Case Study: How Disrupt Transformed Ardagh’s SOPs Into Engaging, Traceable Learning Experiences

Client Overview

Ardagh is a global leader in glass packaging, with over 100 years of expertise and manufacturing operations across Europe, North America, and worldwide. As a business producing millions of glass containers daily, consistent adherence to procedures isn’t just operationally important — it’s central to quality control, safety, and regulatory compliance.

Across their facilities, employees must follow precise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to operate machinery safely, maintain equipment, carry out inspections, and ensure product quality. These processes are critical and tightly regulated, making accuracy and consistency essential at every step.

The Challenge: SOPs That Existed Digitally — But Didn’t Guarantee Understanding

Like many large-scale manufacturers, Ardagh had already moved from paper SOPs to digital documents. Their procedures lived across various systems — PDFs stored in SharePoint, maintenance instructions on internal servers, onboarding checklists in local folders, and updates often emailed out to teams.

While this represented progress, it wasn’t solving the real issue facing their workforce:

Employees had access to SOPs — but access was not the same as understanding.

Several challenges emerged:

1. Inconsistent interpretation of procedures

Operators and shift teams were reading the same documents but applying them differently. Subtle variations in interpretation led to inconsistencies in production and quality outcomes.

2. Version control issues across global sites

Although SharePoint stored “master” documents, older versions still circulated in inboxes and personal folders. This created uncertainty about whether staff were following the latest standards.

3. No way to verify understanding or competency

Managers could only assume staff understood the SOPs. There was no structured method for checking learning, assessing comprehension, or tracking who had completed training.

4. Onboarding newcomers took longer than necessary

Relying on static documents and shadowing made training slow, uneven, and dependent on local expertise. New starters struggled to gain deep understanding quickly, impacting productivity and safety.

5. Compliance demanded clear evidence

In a highly regulated manufacturing environment, Ardagh needed traceable proof that employees had read, understood, and could apply the procedures. PDFs alone could not provide this.

Ardagh recognised these issues did not stem from the content of their SOPs — but from how they were delivered.

So they partnered with Disrupt to reimagine their SOPs as dynamic, measurable learning experiences.

The Approach: Turning SOPs Into Active Learning — Not Passive Documents

Disrupt worked closely with Ardagh’s operations, quality, and safety teams to understand each procedure and the context in which it was performed. The project was built on one core belief:

SOPs should educate, not just inform.

Our process included:

Mapping and prioritising critical SOPs

Together we identified the procedures with the biggest impact on safety, efficiency, and compliance — from machine start-up and shutdown to batch checks, furnace operations, and quality control inspections.

Creating storyboards that visualised real working conditions

Rather than simply converting PDFs into online text, we rebuilt the SOPs as engaging visual journeys. Each step was clarified, simplified, and contextualised to reflect the realities of a glass production environment.

Transforming static instructions into interactive learning modules

Using Disrupt’s eLearning framework, SOPs became:

short interactive modules
scenario-based walkthroughs
step-by-step visual explanations
knowledge checks built into each stage
animations demonstrating safe and unsafe practice
assessments that measured true understanding

Building the modules directly into Disrupt’s LMS for full traceability

This gave Ardagh:

one single source of truth for all SOP-based learning
permission controls to ensure the right users accessed the right content
automated version updates pushed instantly to employees
reporting dashboards showing who had completed what
evidence of understanding through assessment results

What had once been “files in a folder” became an active, intelligent learning system.

The Solution: A Centralised SOP Learning Ecosystem

Ardagh’s new SOP learning suite delivered several powerful outcomes:

1. Consistency across all global sites

Every operator, regardless of location or shift, now accessed the exact same, validated version of each SOP — presented in the same structured way.

2. Instant updates and zero version confusion

When an SOP changed, Disrupt updated the module and re-released it instantly. Staff received notifications and had immediate access to the latest approved process.

3. Understanding verified through assessments

Knowledge checks were embedded within the modules, ensuring staff could demonstrate comprehension before signing off. Managers gained visibility into strengths, weaknesses, and individuals requiring further support.

4. Faster and more effective onboarding

New starters were no longer handed thick SOP folders or static PDFs. Instead, they learned procedures through short, clear, and engaging modules — significantly reducing time-to-competence.

5. A measurable approach to compliance

Ardagh now had clear, auditable evidence of:

who completed which SOP
when they completed it
how well they understood it
where further coaching was needed

This improved both internal governance and external regulatory confidence.

The Impact: A Safer, More Efficient and More Competent Workforce

The transformation has delivered tangible results across Ardagh’s operations:

Fewer errors and inconsistencies on production lines
Improved safety performance, with greater adherence to critical steps
Higher confidence among managers, backed by clear training data
Better engagement from learners, who preferred interactive modules over long documents
Faster onboarding, reducing pressure on experienced operators and trainers
Robust compliance evidence, supporting audits and regulatory requirements

Most importantly, employees now understand the procedures — and can prove it.

In Their Words

“Disrupt helped us move beyond simply having SOPs available. We now have a structured learning system that ensures people truly understand what they’re expected to do — not just where the document lives. It has transformed the way our teams learn and maintain quality.”
— Operations Lead, Ardagh Group

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