What is Tribal Knowledge and How Do You Capture It?
Tribal knowledge is undocumented or unwritten information that is not generally known across an organization.
In manufacturing, tribal knowledge consists of valuable (and often times essential) information on how to manufacture a product, operate a machine, or perform other factory processes. This information is typically acquired over decades of experience, yet remains undocumented.
Capturing and formalizing tribal knowledge helps improve efficiency, maintain consistency, and reduce dependency on individual workers, yet many companies struggle finding effective ways to capture and digitize tribal knowledge.
Read our article below to learn more about tribal knowledge:
Tribal knowledge in manufacturing refers to the undocumented skills, processes, and best practices known by experienced workers but not formally recorded. This knowledge is often learned on the job and passed down informally, making it essential for production efficiency but also a risk if key employees leave or retire.
Examples of Tribal Knowledge in Manufacturing:
Machine Setup & Maintenance: A technician may know a specific way to adjust a machine for optimal performance that isn’t in the official manual.
Troubleshooting Issues: Operators might have personal techniques for fixing recurring equipment malfunctions faster than standard procedures suggest.
Workarounds & Efficiency Hacks: Employees may have figured out faster ways to assemble parts, handle materials, or reduce waste that aren’t documented in standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Supplier & Material Insights: Workers may have insider knowledge about which materials from certain suppliers perform best or how to adjust for variations in material quality.
How Manufacturing’s Aging Workforce is Causing Loss of Tribal Knowledge
The loss of tribal knowledge due to the aging, retiring workforce is one of the top challenges in manufacturing. Nearly seventy-four million Baby Boomers are transitioning into retirement, with an estimated 10,000 leaving the workforce every day, according to AARP. This situation was magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced millions to retire early.
Senior production workers and subject matter experts have accumulated valuable experience and knowledge, which has been typically hard to capture and convert into an asset that is able to be easily shared and used by others. These workers are walking out the door with this valuable knowledge. The younger workforce that is entering the manufacturing sector does not have the knowledge that their senior peers have, but are expected to perform the same jobs, at the same level of productivity and quality. Bridging this skills gap crisis is a top concern for manufacturers.
Compared to other major industries, the Boomer drain is particularly acute for manufacturers as they suffer from one of the highest attrition rates. More than 75% of manufacturers today report a moderate to severe shortage of skilled resources, which results in an average 11% loss in earnings per year (factoring in costs for increased overtime, downtime, waste, etc.)
With such a large number of manufacturing workers aged 55+ expected to retire over the next few years, manufacturers must respond with alacrity to the challenges and opportunities of an aging workforce.
The Risks of Losing Tribal Knowledge
Losing tribal knowledge can have significant risks for an organization, especially in manufacturing, operations, and specialized industries. Some key risks include:
1. Loss of Productivity & Efficiency
Experienced employees often know faster, more efficient ways to complete tasks.
Without their knowledge, teams may struggle with slower processes, leading to production delays.
2. Increased Errors & Quality Issues
Undocumented best practices help maintain consistent quality.
Without them, new or less experienced employees may make mistakes, increasing defects and rework.
3. Higher Training Costs & Longer Onboarding
New employees rely on training programs, but if knowledge isn’t documented, onboarding takes longer.
More time and resources are needed to train new workers, leading to inefficiencies.
4. Operational Disruptions
If key employees leave without passing down knowledge, critical operations may be disrupted.
Troubleshooting and maintenance may take longer due to a lack of informal expertise.
5. Loss of Competitive Advantage
Unique problem-solving approaches, efficiency hacks, and insider techniques contribute to a company’s competitive edge.
Losing this knowledge can make an organization less agile and innovative.
6. Safety & Compliance Risks
In industries with strict regulations (e.g., manufacturing, healthcare, aviation), undocumented knowledge may lead to non-compliance.
Safety procedures may not be followed correctly, increasing workplace hazards.
7. Dependence on Key Individuals
If only a few employees hold essential knowledge, the company becomes vulnerable when they leave or retire.
Workflows can stall without someone who knows how to handle specific situations.
Capturing Tribal Knowledge and Turning it into a Sharable Corporate Asset
Manufacturers are now turning to more advanced strategies to capture and digitize tribal knowledge and empower their frontline teams.
Many organizations are doing this by being laser-focused on retaining the tribal knowledge of their mature workers and integrating that expertise into the new generation of workers that they are hiring. This includes: developing strategies for employee retention, increasing training and cross-training efforts, and implementing digital technologies to make it easier to capture and share valuable information. This digitally-connected worker strategy helps manufacturers leverage their workforce in an increasingly hybrid environment.
With the right technology solutions, such as AI-based connected worker platforms, novice workers can connect with experts through remote collaborative sessions. This collaboration may be recorded for educational purposes, which increases an organization’s ability to provide “just in time” training in the future – or knowledge at the time of need.
Without a digitally-connected strategy, it can also be challenging to bridge generational gaps in the transfer of critical knowledge. Multiple generations of workers – Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials – are all laboring under one roof today, employing diverse work styles, tools, skill sets, and expertise. Providing a common platform for training and overall connectivity can help improve the performance of workers who lack experience while capturing and archiving tribal knowledge for the future.
So, in the short-term, while everyone is figuring out how best to transfer knowledge from one human to another, the longer-term question becomes, ‘How can technology complement the human worker of tomorrow?’
AI-powered Connected Worker solutions like Augmentir are revolutionizing the way manufacturers capture, digitize, and share tribal knowledge. Augie, Augmentir’s Industrial Generative AI assistant, plays a key role in preserving workforce expertise and transforming it into actionable insights. Workers can use Augie’s AI-driven voice, video, and text tools to document expertise in real time, creating digital work instructions that others can follow.
Connected worker solutions that utilize technology such as mobile and wearable devices, augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are helping to connect a new class of workers and are allowing organizations to proactively and continually deliver the right level of training, support, guidance, and improvement. These solutions will aid workers and make them better and more efficient at their jobs. It will amplify continuous learning initiatives in the field and on the shop floor. It will keep people safer. And, it will continue to support this vibrant industry that underpins America’s economic health and stability into the future.
Interested in learning how Augmentir’s connected worker platform can help shape the future of your frontline workforce? Get in touch with us for a free demo.
