How Eastern Metal Supply Trains a Desk-less Workforce on any Device

The starting point: a workforce that doesn't sit at a desk

Most training stories assume people are at a computer. EMS isn't built that way.

Eastern Metal Supply is a nationwide distributor of standard and custom aluminum extrusion and sheet products. Over half of its workforce is desk-less. People work in warehouses, on production floors, and out in the field.

Language added another layer. For a large share of employees, English is a second language. When the software is hard to use, it gets between the learner and the material.

"Over half our workforce is desk-less, and for a significant portion, English isn't their first language. We wanted to simplify learning so they can put their focus on what they're actually learning."

Jacob Kahle, Learning and Development Leader

EMS also runs an outside sales team across the country. Many of them work from a phone. Whatever EMS used for training had to work as well on mobile as it did on a desktop, or those reps would never finish a course.

What EMS needed from a training platform

EMS wasn't looking for more features. It needed training that fit how its people actually work.

The requirements were simple to state and hard to meet:

• A platform that runs the same on a phone and on a desktop
• A learner experience simple enough that the software disappears and the content comes first
• Less manual setup for a small L&D team
• A way to brand the experience as EMS, not a generic LMS

That third point matters more than it sounds. Every hour the L&D team spends on manual data entry is an hour not spent improving the training itself.

How EMS runs training on Continu

A handful of capabilities do the heavy lifting.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

• SCORM at scale: the primary format across the library
• Learning Tracks: sequential paths, nearly 17,000 completions
• Explore: 2,000+ pieces of on-demand content
• Automated assignments: 100% delivered automatically, hours of admin saved weekly
• Eddy: high usage across EMS employees

1. EMS University: their brand, Continu underneath

EMS built a branded training portal called EMS University. Employees see the EMS name and look. Continu runs the platform underneath. It gives the whole workforce one place to learn.

2. Training on any device

EMS University works the same on a phone as on a desktop. Field sales reps can take a course between visits. Warehouse and floor staff can learn without waiting for a shared computer. The desk-less majority is no longer the hard-to-reach group.

3. SCORM and Learning Tracks

SCORM is the primary format across EMS's library, delivered through structured Learning Tracks that move employees through material in the right order. The team has logged nearly 17,000 Track completions so far, with SCORM content built and managed in Content Authoring.

4. Automated assignments

Every assignment goes out automatically, in sequence, with no manual setup. Over the past year, Continu delivered more than 32,000 assignments on its own.

"Continu's automation saves me hours every week. It assigns learning in sequence on its own and handles it behind the scenes, so I can spend time on work that matters more than manual data entry."

5. Explore and Eddy: learning people reach for

Explore gives employees more than 2,000 pieces of self-serve content to find whenever they need it. Eddy, Continu's AI learning agent, is in heavy use across EMS, answering employee questions in the flow of work.

The results

Since launching EMS University on Continu, Eastern Metal Supply built a program its mostly desk-less workforce actually finishes. Completion sits at 97.7%. People aren't just enrolling. They're getting to the end, whether they're on the warehouse floor or out in the field.

The library behind that number gets used. Employees have completed more than 126,000 courses across 3,900+ unique learning experiences, with an average learner rating of 4.7 out of 5. Nearly 17,000 of those are Learning Track completions, and Explore adds 2,000+ pieces of content employees can find on their own.

Automation is what holds it together at scale. Every assignment goes out in the right order, with no manual administration. Over the past year alone, Continu automatically delivered more than 32,000 assignments. That gives Jacob's L&D team hours back every week and lets a small team support training across the entire business.

"The biggest benefit of Continu is an easy-to-use platform. It lets our admins, our managers, and most of all our learners focus on the learning, not on the software."

Training that builds careers

At EMS, training isn't just a box to check. It's how people move up.

Employees are putting in dozens of hours of in-depth courses, and some are using that work to qualify for promotions. The company can see who's ready for the next step. The learner gets a clear path. EMS keeps its institutional knowledge and grows it from within.

"We can see team members who've spent dozens of hours on in-depth courses so they can qualify for promotions within our company."

That trust is also why EMS signed on for three more years.

"We have faith that their product will keep working, and that they'll keep adding enhancements to it."

If this sounds familiar

Plenty of companies run training as if everyone sits at a desk. For frontline, field, and distributed teams, that assumption quietly leaves most of the workforce out.

The fix isn't more content. It's a platform people can actually reach and actually use, on the device already in their hand, in a way that doesn't bury the L&D team in setup.

EMS got there. A desk-less, multilingual workforce, a 97.7% completion rate, and a training function that builds careers instead of chasing sign-ins.

If your people don't sit at a desk either, that's the starting point EMS worked from too.