Customer story

Wolf Ridge Manufacturing

How Wolf Ridge Manufacturing turns tribal knowledge into procedures anyone can follow

Wolf Ridge Manufacturing builds hydraulic wood splitters with a 40-person team in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. As the business grew, the knowledge behind each job lived in people’s heads, and losing one person meant working out how the job was done all over again.
40
People on the team
10+
Years in business
1st try
A new hire ran a tricky process from a recorded SOP

The challenge

Before Whale, Wolf Ridge ran on tribal knowledge. People made it up as they went, the same job got done a different way depending on who did it, and every paper binder was out of date the moment it was finished. When someone who knew a process left, the rest of the team had to work it out again from scratch.

We just kind of go willy-nilly, tribal knowledge passing that stuff around, make it up as we go, and it causes inconsistencies.
Zach Goeppinger
Business Operations Manager
Before Whale
Processes lived in people's heads, passed on as tribal knowledge
The same job got done differently depending on who did it
Paper binders were out of date as soon as they were finished
When someone left, the team had to re-figure out how the work was done
After Whale
Every process is recorded and written down in one place
New hires follow the same steps, so the work stays consistent
Procedures stay current because they are quick to record and edit
Knowledge stays in the business when a person moves on

The solution

How Whale solved it

Wolf Ridge documents its processes by recording them. Someone runs through a job while they explain it, and Whale’s Step Recorder turns the video into a step-by-step draft with the screenshots already pulled in. The writer edits from there instead of building every SOP from a blank page. The front office uses it for IT and ERP procedures like invoicing, and the manufacturing floor uses it to capture how each assembly is done.

It doesn't matter that I've captured the knowledge, it matters that people can understand the knowledge.
Zach Goeppinger
Business Operations Manager

The results

New hires get it right the first time

An assembly lead recorded a valve process new people had struggled with. The next new hire followed the recording and completed it correctly on the first try.

Knowledge stays when people leave

The processes that used to live in one person’s head are now recorded and documented, so the business keeps the know-how even when someone moves on.

Consistent work across the floor

From small engines to full splitter assemblies, the team follows the same documented steps, so the same job is done the same way every time.