Connected Worker Systems Enforce Standards at Kimberly-Clark

Sometimes, it’s just simple.

No massive technology upheavals, no restructuring of every process, no transformation, just a few simple tech upgrades that cascade into huge organizational benefits.

For paper products giant Kimberly-Clark, connected worker systems standardize communications and processes, improving efficiency and reducing waste. Tech leaders have been saying for years that systems that provide the right data to workers is the most cost-effective technology available in manufacturing, and K-C’s experience bears that out.

In 2020 and 2021, K-C at a few plants in North America piloted Poka’s connected worker system that runs on smart devices and manages documents for knowledge capture and training, skills tracking, digitizing work instructions and recording maintenance data.

Early challenges included shoring up internet access across entire facilities and determining what benefits of connected worker technology applied to the greatest number of mills, to determine the most opportune pilot projects. Digital records replaced paper copies and Excel spreadsheets, and ROI began proving out.

But, could it work globally? Enter Ricardo Schiochet.

The connected worker initiative has generated enough positive results to make convincing leaders about ROI much simpler than a few years ago, however.

Six months after one of K-C’s high-profile mills installed Poka, OEE increased by 5% and waste decreased by 60%. Tracking machine data at a different plant enabled preventative maintenance that saved the plant from having to pay more than $100,000 for a new asset.

Technology Forces Standards

Successful deployment of a connected worker system requires standardization of work, says Schiochet, such as defining SOP for inspections or regular routines and tasks for leaders.

“If I talk about leader standard work in El Salvador, they know what I’m talking about. If I talk about leader standard work in Vietnam, they know what I’m talking about. That type of standardization helps to build something in connected worker systems,” says Schiochet.

Preferably, a mill shores up its standards before deploying connected worker. However, even without organized efforts to standardize tasks, simply deploying connected worker forces the issue. The tool pushes operators, engineers, whoever uses the system to go by the same forms and record the same data as everyone else. The work checklists effectively become SOPs.

Manufacturing data recorded in connected worker systems provide apples-to-apples comparisons and single source of truth reporting when fed through business intelligence software. This unfortunately creates the same sort of challenges encountered when installing a new MES.

“Every mill has their own local system to calculate OEE. They [sometimes] say that our data is wrong because it’s not matching the local system. We have to work with [these mills] to say ‘It’s not that our calculations are incorrect. It’s that your local system isn’t precise,’” says Schiochet.

Lean Manufacturing Experts Should Love Connected Worker

Having an entire plant wired into a connected worker solution allows leaders to quickly update task lists and best practices for everyone just by updating the related documents.

This agility makes it possible to leverage connected worker for operational excellence and lean initiatives. Both teams may become important partners in any deployment.

“There’s a global team responsible for lean manufacturing and operational excellence. [When work isn’t standardized at a plant] we ask them, ‘What’s your direction for us?’ because we need to implement something,” says Schiochet.

Networked Employees Form Communities

The “connected” in “connecter worker” isn’t limited to the digital realm. Getting everyone on the same system and looking at the same data creates a sense of community at K-C plants deploying Poka. Operators and maintenance teams confer about machine conditions. Managers and team leaders track worker assignments and discuss training opportunities. Trainers identify gaps in knowledge capture and work together to fill them.

The technology can also attract younger operators to stay within manufacturing. Connected worker is about engagement, after all.

“New operators don’t want to go to a shop floor [and use traditional tools]. They want something that is more digitalized, otherwise you’re not going to hold them,” Schiochet says.