Support training and continuous education for thousands of employees
Provide eLearning even in situations without Internet access
Develop interactive and engaging learning modules easily
Results
50% of courses delivered through eLearning, eliminating time consuming travel
5K eLearning courses completed by thousands of learners in approximately six months
Supports off-line learning ideal for crew members working at sea
Enables interaction with learning content on any device with the Fluidic Player
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“With Adobe Captivate Prime, our seafaring learners can continue their training wherever they are, even when they’re away at sea with limited Internet access.”
Captain Faouzi Fradi
Group Director Training, Columbia Shipmanagement
Training experts in their field
Even as air traffic rises, the seas remain the lifeblood of the world economy. Around 90% of the world’s trade is carried aboard transport ships and every year tens of millions of passengers spend their leisure time aboard cruise ships or yachts.
With more than 40 years of experience, Columbia Shipmanagement specialises in full-service ship management and maritime services, including maintenance and technical services, operations management and crew training. The company’s 15,000 global employees of more than 50 nationalities support more than 350 vessels sailing around the world.
Top quality training and education is at the heart of Columbia’s crew management ethos and this latest achievement has become a reality thanks to the ambitious strides the ship manager has taken to embrace a digital transformation. Training and continuous development are key to helping crew and shore-based employees keep up with fast-changing technologies and complex regulations.
After testing numerous learning management system providers, Columbia Shipmanagement selected Adobe Captivate Prime to support training and ongoing education for up to 15,000 learners. “With Adobe Captivate Prime, our seafaring learners can continue their training wherever they are, even when they’re away at sea with limited Internet access. Moreover, they always have access to all training materials including any updates,” says Captain Faouzi Fradi, Group Director Training at Columbia Shipmanagement.”
“By delivering learning with Captivate Prime, they spend more time with family at home and less time travelling to training centres or attending class room trainings.”
Norman Schmiedl
Group Director Crewing, Columbia Shipmanagement
Earning certifications off-line
Columbia Shipmanagement uses a mix of classroom-based learning, eLearning and blended learning education covering regulations, best-practices, technology training and soft skills such as communication and leadership. With help from Adobe Captivate Prime, the company now delivers about 50% of its courses through eLearning.
Seafaring crew must take multiple prerequisite training courses before they join the deliver to make# sure that that they’re maintaining the high level of expertise that customers expect from Columbia Shipmanagement. Seafarers now complete much of this basic training from their homes rather than travelling long distances to training centres. More importantly, using the off-line learning capabilities in Captivate Prime, they can continue to work on needed courses and earn certifications when at sea, even when Internet access is limited. Additionally, delivering theoretical lessons prior to the actual simulation trainings in expensive simulation centres better prepares the crew.
“Our learners enjoy that they can complete many of their basic requirements online or prepare themselves for training courses at their convenience,” says Norman Schmiedl, Group Director Crewing at Columbia Shipmanagement. “By delivering learning with Captivate Prime, they spend more time with family at home and less time travelling to training centres or attending class room trainings.”
Working with Adobe Captivate, the training team creates engaging courses with interactive elements and quizzes. Learners absorb the information more easily, allowing them to keep on top of changes in a dynamic industry. In the first six months, learners have completed more than 5,000 courses through Adobe Captivate Prime.
“The Fluidic Player in Adobe Captivate Prime is one of the most important components to helping us to create a good learning experience,” says Ilias Christoforou, Training Officer at Columbia Shipmanagement. “With the Fluidic Player, we can design courses that play any type of content, including embedded video and work smoothly even on mobile devices.”
Exceeding customer expectations
One of the next steps for Columbia Shipmanagement will involve integrating Adobe Captivate Prime with the human resources database so that staff can quickly determine whether crew have finished mandatory training modules and see what certificates or badges they have earned. The training team plans to continue building out interactive training options, including virtual reality and augmented reality training and even sell eLearning courses to turn training into a direct revenue generator.
“Training is one of the biggest areas where we can differentiate ourselves from the competition and deliver greater customer experiences,” says Captain Fradi. “With Adobe Captivate and Captivate Prime, we’re teaching crew the knowledge that they need to work efficiently and exceed our customers’ expectations”
