Being "innovative" often means taking new paths: In the research alliance KMUdigital, we support selected partners in their entry into digital training – and learn in practice how our platform can pave this way for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Terms like "Work 4.0" or "Industry 4.0" are becoming increasingly prominent in our ever more digitalized society. What is repeatedly forgotten alongside work and production is that knowledge transfer is also changing rapidly!

On the way to "Training 4.0", hundreds of trainers and companies already trust blink.it today. The biggest challenge for us is to meet all the requirements with the blink.it learning platform: Digital training is a balancing act between freelance trainers with small learning groups and large companies with thousands of employees.

In between are small and medium-sized companies: In Germany, these make up 99% of VAT-liable companies! Therefore, the needs of these companies are at the focus of the collaborative project KMUdigital:

The blink.it founders Michael Witzke (front center) and Konstantin Ristl (back right) with the project partners of KMUdigital

KMU Digital: Promoting Training 4.0 in SMEs

KMUdigital is a collaborative project that accompanies selected SMEs on their path towards Work and Industry 4.0.

The research project, which is planned for two years with 5 project partners, is actively funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. We at blink.it are both participants and technology providers: With our learning platform, we support our partners Werner Dosiertechnik, bauer Maschinen & Technologie, and LaKo in implementing e-learning and blended learning.

Info: You can find more information on the KMUdigital website

Our Mission: Solve SME Challenges Simply!

In direct collaboration with the project partners, we want to complement and optimize our own platform. Our goal is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with a perfect solution for Training 4.0 in the future.

To make this possible, we are developing the requirements of medium-sized companies for digital training – and develop suitable solutions on the blink.it learning platform. In one and a half years of practical research, we have developed a variety of new features. Among them, for example, the following three:

1. Improved Communication Between Participants and Trainers

Trainers usually communicate with their small learning groups in person. Large companies often use specific communication software. For medium-sized companies, both solutions outside the platform are not ideal.

Our Solution: Participants can not only write comments under learning units but can now also upload their own files and directly address and notify other participants.

In the comment area, participants can ask questions, upload files, and directly address other participants / Source: blink.it Learning Platform

2. Voluntary Learning Contents for Motivated Participants

Trainers and large companies usually offer courses on specific topics that are mandatory for all participants. Our KMU partners wanted to break up this strict allocation of learning materials.

Our Solution: Courses can be freely offered on the platform for all participants. This allows training for motivated employees to be on a voluntary basis.

In the comment area, participants can ask questions, upload files, and directly address other participants / Source: blink.it Learning Platform

3. Identify and Address Inactive Participants Directly

In medium-sized companies, participant groups are often too large to individually verify learning progress. At the same time, there is usually no "Learning and Development" department that can undertake this control with large groups of participants.

Our Solution: The blink.it platform automatically detects when participants have not actively participated in courses for an extended period. These participants can be specifically notified to motivate them to continue working.

In addition to mandatory courses, voluntary learning contents can also be offered in the "Discover" area. Source: blink.it Learning Platform

We, of course, provide these features not only to the project partners but also to all blink.it customers! 🙂

Our Goal: The Perfect Learning Platform for Training 4.0

Managing Director Konstantin Ristl has a clear goal in mind for the KMUdigital project:

“We want to improve our platform not only for medium-sized companies but also create real added value for all trainers and companies with our research. Independent trainers and coaches, as well as companies of all sizes, should have the opportunity to design training simply, modernly, and sustainably. And especially the promotion of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research shows us how important this topic is – and that we are making a valuable contribution!”