The traditional modernization model asks industrial manufacturers to accept two premises that no longer make sense.
- The first is timing: commit to a multi-year program and trust the benefits will arrive somewhere down the line. The pressure manufacturers are facing today, on margins, supply chains, and talent, cannot wait for a finish line that is years away.
- The second is headcount: accept that new technology means a smaller workforce.
The workforce reality tells a different story than most would have you believe. The manufacturing industry is staring down a shortage of up to 1.9 million unfilled roles by the early 2030s. The challenge is not having too many people, it is about getting dramatically more out of the ones you have.
The manufacturers who come out ahead will not be the ones who automated the most headcount away. They will be the ones who made every person on their team dramatically more effective.
More than just a concept or ideology, this operational imperative is how successful manufacturers will continue to move the needle forward in attracting the best workforce, maintaining a heightened internal level of expertise, and staying competitive on a global level. Technology is not meant to filter out human involvement, but to optimize it.
This is true at every iteration of technology implementation. Progressive manufacturers understood this with early advances in automation - transitioning inventory replenishment or material handing positions to quality assurance and controls. The same can be said as more robotic work cells were introduced to the plant floor. Workers were not replaced, but removed from strenuous or repetitive tasks in order to leverage their workflow efficiency and troubleshooting expertise.
Most recently, this dynamic has been realized with the wider adoption of artificial intelligence platforms. While AI is great at analyzing data, cleaning up reporting and suggesting solutions, manufacturers are still utilizing the organic knowledge of their workforce to develop the best and most productive ways of implementing AI tools and agents.
Similar situations can be found throughout the industrial sector, but are spelled out in tremendous detail via a recent white paper entitled Stuck in the Past, Competing in the Present from QAD Redzone. You can download a copy at no charge by clicking here.
