Quick facts about Kardex Group: 

  • Industry: Manufacturing and Logistics
  • HQ: Zurich, Switzerland
  • Established: 1898
  • Web: www.kardex.com/en/

Challenge 

Kardex Group is a global provider of storage and logistics solutions headquartered in Switzerland. The company has a strategy to increase knowledge and performance across 2,000 global staff, with blended learning delivered through its own Kardex Academy. 

To improve and expand learning options for employees, Kardex was seeking a user-friendly, flexible platform that could act as the single point for technical, sales and soft skills training that could also integrate with its growing Microsoft 365 digital workplace. 

“Learn365 has created a single learning system for our learners that is very easy to use and is allowing us to improve both technical and soft skills, driving competency growth throughout the company. It’s also saved huge amounts of time for the Kardex Academy team. We’re very happy with our choice of learning platform.”

Solution 

Kardex is strongly committed to learning. Roland Noglinski, Senior Director, Continuous People Development & Academy explains,

“Kardex Group has a strategy to achieve competitive advantage through enhanced know-how and performance development. Our mission is to achieve competency growth at every level.” 

The Kardex Academy delivers blended learning for all staff. The COVID-19 pandemic meant Kardex had to rapidly move some classroom-based training to digital formats, but they lacked the right platform.  

“We have a very diverse workforce located across twenty countries with both office and production staff. Previously staff had to navigate three different applications – an old e-learning system, a separate course catalog for classroom-based training, and Microsoft Teams for webinars.  We needed a single, flexible and user-friendly platform that could handle all these learning formats.” 

Roland Noglinski, Senior Director, Continuous People Development & Academy

The team researched the market, evaluating five platforms against detailed requirements. Learn365 stood out because of its unrivalled integration with Microsoft 365. Roland Noglinski explains,

“We use Microsoft 365 with a SharePoint intranet and Microsoft Teams. We needed a learning platform that has deep integration with Microsoft 365 and allow us to search across it.” 

Learn365 also ticked other boxes including being intuitive for users and administrators, and its ability to handle all learning types. Moreover, the platform’s rich set of features meant that Kardex could introduce learning paths, certification and evolve the Kardex Academy. 

Following a fast-track implementation with the help of the Zensai team, Learn365 was launched in May 2021. 

Results 

Today, all 2000 employees can access Learn365, branded as the Kardex Academy. Seamless integration with Kardex’s intranet means employees access Learn365 via a custom SharePoint page or via Microsoft Teams. Production staff can access the course catalog on their mobile phone via the Learn365 app. 

“One great advantage of Learn365 is that learners can access their courses using the channel and device they want, via a desktop, iPad or smartphone.”  

Roland Noglinski, Senior Director, Continuous People Development & Academy

Learn365 supports an extensive blended learning catalogue with nearly 200 courses, over 50 classroom-based training courses, and nearly 60 webinars. There are also nearly 80 defined learning paths, including everything from technical training for service technicians to sales training for those selling Kardex’s specialist solutions.  

Kardex has launched a standardized, global employee onboarding program using Learn365’s learning path functionality. Every new employee now learns about Kardex’s strategy and values, code of conduct, and how to access systems, as well as receiving training specific to their role.  

Soft skill development is also supported. Roland Noglinski says,

“We encourage learning around softer skills. We offer a large portfolio of courses, many of which are integrated from LinkedIn Learning.” 

Overall Learn365 has hugely improved the experience for learners, bringing everything together into one, intuitive environment. Roland Noglinski comments,

“Previously we used three different systems for learning, which was inefficient and even a barrier to adoption. Learn365 has brought these all together in a way that is much less confusing for employees, with the same look and feel as Microsoft 365 that learners are already familiar with.” 

The new platform has also reduced the administration burden for the learning team. Roland Noglinski says,

“There has been a huge reduction in our workload! Trainers throughout the business are now empowered to administer their own courses directly which is far more efficient for everybody. It means the Academy team can focus on higher quality work.”  

Significantly, Learn365 is increasing the demand for courses from learners. In the Academy Team’s annual learning feedback survey, the introduction of Learn365 has led to learners wanting to see an increase in the learning and external training available, while webinars remain consistently popular.  

Feedback has also been positive too, with one user saying that the “Kardex Academy is doing great work” and another stating “I am happy with the new set-up and LMS training environment. The offering of courses is very nice.” 

Future  

Going forward the team will continue to expand the course catalog and increase the number of learning paths on the platform. Notably, a new global leadership development program for all managers across Kardex will be launched.  

There are also plans to leverage Learn365’s certification functionality. Roland Noglinski explains,

“Our technicians will complete a learning path and then get certified. This will show customers that our technicians have the right knowledge to install or repair a machine.”  

The team will take advantage of Learn365’s deep integration with Microsoft 365, introducing a new Power BI dashboard for managers to track key learning KPIs. Power Automate will also ensure external training taken appears on an individual’s training record. 

The team is also pleased that the Learn365 learning experts are committed to continual improvement and have already submitted feedback for future enhancements. Roland Noglinski comments,

“Learn365 allows us to add new courses, features and even suggest additions to the roadmap. We’re excited about the road ahead!” 

About 

Kardex Group is a global industry partner for intralogistics solutions and a leading supplier of automated storage solutions and material handling systems. Headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the Swiss SIX exchange, the company employs 2,000 people across 20 countries.