Innovative Playbook App is the Newest Way to Train

By Alexandra Emanuelli

There’s an app for just about everything these days, and teaching food safety technicians is no different. Taking advantage of the immediacy and convenience of our devices, tech developers at training giant Alchemy have created a new app that can provide on-the-job training.

Unique in its field, Alchemy Playbook, provides on-the-job training for workers by allowing supervisors to record videos of their best employees and create courses from that content. Instructions, quizzes, and course material are all included in the app and can be accessed without internet access, which can be the case on many production facilities floors.

Just as has been extensively covered in previous editions of eye on Food Safety Journal, training retention can be a serious challenge and impediment in ensuring the success of employees. As Archie Barrett, Intertek Alchemy’s EVP Product Development & Management explained, the development of the Alchemy Playbook was done to mitigate some of those issues. He went on to state that, “in developing Playbook, we focused on providing clients with solutions to the complex challenges of unplanned downtime and inconsistent on-the-job training, which spread costly bad practices fast.”

Image courtesy of Intertek Alchemy

Indeed, the technology is being used to great success in preventing loss, ensuring knowledge retention and passing along proper technique. Plant-based food manufacturer, Bonduelle shared how the app has impacted their team. Jodi Haggith, HR manager at Bonduelle North America shared with us that, “when we saw Playbook in action, it was immediately clear how this would revolutionize so many aspects of our operation… Alchemy Playbook allows us to utilize more visual methods and provide short bursts of on-the-job training for our frontline workers, transforming our culture while improving our employees’ productivity, safety, and job satisfaction.”

The trend towards embracing the latest technological innovations such as apps, virtual reality, blockchain and more continues to advance the food safety industry and help technicians work smarter, rather than harder. Combining know-how with advances is becoming a standard part of the industry, it’s time to embrace it even more.

About the Author:

Alexandra Emanuelli is the digital content editor for Global Food Safety Resource. She has been writing and editing in the field for the past seven years, and her previous contributions include publications such as AllRecipes, Huffington Post and Clean Eating Magazine.