If you desire you can listen this episode on Spotify.
Let’s quickly recap the two studies we’re discussing in part 1 and part 2 of this conversation on smart manufacturing industry and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4 IR).
Rockwell Automation surveyed over 1,300 global respondents in its white paper, The State of Smart Manufacturing. A second paper by L2L titled The State of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing came out around the same time which surveyed senior leaders in the manufacturing industry.
Both papers provided a lot of salient data, statistics, and trending information about the future of smart manufacturing. This two-part podcast aims to share highlights from these reports and glean actionable insights from them.
The Industry 4.0 definition, in our context, is the digitization of the manufacturing sector. With this digital transformation comes the need for upskilling workers to equip them for the future of work. Industry 4.0 technologies exist to improve efficiencies, but there are downsides.
All of this technology is an overload of data.
In these studies, an increasing number of companies, like 40% year over year, felt they lacked the ability to use data in a meaningful way. This has led to Rockwell coining the term technology paralysis. Companies become overwhelmed with all the data they’re collecting and simply don't know what to do with it, so they don't do anything.
One of the things driving automation is the fear of what the competition is doing. However, 40% of manufacturers also say they lack the ability to use the data to make decisions that help them outpace their competition.
Many manufacturers suffer from this fear of missing out (FOMO). You see your competitors, fear their success, and decide you need a shiny new object, too. But it won't be effective without technology road mapping.
“It's common for people to invest time and money into technologies without understanding that digital transformation is as much or more about business process improvements than it is about implementing new tools. Without the right strategy, it gets stuck.” – Eric Whitley, Director of L2L Smart Manufacturing.
In short, new technology in manufacturing without a purpose is useless.
So, those are the five steps Rockwell recommends for how to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution: (1) Identify your stakeholders’ needs, (2) build a business case, (3) research different solutions, (4) design and deploy the solutions with a partner, and (5) manage the change. Finally, measure the results and drive adoption throughout the implementation process.
Today, manufacturers view technology as a significant competitive advantage for improving quality, agility, innovation, mitigating risk, and attracting the next generation of talent. Making your facility more technologically advanced makes it more attractive to Gen Z and Millennials. They're not very excited if they walk into a manufacturing plant that’s old, labor-intensive, dusty, dirty, noisy, etc.
As a manufacturing powerhouse, the U.S. has been in a bit of a decline. But if we embrace these advancements, the U.S. has the potential to take back the top of the rung, improving our economy. It's going to increase our manufacturing output and hopefully bring more manufacturing back here to the States.
In closing, we encourage you to go as fast as you can, but no faster.
As you adopt new technology, you'll need help building an advanced skilled workforce—that's where we come into play. Skillwork is America’s premier skilled trades staffing agency. We follow the best selection process for hiring qualified, skilled workers so that you can focus on day-to-day production, leaving the recruiting to us.
Contact us to schedule an obligation-free consult call with one of our skilled trades recruiters.