Company News Archives - Manual.to

August 22, 2024 – Manual.to, a Belgian SaaS platform dedicated to radically simplifying how-to guidance, is one of more than 250 up-and-coming companies representing 85 countries that remains in the running for global investment and recognition through the 2024 Entrepreneurship World Cup. 

“We’re proud to have reached this stage, representing Belgium on the global platform,” said Jorim Rademaker, CEO. “Winning the national championship was an important step, and now we’re focused on the next phase of this journey, competing against the 250 best companies from over 85 countries.”

Co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, Monsha’at, with support from more than 100 partners world-wide, the Entrepreneurship World Cup is one of the largest and most diverse pitch competitions and support programs of its kind.

Every year, tens of thousands of entrepreneurs from 200 countries compete for US$1 million in cash prizes and millions more worth of investment, support and publicity through national pitch competitions, bootcamps and a global finals event attended by leading investors. 

The remaining competitors, known collectively as the “EWC 250,” were selected to advance after succeeding in national and regional qualifier competitions or via a global pool of startups from around the world. As a top performing company, Manual.to will participate in a three-day bootcamp, after which the top 100 will be selected to compete at the Global Finals held November 5-9 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Biban 24.

“These companies are headed by brilliant teams at the top of their fields,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “We are here to help them reach their growth potential as they advance through the competition and become part of the GEN family regardless of whether or not they top the podium.” 

Through GEN and its partners, the competition connects applicants at all levels – from idea stage to scale-up – with world-class connections, resources and mentorship opportunities to enhance their skills and take their ventures to the next level.

In addition to competing for cash prizes for idea-stage, early-stage and growth-stage companies, founders will also vie in specialized categories including health and wellness, economies of the future, energy and industrial leadership, and sustainable environment and supply of essential needs.

Since launching in 2019, the Entrepreneurship World Cup has attracted more than 430,000 registrations from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$4M in cash prizes and another US$266M worth of free support and services.

Original: https://www.lecho.be/entreprises/yaka/comment-un-qr-code-belge-a-seduit-microsoft-nike-et-le-gouvernement-americain/10552096.html

Manual.to, a young start-up from Ghent, has just signed a contract with the American government for its technology which digitizes user manuals. They now hope to convince Walloon companies.

Digitize instructions or user manuals to make them accessible and easy to use. The idea of ​​this young Ghent company which has clients all over the world is very simple, but devilishly effective. “Do you know anyone who enjoys using a paper manual or a PDF? On the other hand, everyone uses YouTube to repair things at home,” says Jorim Rademaker. He founded Manual.to in 2017 based on this observation and with one objective: to enable the transmission of practical knowledge in businesses in digital form .

This transmission of information must be as simple as possible to be adopted massively, and this is where the Ghent start-up has done well. A simple QR code to scan takes you to a page of instructions accompanied by very short videos which show the gestures to perform or the buttons to press. Is that all? Yes, that’s all, or almost.

The TikTok of work

Manual.to has created a platform that allows you to download these instructions step by step, accompanied by videos and photos , at lightning speed. “An experienced worker knows how to replace the filter of a complex industrial machine,” explains Jorim Rademaker. “All they need to do is use a smartphone or tablet to document all the steps. Once you have followed this process, you save it and our software gives you a QR code that you can stick on or near the machine. This way, anyone who needs to do the same thing can rely on the practical knowledge of an expert, even long after they have left.”

The technology is so simple that it was immediately successful and convinced giants like Microsoft, Nike, ArcelorMittal or Umicore, and even the American government. With the latter, the Ghent company has just won a major new client.

Manual.to’s platform will be deployed in the coming years to train thousands of workers in Central America in the region’s growing textile sector. The US government’s development cooperation agency, USAID, is providing $2 million for this project , called “Hilando Oportunidades”. The aim is to combat unemployment in the region and thus proactively prevent emigration.

Future world champions?

A great business card for the company which has experienced sustained growth for several years and is targeting a turnover of 3 million euros in 2024. “We have been profitable for several years and we have hardly needed financing external.”

But there remains one market that Jorim Rademaker has not managed to penetrate, the south of Belgium. “We immediately went international, we convinced big names around the world and in Flanders, but in Wallonia, it’s more complicated .” This is one of Manual.to’s next challenges, with the French market also in its sights. The final objective is much broader. “We want to reach 1 billion people with our solution.”

Beyond company employees, the Ghent start-up’s solution is starting to reach consumers . “When you buy an Audi in Belgium, you will see our QR code to explain how to connect to the car.” The company will also be one of the Belgian representatives at the Entrepreneurship World Cup which will take place in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year, and hopes to proudly represent its country there and win a check for one million of dollars .

The U.S. government is releasing millions to train thousands of textile workers in some Central American neighboring countries. This is done with the help of the Ghent-based scale-up Manual.to.

Original: https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/technologie/gents-tiktok-voor-training-helpt-amerika-duizenden-arbeiders-op-te-leiden/10536527.html

Written by: Ben Serrure

Originally, Jorim Rademaker wanted to build a platform to digitize picture books. ‘I am the son of an inventor and an art teacher’, says the Ghent entrepreneur. ‘I carry that with me, professionally as a software developer, and privately as an illustrator and lover of children’s books. The idea was to bring those two things together in a platform where my children could easily upload and share visual stories themselves.’

However, Rademaker’s idea soon turned out to be much more widely applicable. If small children were able to upload images and accompanying text step by step with ease, why shouldn’t adults be able to do the same with more complex step-by-step plans? This is how the idea for Manual.to was born, a platform to digitize manuals organically.

‘Who likes to use a manual on paper or in a PDF file?’, Rademaker asks. ‘If I ask that question in a room with 300 people, then at most five hands go up in the air. But when I ask who has repaired or fixed something at home with the help of YouTube, almost everyone responds. That says something about how people want to learn, also in the workplace. What we make possible is that you can easily pass on all the practical knowledge that is in your company digitally, in a way that is then actually used.’

Instant know-how

In concrete terms, Manual.to built a platform that allows you to upload digital step-by-step guides, accompanied by video and photo, at lightning speed. ‘Imagine that you, as an experienced hand, know exactly how to replace the filter of a complex industrial machine,’ Rademaker gives as an example. ‘Then, with the help of a smartphone or tablet, you can document all the steps, as you would explain them to an intern. Once you’ve gone through that process, save it and our software will give you a QR code that you can stick on or near the machine. In this way, anyone who has to do the same can fall back on the practical knowledge of an expert, even long after their retirement.’

It is a way to share ‘instant know-how‘ in your organisation, as Rademaker likes to put it. “Tasks that might be done by just one or two experienced technicians today can be done by 80 percent of your people with a good and easy-to-use manual – one that those people like to use. That makes a real difference, as our customers tell us. One of those customers recently told us that where it used to take four months to train a new employee, it can now be done in two weeks.’

The Manual.to solution is now used by a whole range of companies and organisations, including big names such as Microsoft, the British health service NHS, Umicore, ABB, DuPont, Recticel, ArcelorMittal, CEVA Logistics or BekaertDeslee, a global player in mattress textiles. ‘The latter has 19 factories, spread all over the world, where the same machines are often located,’ says Rademaker. ‘In the past, the knowledge from the floor remained local, because it was not visual and was not translated. With our technology, it is very easy to exchange best practices and share knowledge throughout the organization.”

With the American government, the Ghent-based scale-up now has a great new customer. In the coming years, Manual.to’s platform will be used to train thousands of workers in Central America to work in the region’s growing textile sector. The U.S. government agency for development cooperation USAID is making $2 million available for the project, which bears the name Hilando Oportunidades. The aim is to combat unemployment in the region, and in this way also proactively prevent migration from the region.

In the first phase of the project, 1,500 people will be trained in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador with the help of the Manual.to platform. The American university NCSU, with which the Ghent-based company has been working for some time, pours the necessary knowledge into the simple digital manuals.

The project is a nice extra showcase for Manual.to, which is growing at a brisk pace. In recent years, sales have consistently doubled, earning the company a spot in the Deloitte Fast 50, a ranking of the fastest growing companies in the country, for the past two years. This year, Manual.to is aiming for a turnover of 3 million euros.

Until now this growth has been completely organic. ‘For the time being, we are doing very little marketing, and have hardly raised any external capital,’ says Rademaker. ‘At the same time, we have been profitable for years. That’s a pretty unique combination in our sector.’ Nevertheless, Rademaker is considering a ‘serious financing round’, ‘in order to be able to fully capture our market’.

External capital should help to take a step towards Rademaker’s final dream. “I want to build the most impactful company in the world. We actively express our commitment to improving the lives of 1 billion people. Wouldn’t that be great? Well, we think it’s possible. What we’re building is actually a kind of combination of YouTube and Wikipedia. Or a TikTok for training. There’s a huge market for it.’

Belgian entry in the World Championships

Will Manual.to soon become World Champion in Entrepreneurship? It just might. At the national preliminary round of the Entrepreneurship World Cup, the Ghent-based growth company has been chosen as the Belgian entry for the competition, which will take place at the end of this year in Saudi Arabia. The Belgian preliminary rounds were organized last week by the Flemish network of enterprises Voka, the Walloon Union Wallonne des Entreprises and the international Global Entrepreneurship Network. If Manual.to wins the world championship, there is a prize of 1 million dollars involved. But above all, the competition is known as a global showcase for potential customers and financiers, and as an international networking event that offers growth opportunities for young companies.

[Press Release] Ghent, Belgium — March 26th, 2024  –  Manual.to, the leading software for instant know-how, today announced the availability of the Manual.to platform on Microsoft AppSource, an online cloud marketplace providing tailored line-of-business solutions.

Manual.to, a web-based SaaS platform, empowers frontline employees by providing a user-friendly medium for capturing and sharing knowledge. This platform facilitates the rapid creation of illustrated content such as how-to instructions, training manuals, SOPs, and product guides. Leveraging instant machine translation and simple design principles, Manual.to enables quick and effective employee training on a global scale, now accessible through AppSource.

Manual.to addresses the universal need for companies to instruct frontline employees and customers efficiently, especially for multinational corporations with diverse audiences.

Key benefits include:

Accessible on any device, in any language, and deployable globally through QR codes or personalized URLs, Manual.to runs on Microsoft Azure, ensuring security and compliance with easy access through AppSource.

“Microsoft AppSource welcomes Manual.to, which joins a cloud marketplace landscape predicted to grow revenue 500% from 2022 to 2025,” said Giovanni Mezgec, Vice President, Modern Work + Business Applications Field & Partner Marketing, Microsoft Corp. “Thanks to AppSource and line-of-business solutions from trusted partners like Manual.to, customers can do more with less by increasing efficiency, buying confidently, and spending smarter.”

As described by CEO & Co-Founder, Jorim Rademaker: “We’re excited to launch Manual.to on Microsoft AppSource, highlighting our dedication to empowering organizations globally. Partnering with Microsoft allows us to leverage a secure and extensive ecosystem, ensuring our innovative platform reaches a worldwide audience. This move aligns with our mission to streamline knowledge sharing and enhance productivity on a global scale.”

Manual.to, recently included in the Eviden Scaler program (October 2023) and part of the Microsoft Accelerator program since 2017, is one of Belgium’s fastest-growing software companies with a diverse global customer base. This includes major players like P&G, ABB, Umicore, Dupont, Aperam, CEVA and G4S, now all benefitting from our AppSource presence.

February 15th, 2024 saw the launch of Hilando Oportunidades, a USAID-funded program to train 1,500 Honduran youth in technical textiles in Northern Honduras. This marks a significant step in addressing unemployment and underemployment in the Northern Triangle region of Central America. Manual.to proudly provides the software enabling native-language training, accessible at any pace and location, from classroom to shop floor.

Since 2019, we’ve been sponsoring a collaboration with North Carolina State University. The focus has been on documenting the machines, training the next generation of US textile designers and workers.

In 2022, we were introduced to the Hilando Oportunidades project through Dr. Andre West, the Director of Zeis Textile Extension Wilson at the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University.  We were able to identify two key areas where Manual.to could help:

Education at NC State

At North Carolina State University (NC State), they provide education in the production of textiles. Everything from how to turn fibers into fabric to how to use the machinery involved. Manual.to plays a crucial role here because the manuals were originally text only and in English, but many of the students who will need them spoke other languages. Using artificial intelligence embedded in the Manual.to platform, they were able to instantly translate the manuals into any language, ensuring everyone could understand them. Every step in the production process has a short video showing how to perform that task. This way even the most complex of processes can be broken into easy to understand steps. This aligns with the way students learn at home, through short form video.

Supporting factories in Honduras

The factories in Honduras recognize the value of having similar manuals for NC State and local students. They can easily adapt NCSU’s materials to their machinery with minimal changes.This helps to streamline their operating process and helps with machine maintenance and troubleshooting. This results in fewer stoppages and increased productivity. It also simplifies training, bringing people up to skill dramatically faster.

Over the last 18 months, NCSU and the Manual.to team, led by Brian Aherne, collaborated on this project. They outlined each step and created the necessary manuals efficiently. This project shows the positive outcomes that can result from collaboration.

💡 You can find an example of one of their manuals here: ncsu.manual.to/manuar-final

Now that the project has been launched, we eagerly anticipate seeing its impact unfold. We also hope to expand this initiative to the other countries “The Northern Triangle:” Guatemala and El Salvador. 

North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles received a grant in 2023 from USAID to launch Hilando Oportunidades. Based in Honduras, the aim of this project is to train over 1,500 individuals in various textile skills. This includes yarn spinning, knitting, dyeing, and apparel production. About 10,000 additional workers are expected to be needed in Honduras alone within the next five years .

This initiative will also focus on providing trackable credentials to empower workers and enhance supply chain security. Supported by the HUGE Textile Cluster and various industry stakeholders, the program brings together expertise from NC State, UNITEC, Gaston College, and Shimmy to address the growing demand for skilled textile workers in Honduras and the broader Central American region. 

This effort not only strengthens international partnerships but also aligns with the goals of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. This highlighs the interconnectedness of the textile industries in North Carolina and Central America.

About Manual.to

At Manual.to, our mission is to digitize global know-how, making it accessible everywhere and in any language.  The end result? Dramatic improvements in productivity, employee engagement and retention, quality, safety and wellbeing. 

Proud Microsoft Scaler alumni & Eviden Scaler participant, Manual.to has the support of some of the biggest companies in tech helping to reach our goal. 

 Step into the footsteps of Umicore, Recticel, P&G, ABB, Audi, Aperam, Telenet, Dupont, CEVA Logistics, STAS, Altachem, Lonza, MSD and many, many more.