Continuing education initiatives address robotics, sustainability, and more

In the face of accelerating e-commerce activity, labor problems, and a host of other challenges, supply chain companies are stepping up their training and continuous education initiatives for employees and customers.

This week, sustainability ratings company EcoVadis launched an e-learning platform designed to help customers improve sustainability practices and performance, specifically helping them tackle what the company calls “priority improvement areas” in environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Called EcoVadis Academy, the online platform offers 16 courses in five languages, all of which incorporate interactive navigation, videos, and case studies to engage employees in their companies’ sustainability initiatives.

Users can start with introductory courses that provide a baseline knowledge and then progress with more in-depth content that allows them to address improvement areas with specific actions, the company said.

Danish robotics company OnRobot is also stepping up with a new training initiative, launching its Learn OnRobot platform in late October. The free online learning tool guides users of all skill levels through the steps required to design and deploy collaborative robot (cobot) applications. The company describes the program as a library of simple, direct, how-to videos and 3-dimensional simulations that offers detailed information on collaborative applications, including machine tending, palletizing, pick and place, and sanding. The platform is accessible via PC, smartphone, and tablet and aims to mitigate labor shortages by helping companies more quickly and effectively deploy cobot automation solutions.

Company leaders say the program is part of its efforts to “democratize” technology. It is available to customers and prospective customers.

“OnRobot’s solutions break down the barriers to automation adoption by making affordable, industry ready, easy-to-use technologies available to companies of all sizes,” Enrico Krog Iversen, OnRobot’s CEO, said in a statement. “Learn OnRobot continues this democratizing, barrier-busting tradition by making collaborative application know-how freely available to anyone with an internet connection, from prospective customers curious about our offerings, to partners, to integrators, and to end users of all skill levels looking to maximize the success of their automation deployment.”

Supply chain technology company Blume Global is investing internally with a continuing education program designed to help employees at all levels enhance their business and supply chain skills. The programs are offered in conjunction with online course provider Coursera and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB).

The Stanford program is designed to help employees develop leadership skills, and it consists of a virtual intensive along with a five-day residential program on the Stanford GSB campus. Employees receive a certificate from Stanford GSB upon completion.

With Coursera, Blume employees have access to 80 hours of training during business hours via the Coursera platform, including courses and guided projects on supply chain management, data science, software engineering, programming languages, cloud, IT, IT Ops, testing tools, Google Cloud Platform, and web development.