Axalta Coating Systems

The challenge

Axalta operates nine physical training centers across North America, an LMS with over 300 e-learning modules, customer care lines, and virtual instructor-led sessions. Training was far from an afterthought.

But the reach stopped at the classroom door.

With more than 100,000 potential trainees spread across a global distributor network, sales teams, and end-customer personnel, delivering discrete knowledge at the moment of need was a persistent problem. Product specialists needed answers on the shop floor, not after booking a course. Distributor staff needed confidence in product specifics before a customer conversation, not a week later after returning from a training center.

Traditional instructor-led training required travel and scheduling commitments that made just-in-time access structurally impossible. E-learning modules were built for course completion, not for isolating the single piece of knowledge someone needed in that moment. The company needed to move beyond delivery strategies that were fifty years old.

The solution

In 2017, Axalta partnered with Xprtise to implement Drillster Adaptive Learning. Where traditional e-learning presents content and tracks completion, Drillster works differently: a question-based approach with short drills on discrete learning objects, following a Learn, Reinforce, Retain model.

• Learn: Learners engage with focused theory at their own pace

• Reinforce: Adaptive questions with immediate feedback drive toward mastery

• Retain: Smart algorithms monitor knowledge over time and prompt review before retention declines

The mobile-first format made it genuinely accessible wherever personnel happened to be, whether at a distributor branch, on a service call, or between customer visits. Drills adapt to each individual's mastery level, so people spend time on what they actually need, not on what they already know.

Initial deployment targeted 200 internal technical product specialists, followed by a rollout to 1,100 distributor personnel. Content creation was fast: publishing a new drill took a fraction of the time required for a traditional e-learning module or classroom presentation, which mattered for a team that needed to stay current with ongoing product advancements.

It's so easy and swift to create content and publish it. We want to be quick with our info.

It fits the need of the individual really at the moment of need, that's what I like about it.

The results

Axalta achieved adoption that many training teams would find difficult to replicate: over 80% take-up in both the internal specialist group and the distributor network. Critically, this included learners who had never engaged with the company's traditional learning offerings.

Rather than displacing existing channels, Drillster extended them. Demand for instructor-led training and e-learning remained intact. Drills served as preparation before formal courses and reinforcement afterward, driving additional interest in primary learning offerings rather than reducing it.

Platform analytics gave Axalta's training team something they had not had before: real visibility into proficiency levels across the organization. Instead of tracking completions and assuming competence, they could see where knowledge was strong, where it was fading, and where targeted intervention was needed.

We increased the access to knowledge for our people, and decreased the cost attached to that access.

• Over 80% take-up rate in both user groups

• Reached previously unengaged learners

• Enhanced other learning channels rather than replacing them

• No reduction in demand for instructor-led training or e-learning

• Increased proficiency visibility through platform analytics