Below you can follow along with a conversation we had with Art Merino, CEO and Founder of Forklift Academy.

The Need for a Scalable Learning Management Platform

Art started Forklift Academy 12 years ago, with a rudimentary online system that he created himself. After outgrowing the learning management system that he built, he switched to a cloud-based LMS provider. However, this LMS was not providing Forklift’s customers with good training experiences (customers were getting confused in courses).

Forklift Academy’s primary customers are companies that require safety training that is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Since there are so many manufacturing companies and other companies that operate out of warehouses — that need regular safety training — Forklift Academy is in high demand; when Art was looking for a new LMS provider, he needed one ASAP!

“So I was looking for a learning management system solution. When I started by myself, I created a very small and very rudimentary system. And then, I started looking for something more scalable and sustainable. I found a couple of learning management systems, and I tried another company, but I did not like it. Then, I chose Academy of Mine because it did what I was looking for.” - Art Merino.

According to a 2019 study done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average rate of recorded injuries in the warehousing industry was 4.8 for every 100 full-time workers.

Forklift Academy’s Turning Point

With their last LMS, Art and his team were struggling to manage the online training as more customers began rolling in. That’s when Forklift Academy realized they needed to find a more sustainable solution that could grow with them.

“Once the number of people who started using my system started getting bigger, it started getting out of control. And it's like, okay, now this is the point where I need to get something that's more scalable, more manageable. And this is when I jumped ship.” - Art M.

Forklift Academy wanted an all-in-one solution, which they could use to create & bundle training materials into courses, sell them, then manage everything online. Art also wanted to make sure his new solution was flexible and could be customized to his customers’ needs, while also being easy to use (out of the box).

Eliminating Bottlenecks with Academy Of Mine

After being certain of their need for a new learning management system (LMS), Forklift Academy went to Google for answers. After doing a few software demos with LMS providers, Art realized that Academy Of Mine was the best fit. One thing Forklift Academy liked about our software is that it’s customizable.

With Academy Of Mine, there are options to customize the platform in the settings — using custom styling and HTML modules, and much more. However, if a client has complex needs and requires new integrations and feature changes, then they’re still in luck since we offer LMS customization services.

Art also shared that Academy Of Mine had 90% of the features they needed, out-of-the-box. Then, our developers helped meet Forklift Academy’s remaining needs with custom developments.

Scaling a Safety Training Business with an LMS

When Art from Forklift Academy started using our platform, they had about 3,000 annual customers, and now they have 15,000 annual customers! We can’t take credit for the content included in their safety courses, but our platform has significantly improved their ability to manage training at scale and train customers with user-friendly courses.

One main benefit of offering online training is being able to manage training programs at scale. Once Forklift Academy began using our software, they realized the user interface and accessibility of the platform was a time saver for creating, delivering, and administering courses. In the rare situation that Art’s tech team isn’t able to figure something out on their own, they can raise a customer support ticket and our tech team quickly jumps in.

While chatting with Art, here’s what he said Academy Of Mine is helping him accomplish:

“I think the growth, I think that was the most important to me. They are helping with sustainable growth. I started with like 3,000 or 4,000 users. Now, it's like five times that. So yeah, business is growing and growing!” - Art M.

The Impact of a User-Friendly LMS on Art’s Business

Customers taking courses from Forklift Academy are required by OSHA to maintain certifications. So, Art needed their new LMS to be user-friendly so that customers could maintain certifications with ease. The ease of use Forklift Academy was looking for in a platform also needed to apply to his tech team, in charge of maintaining and updating programs.

When we asked Art what the number one thing he’s able to accomplish with Academy Of Mine is, he talked about accessibility and being able to maintain training at scale.

“Oh, I think the accessibility, easy access to the functionality of the system. I have my whole team that uses the system, left and right, all day long. And that feels good because in the past we couldn't do that. And I think this is because it's scalable. I've got my team, my customer service team using the system day in, day out, all day long. And that is kind of the bread and butter of my online training.” - Art M.

Forklift Academy’s Outcomes with AOM

Before Academy Of Mine, Forklift Academy had experience using an LMS. However, their previous providers were not able to keep up with the growing business. Today, Forklift Academy has found so much success with Academy Of Mine that they opened up two accounts with us — one specifically for forklift training and one for scissor lift training. Academy Of Mine’s user-friendly software, reliable customer support, and custom development options have helped Forklift Academy effectively scale.

Before using our LMS, Forklift Academy had 3,000 - 4,000 annual customers and now they have 15,000 annual customers.

Ready to improve your safety and compliance programs? Discover how Academy Of Mine can help!