When the people who know our plants best retire, we cannot afford to lose their know-how. In the industrial world, we are at a crossroads. For decades the backbone of our plants has been the "Jims" and "Janes"—veteran workers with 30–40 years of experience who can tell a failing pump by sound or perform the one procedural tweak that prevents a recurring problem. As this workforce ages, we face a real retirement risk: losing that unwritten "tribal knowledge" forever. Digital tools help workers bridge the "tribal knowledge gap" with systematized work processes. Stay connected: capture details as they happen, access the right information, and complete the job.
What Exactly Is a Connected Worker
A connected worker is defined by what they can do with digital tools—not by the device itself. They are equipped with mobile devices, AR headsets, or smart wearable PPE that are linked in real-time to systems, procedures, and experts. This connectivity allows them to capture and access operational knowledge exactly at the point of work, creating a feedback loop that helps improve plant procedures and safety.
Core capabilities:
- Capture: photos, short video, annotated equipment IDs and geotags.
- Access: on‑demand SOPs, failure history and SME guidance at the jobsite.
- Close the loop: captured observations trigger work orders, SOP updates or training.
As Kevin Sheridan of Westlake Corporation says: use technology to make people safer and stop incidents before they start.
Bridging the Knowledge Transfer Divide
There are two types of knowledge we must protect:
- Explicit: manuals, drawings, SOPs.
- Tacit: the intuition, judgment and jobsite “tips and tricks.”
Digital technology captures tacit knowledge where it happens. Westlake recorded a lab engineer performing a complex analysis and turned that recording into training. Digitized SOPs and searchable, contextual media store those lessons. Teams reuse them instead of relearning.
Real-World Success: The Westlake Story
The transition to digital work at Westlake produced measurable results:
- Monthly round submissions: nearly doubled by 2025.
- Inspection quality: improved roughly 3× year‑over‑year.
- Shift continuity: digital handovers peaked at ~5,500 per month, giving the oncoming shift clear visual context.
- Environmental proactivity: fenceline monitors provided early alerts before thresholds were exceeded, enabling corrective action.
This early detection prevented a reportable emissions event and avoided potential regulatory exceptions — a clear, tangible payoff from frontline visibility.
The Human Element
Technology alone doesn’t transfer knowledge—people do. Change management is the critical hurdle.
Practical rules from the field:
- Engage experienced frontline operators early — earn their trust and incorporate their practical input.
- Prioritize vision over upfront ROI — align on top‑level goals and validate them with rapid, measurable wins.
- Design for frontline value — speed troubleshooting, improve task safety, and simplify permits; avoid solutions that only impress management.
- Establish governance and ergonomics from day one — define privacy and retention policies and enforce ergonomic/device standards (hands‑free options, secure handling).
If it doesn’t make the job easier, safer, or faster, it won’t stick.
From Automation to Autonomy
The industry is moving from automation toward autonomy — not to replace people but to accelerate the human decision loop.
Augmented intelligence delivers anomaly‑triggered guidance that tells operators what’s starting to go wrong now, not what failed yesterday. That allows earlier intervention and better on‑the‑spot decisions.
Conclusion: Start Small, Think Big
If you’re ready to begin, follow field-tested steps:
- Pick one high-value, bounded use case (operator rounds, confined-space permits, or a single fenceline node).
- Record 1-2 subject-matter experts performing the critical tasks.
- Route captured items into action - work orders, SOP updates, or training clips - then measure KPIs at 30/90 days.
By bridging veteran experience and digital autonomy, we don’t just build faster plants — we build safer, more reliable, and more resilient ones.
Capture veteran operators’ know‑how today to make your plant safer and more predictable tomorrow.
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References (ARC Forum 2026):
- ARC Forum 2026 — The New Age of Digital and Connected Workers - Kevin Sheridan
- ARC Forum 2026 —The New Age of Digital and Connected Workers – Panel Discussion