Screenly helps Bridon-Bekaert improve communications between management and factory-floor workers, particularly concerning safety precautions. Steel rope manufacturing involves heavy equipment, and safety must be a top priority among all company stakeholders.
Bridon-Bekaert is a leading manufacturer of steel ropes for industrial applications, including mining, construction, and oil production. The company formed as a merger in 2016. However, the company’s roots go back to the early 1900s with the Belgian steel wire maker Tréfileries Leon Bekaert.
How Bridon-Bekaert manufacturing plants got started with digital signage
In mid-2019, Bridon-Bekaert had several monitors that displayed information to workers via a PowerPoint presentation. The IT department set up the monitors, and it was the company’s first foray into digital signage.
While the DIY solution got the job done, it wasn’t ideal. Content transitions weren’t smooth, and changing out content was an extremely time-consuming process. An employee had to go to each monitor in-person and manually update the PowerPoint files. As a result, staff rarely changed out content, and the same content ended up looping for weeks at a time. Workers began to disregard the monitors, and on some occasions, workers unplugged the monitors altogether. Without proper digital signage management, the monitors became more of an annoyance and an eyesore than a useful communication tool.
The team at Bridon-Bekaert turned to Screenly to help improve the company’s digital signs. Screenly was initially set up by the IT department, and IT showed Jeffrey Pollins, the company’s Health Safety & Environmental Coordinator, how to add content and create playlists for each screen. The new-user onboarding and training process only took about 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and Jeffrey set up the company’s first Screenly-powered digital sign in the company cafeteria. Jeffrey now manages the Bridon Bekaert’s digital signage content strategy.
How Bridon-Bekaert uses digital signs in their factories today
Today, Bridon-Bekaert uses several Screenly-powered digital signs to communicate safety procedures, business metrics, and general company updates with employees. Content includes content production numbers, required OSHA training and safety videos, and even some entertaining content, such as funny video clips. From his experience managing the company’s digital signage, Jeffrey notes that it’s essential to keep the content fresh and engaging. Mixing up the content with work and non-work related materials has helped keep employees engaged with the digital signs.
Going forward, Bridon-Bekaert is looking to expand their usage of digital signage to its other facilities across North America. With Screenly, a single user at the company headquarters can manage content for all the company’s facilities across the continent. This centralized management allows content and communication to be coherent and trackable across the firm.
The team has already expanded its digital signage deployment to both of its facilities in Pennsylvania, and initial feedback from the new facility has been overwhelmingly positive. In particular, employees have enjoyed being able to view their sister facilities. For example, workers in the raw materials plant have enjoyed seeing footage of their colleagues manufacturing the final product and shipping out products to customers. Employees at the raw materials facility have told Jeffrey, “Wow, I’ve never seen the machines run like that. I’ve never seen how the rope looks when it’s stranded or closed.”