Jorim Rademaker and Maxime Steenbrugge: “Manual.to is the TikTok for training and user instructions”

5 minutes reading time

The Ghent-based scale-up Manual.to recently became a Start2Scale-up Partner of LogiVille. This SaaS company specializes in creating, sharing, and managing digital work instructions, manuals, and training tools. We spoke with CEO Jorim Rademaker and Key Account Manager Maxime Steenbrugge to learn what makes Manual.to’s approach unique and why the company decided to collaborate with LogiVille.

How did the concept of Manual.to originate?

Jorim: The idea emerged in 2015. As a graphic designer, I often experienced how time-consuming it was to lay out multilingual manuals, brochures, reports, and annual documents because each language comes with different text volumes. I also noticed that knowledge sharing within companies is often difficult: people read a manual when they start using a piece of equipment, and then it disappears into a drawer. New users are left without guidance.

That’s when I came up with the idea of a kind of “TikTok for manuals and training”: short, visual, and instantly accessible instructions that radically simplify knowledge transfer. By early 2016, our software prototype was ready, and that summer we already had our first customers.

So Manual.to is a software developer?

Jorim: Yes. We are a software company that developed a SaaS platform (Software as a Service) that helps companies create, manage, and share manuals for internal and external use. These can be digital product manuals, work instructions, or maintenance procedures. With our software, companies can easily assemble step-by-step instructions with text, videos, and photos.

A key feature is the low-threshold sharing: instructions are accessed via QR codes or URLs. Workers can reach the content directly on the shop floor. They simply scan the code with a smartphone or tablet.

How big is Manual.to today?

Maxime: Our team now consists of just over 20 people. Most work at our headquarters in Ghent. We are active in Europe and North America and operate globally. Recently, there has been growing interest from the Asian market as well. Typically, we start with an implementation in one country and then scale internationally rather quickly.

Our platform supports more than two hundred languages. Companies can deploy manuals, training materials, and work or maintenance instructions worldwide without friction. The translation is done automatically, although it is best to validate it for safety reasons.

How does Manual.to work, and how does it differ from using YouTube for instructions?

Jorim: Manual.to is built to create visual work and training instructions extremely quickly and without video editing. You record a clip or take photos with your smartphone or a helmet-mounted camera while performing a task, such as maintaining a machine or resetting a robot, and send the material to the platform. With our newest AI, Manual.to automatically cuts and structures the content and writes the text. You can optionally add short texts, photos, video clips, and icons for warnings or safety information. The platform automatically builds a manual that combines video, photos, and text in clear, structured steps. This manual can be translated automatically and works on any device.

Sharing is done via a simple link or QR code placed on a machine, cabinet, or workstation. An employee scans the code with a smartphone and immediately sees the correct instruction.

What sets Manual.to apart from a YouTube video is that we use interactive step-by-step instructions rather than a continuous video. Each step contains a short text and a clip of a few seconds. Traditional YouTube videos are linear, often more than five minutes long, and require searching for the relevant moment. YouTube videos are also single-language, sometimes with subtitles. And importantly: anything on YouTube is public and competitors can see it, which means sensitive company information could end up online unintentionally.

Which types of companies is Manual.to’s software designed for?

Maxime: Our platform is mainly designed for blue-collar environments where practical and visual learning is crucial. Think of production, maintenance, quality control, and of course logistics.

In many companies, new employees are trained by a senior colleague. When that person leaves, only the documentation remains, and you don’t always know if it’s up-to-date. Manual.to makes instruction more user-friendly and more reliable. And faster: a two-minute manual can be created in just fifteen minutes. You review it, validate it, and you’re done.

Manual.to also focuses on the logistics sector. What kind of tasks does your tool support?

Jorim: The range of tasks is very broad. Think of picking and packing, how to stack an outbound pallet, how to secure a load, how to use an onboard computer, and much more. Logistics is one of the sectors where our software is growing the fastest.

Can you give a few examples?

Jorim: A 3PL, for example, can ask its customers how they want their products packaged or where labels should be placed. The 3PL then creates the instructions in Manual.to, submits them to the customer, and implements them internally once validated.

Safety is another important aspect. A logistics company specializing in chemical products can visually and clearly explain loading and unloading procedures in the driver’s own language.

Another example: automation plays an increasingly important role in logistics, and you are vulnerable when a robot goes down. It is crucial that an employee knows exactly how to restart it step by step.

During peak periods like Black Friday or seasonal sales, there is often no time to extensively train temporary workers. Our tool is a perfect solution.

Maxime: We already have numerous strong logistics references worldwide. Our aim is to become the standard for coaching and knowledge sharing in logistics.

Why did Manual.to become a LogiVille partner?

Maxime: One of our customers introduced us to LogiVille. They recommended the demo center as a way to grow our visibility in the logistics sector. We quickly realized LogiVille is indeed the ideal place to make innovation tangible.

For us, it is an excellent environment to give visitors a clear and concrete view of what Manual.to can do for them. Using a simple use case, we demonstrate how quickly and easily instructions can be captured and transformed into a fully usable manual.

Jorim: Almost all visitors recognize the challenges of training and knowledge transfer in their own organization. That makes our solution immediately relevant. In the meantime, we have already received three strong leads, which are likely to result in new collaborations. Our solution perfectly matches their needs: Manual.to reduces training time by around 50%. That is a conservative estimate. In about 80% of cases, the ROI is achieved within a few months, and sometimes even within weeks.