A software platform customized to the individual manufacturing partner.

Nuts & Bolts

Hard Hat Digital Training’s portal is a software platform customized to the individual manufacturing partner.

Although Hard Hat is the host, our portal is personalized with your logo and color scheme to mimic and compliment your existing website. The training portal can be accessible either through a secured link installed on your existing website, appropriately titled “Product Training & Resources”, or as a standalone training site.

Fees:

The Hard Hat platform is a software leasing program. The manufacturing partner pays an initial design and set-up fee in addition to a nominal quarterly or annual ‘HAM’ fee thereafter (HAM – Hosting, Administration, and Management). Included in the monthly HAM fee:

• Hosting and licensing fee
• Administration fees for collecting, tabulating, and formatting a detailed monthly analytical report (Participant Evaluation Report).
• Management fees which include adding, deleting, and revising training material.

Participants:

Access to manufacturing training portals are by invitation only – the manufacturing partner has complete discretion over who has access. Registration email invitations can be sent to specific individuals with preset secured passcodes, or an invitation request page can be incorporated into the manufacturing partner’s training portal providing them with approval control, or both. All participants are required to register with a certified email address and employer verification. Once registered and approved their training activity is monitored, recorded, documented, and emailed, with other beneficial details, to the manufacturing partner in a comprehensive monthly Participant Evaluation Report.

Functionality:

Hard Hat’s portal operates similarly to college distant learning platforms. As a manufacturing partner, you choose to post as many, or as few, courses as you wish. For example, if your organization manufacturers fifteen different pieces of equipment, you may have fifteen different courses – one course focusing on each piece of equipment. Within each course are chapters. Chapters represent various learning segments of the course. Using our example of a course being a specific piece of equipment, chapters might include safety aspects specific to that piece of equipment, unpacking the equipment, preparing the equipment for use, features and benefits review, basic operation, proper transportation procedures, general and recommended maintenance, troubleshooting, utilizing accessories, proper storage, common repairs, and so on.

Within each chapter the manufacturer has the option of implementing attention queues, strategically placed start/stop blockers within the chapter. For example, while watching a chapter video, the video will stop and ask the participant, “Are you there?” If they don’t click yes within a predetermined amount of time, the participant will be required to re-watch the video from the beginning (this information specific to the participant is recorded and included in the monthly evaluation report). This mandates the participant be engaged in the curriculum. Additionally, the manufacturing partner has the option to place pop quizzes both within a chapter and at the conclusion of the chapter. This requires the participant to answer key questions before being allowed to advance in the training.  If a predetermined number of questions (as determined by the manufacturing partner) are answered incorrectly, the participant is required to start over (again, this data is recorded and forwarded to the manufacturing partner in the monthly Participant Evaluation Report).

Learning Paths:

Another unique feature of the Hard Hat Digital Training portal are Learning Paths. Learning Paths allow the manufacturing partner to create a series of courses to be taken in a specific order. This equips the manufacturing partner with the ability to mandate how the participant learns. Similar to freshman level 101 courses and senior level 401 courses, the manufacturing partner utilizes their experience and expertise to navigate the participant’s progression through a sequence of course work. The participant is compelled to advance through select courses in the progression the manufacturing partner has deemed the most efficient.   

Monthly Participant Evaluation Report:

One of the more persuasive learning strategies is mandated accountability, making the participant, and to some degree their employer, accountable for both long and short-term retention of the course work. Hard Hat Digital Training has numerous built-in retention mechanisms; however, the most powerful learning and retention component is accountability to an authoritative figure or institution. In this case, it’s both the manufacturing partner and the participant’s supervisors.  The Monthly Participant Evaluation Report is essentially a progress report card of the participant’s efforts, accomplishments, and failures. This report allows the manufacturing partner to drill down into great detail of each registered participant’s activity and results within their course work. The collective data gathered and organized within the Participant Evaluation Report provides critical information that can be discussed and shared with the participant, the participant’s supervisors, and human resource manager all in an effort to improve the participant’s expertise and job performance. The reports hold the participant accountable to the manufacturing partner, their managers, and employer.

The Monthly Participant Evaluation Report includes:  

1. The names, contact information, and employer of new registered participants as well as existing registered participants with your training portal.
2. The current status of each participant which includes:
   1. Courses history (completed courses)
      1. Grades (quiz grades and final exam)
         1. How many attempts were made before passing quiz/final exam.
            1. A list of missed quiz / test questions.
      1. Time taken to complete courses.
   1. Courses in progress
      1.  Grades (quiz grades and final exam)
         1. How many attempts were made before passing quiz/final exam.
            1. A list of missed quiz / test questions.
      1. How many days remain in the required course timetable.
   1. The courses or Learning Paths they’re currently registered.
   1. Pre-registered courses (assigned by you or distribution partner).
3. Feedback surveys for each class to help you improve the quality of courses / chapters.