaching non-desk employees than emails and text messages, which can be deleted, missed, or forgotten. Digital signage can be encountered in various locations throughout a production facility at different times.
3. Notifications of Emergency Conditions
Live digital signage can alert employees of emergencies along with immediate steps to take and protocols to follow. Digital dashboards can be very specific about emergency information so that employees can pursue the safest course of action.
Keep Employees Tuned in When They’re Not on the Factory Floor
Production facility displays located throughout a factory are the most effective way to send targeted messages to the highest number of employees at a single time.
These could include:
- Placement at entrances and exits: Employees could be alerted of essential developments before they enter work and a parting message as they leave.Locations in breakrooms:
- Digital signs can display daily specials, nutritional facts, and other relevant company information.
- Meeting rooms for training sessions:
- Staff and safety meetings benefit from full-color presentations on interactive digital signs.
Digital signs encourage workplace engagement on the factory floor but can also be used to significant effect for many purposes throughout an entire facility.
Digital Signage Keeps Employees Up to Date
Digital display software is an active step in keeping employees informed and engaged. Employees can be kept up to date with the latest information, and they don’t need to be tech-savvy to receive it.
As manufacturing facilities incorporate digital tools to respond to workplace productivity, it follows that their communication capabilities can be optimized in much the same way. Companies can now integrate critical information from existing applications and target non-desk employees with specific messaging through digital signage.
The company data already exists – it only needs the necessary software to automate it and direct it to the right employees by digital display.
Further reading you might find interesting:
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