Fresh sustainability initiative: Symetri Training Manuals go digital

Digital means sustainability

Symetri trains approximately 3,500 individuals a year. In association with the course they select, each attendee is provided with a manual. Depending on the nature of the software/solution a person has been trained in, they may receive two or three manuals.

In pre-Covid days, with an abundance of classroom training going on, the distribution of manuals was straightforward — they were handed over at the training venue.

Then everything changed. Virtual training became the default. After that, course materials were despatched directly to attendees’ nominated addresses, which has continued this way, given the proven popularity of virtual courses.

A WEIGHTY CONCERN
I manual at 300 sheets = 1.5 kilos = 3.3 lbs

Assume an average of 2 manuals per attendee x 3,500 attendees

23, 100 lbs / 11.5 tons

Just send it through the computer

The paper on which the manuals were printed was recycled, but the journey many of them took was lengthy and environmentally questionable. Now all that has changed too, as Craig Snell, Support and Training manager for Symetri’s Product Design and Lifecycle team explains: “Going digital with our manuals is simply the smarter way to go”, says Craig.

“From a sustainability perspective, it’s smarter.  Multiple courier deliveries around the world represented exhaust emissions, which we have now been able to remove, reducing Symetri’s overall carbon footprint in the process. Now we don’t need to send anything worldwide or up and down the country. We send it through the computer”.

No manual effort, no carbon footprint

A recent training course, conducted virtually, had delegates from Aberdeen, Canada, Dubai, the UAE, and the U.S. The follow-up involved warehouse packing, transit to couriers, courier transit to five countries and then 14 in-country onward deliveries to delegates’ homes. Logistics exercises of this nature will now be unnecessary. One-click in a Symetri office and the manuals arrive at their destinations; clean, virtual, and virtually carbon-free.

An additional benefit is that the ‘e-manuals’ are easier for customers to use. They can highlight sections or words, make their own mark-ups, and there’s a text-to-speech function for accessibility. Lugging a three-pound book around is simply not that convenient. Turning on your computer takes no effort at all.

“The design professional today has digital at the centre of his or her daily routine. It makes sense to have reference to training materials fitting right in with this way of working”, says Craig.

Find out more about Symetri’s wide range of training courses.