How Can Companies Drive Upskilling at the Pace of Change?

What upskilling means today

Digital technologies are reshaping industrial work at a pace that is challenging for many organizations to match. The World Economic Forum reports that “almost 40% of the core skills for advanced manufacturing and supply chain workforce will change by 2030.”

The Future of Jobs Report (2025) reinforces this development, saying “44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted within the next five years.”
These shifts cover a wide range of competencies, including digital literacy, operational skills, problem-solving, communication and the ability to work with intelligent systems.

Why upskilling has become a critical operational requirement

Upskilling is no longer a long-term strategic initiative. It has become a daily operational requirement, driven by a set of pressures that affect both workforce stability and the way work is carried out.

1. Skill gaps limit the pace of transformation

2. Workforce instability increases training demand

How Manual.to responds to common upskilling problems

Even investing in well-designed preparational training programs, companies often find that workers still need additional support when carrying out tasks on the shop floor. This is where Manual.to steps in. Several structural barriers explain the gap between learning and day-to-day execution.

Common problem

Manual.to’s approach

Updating training material when processes or system settings change frequently.

Workers may have learned a correct procedure during training but encounter an outdated version during their shift.

Manual.to enables teams to update content in minutes, ensuring that operational guidance matches the current state of the process rather than outdated versions.

Providing guidance when workers have limited time for structured training.

Workers often rely on quick explanations or colleagues when time is tight, and instructions may not be available in their own language. This leads to inconsistent execution across teams.

Manual.to offers visual, step-by-step instructions using photos, short videos and simple layouts. Workers get clear references at the workplace, in multiple languages, exactly when they need them.

Reducing reliance on experts for clarifications during daily work.

Newer employees frequently turn to experienced colleagues when instructions are unclear or workflows differ from training, creating interruptions and pressure on senior operators.

Manual.to makes expert knowledge easy to document and share, reducing the number of clarifications needed during shifts and helping teams work more independently.

Ensuring that information is accessible to all team members on the shop floor.

Traditional documentation may be text-heavy, outdated or hard to access, especially for workers with different languages, roles or levels of digital confidence. As a result, guidance is often not used.

Manual.to delivers consistent, visual instructions across sites and shifts through QR codes, tablets or mobile devices. This makes guidance accessible and easy to follow for all teams, regardless of language or experience.

Supporting teams with varying skill levels and learning needs.

New hires, mid-career operators and long-tenured employees start with different levels of familiarity with tools, processes and digital systems, making it hard to provide uniform guidance.

Manual.to complements training by offering practical, at-the-point-of-work references. It acts as a leveling layer that supports each worker at their own pace, helping them reliably apply what they learned.

These barriers help explain why upskilling efforts sometimes fall short of the intended impact. Workers may understand concepts during training but still need clear, current and accessible guidance during the actual task, especially when workflows change more frequently.

Manual.to supports this through a structured implementation flow designed to make knowledge easy to create, update and use.

How to implement upskilling with Manual.to

Implementing Manual.to follows a project flow that helps organizations structure their knowledge, prepare their teams and support ongoing learning on the shop floor.
The process can be divided into four phases:

Defining the scope
Creating content
Introducing the platform to users
Establishing continuous improvement

The next section walks through these phases and shows how companies can apply them in practice.

1. Define the Scope

Goal
Responsibles are completely set up for content creation.

Outcome
A clear plan defining who will use Manual.to, where, and which knowledge will be created first.

Before instructions are created, organizations define what the platform will cover in the first rollout. This ensures that knowledge efforts are focused and aligned with operational needs.
Key steps include:

Determine which departments will use Manual.to

Typical starting points are:

Production
Quality
Maintenance
Administration

The selection depends on where knowledge gaps, variability or frequent clarifications occur.

Define the physical scope of the rollout

This includes the factories, lines or workstations where the platform will be introduced first.

Pilots usually begin with a defined set of teams before scaling to additional locations.

Identify the initial set of manuals

Content selection is based on operational needs, such as:

Basic manuals required for onboarding
High-impact tasks where errors occur frequently
Procedures that change often and need fast updates
Tasks relevant to upskilling goals (e.g., achieving a certain skill level)

A simple timeline or deadline for this initial scope helps teams coordinate creation efforts

2. Create content and make it accessible

Goal
Accurate, easy-to-use instructions are available where and when workers need them.

Outcome
QR-codes to the new visual instructions right at the workplace.

Once the scope is defined, organizations move into the creation and distribution phase.

Introduce content creators to the platform

Creators may be:

Subject-matter experts
Team leads
Operators who film or record experts
Quality or training staff

Manual.to’s simple interface allows all groups to document tasks without technical writing expertise.

Capture knowledge from experts

Knowledge is recorded directly on the shop floor using photos, videos and short explanations. This ensures that instructions reflect reality and are easy for others to follow.

Create clear, visual instructions

Using Manual.to’s editor, creators turn recordings into concise step-by-step manuals. Visual formats help teams with different experience levels and language backgrounds.

Distribute manuals where the work happens

Instructions become accessible on the shop floor through:

QR codes placed on machines, tools or workstations
Tablets or mobile devices used across shifts, without installations needed

This ensures that workers have direct access to guidance in the context of their task.

3. Introduce the platform to users

Goal
Workers feel engaged and use the platform confidently.

Outcome
Workers understand how to use the platform, how it supports their development and how to contribute to improving the content.

Once manuals are available, Manual.to support and early adopters help workers understand how to use the platform and how it supports their development.

Introduce workers to the platform

With manual.to customer support, the teams learn how to:

Open manuals
Navigate steps
Use visual and video instructions
Provide feedback through comments or ratings

The joint onboarding events facilitate clearing up questions early on effectively. Teaching employees how to interact with the platform properly strengthens engagement and helps identify where instructions need refinement later on.

Connect manuals to individual development goals

Upskilling often involves specific learning paths, such as reaching a new qualification, mastering a process or developing a new skill level. These goals can be supported by:

A checklist-style manual that lists the steps toward the required skill
A supporting folder structure and linked manuals, making it easy to keep on exploring a topic

This turns upskilling from a broad initiative into a transparent, trackable journey for each user.

4. Establish Continuous Improvement

Goal
Ensure manuals stay current and the system continues to deliver value.

Outcome
Instructions stay accurate, real feedback drives improvements and other teams can adopt the same effective practices.

To keep instructions aligned with changing processes, companies build routines for updating and improving content.

Add content based on emerging needs

As new tasks, tools or issues arise, teams document them using the same quick capture process. This ensures that knowledge stays current.

Refine instructions using feedback

Comments and ratings highlight unclear steps, missing information or variations in practice. Content owners can update manuals within minutes to reflect the latest standards.

Track usage and learning patterns

Manual.to’s analytics help identify what instructions employees’ consult most and how usage is developing.

Integrate with skill management systems

Some companies link Manual.to with their skill matrices to:

Track individual progress
Identify development needs and opportunities
Support qualification processes

This allows organizations to align learning activities with operational goals.

Results: What effective upskilling looks like in practice

While the WEF reports highlight a strong need for new skills related to digitalisation, the practical challenge for most companies is supporting workers in executing any tasks reliably as processes and tools evolve. Whether a task involves advanced technologies or core operational workflows, workers need clear, current and accessible guidance in order to apply what they have learned.

The project plan described above is therefore not limited to technology-focused upskilling. It can be applied to any area where employees need to build or strengthen skills: from working with new digital systems to mastering standard procedures, reducing variation or supporting onboarding. Many organizations use Manual.to in exactly this way, and the following examples illustrate how clearer instructions and accessible knowledge can support different types of upskilling needs.

These examples show how accessible guidance, continual updates and clear task descriptions can reinforce upskilling efforts. Where workers have straightforward access to accurate information, onboarding becomes faster, interruptions decrease and process execution becomes more consistent.

Industries

Use cases