Living (and manufacturing) in a VUCA world

Pandemic lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts... The past few years have made it more palpable than ever that we live in a VUCA world.

What VUCA means for you

First coined to describe the geopolitical landscape following the cold war, the acronym VUCA stands for?Volatile,?Uncertain,?Complex?and?Ambiguous?– an accurate description of the difficult business environment in which today's leaders currently find themselves. Market changes that used to be gradual and predictable are now sudden and unexpected. Paradigm shifts in technology that used to happen once in a generation now happen every few years. The systems involved are increasingly intertwined, and it's getting harder and harder to decipher cause and effect.

VUCA effects in production management

At first glance, VUCA is a particularly scary thought in the world of manufacturing, where process stability and repeatability are paramount, and variance is a dirty word. The underlying currents of VUCA in the industry are nothing new: with the rise of e-commerce came exploding SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit)?counts, shorter product lifecycles and unpredictable fluctuations in demand.

Over the past few years, a perfect storm of global crises has rocked markets in unpredictable ways and forced companies to deal with VUCA like never before. But a future dominated by disruption can be a problem or a promise; it's all a matter of perspective.

Survival tactic for manufacturing leaders in a VUCA world

Thus far, proposed responses to VUCA have centered on leadership style and organizational culture, mainly playing around the concept of dilemma flipping: dealing with dilemmas by transforming them into a solution strategy.

In this way, the VUCA acronym is flipped into a positive. In times of chaos, successful leaders respond with?Vision,?Understanding,?Clarity?and?Adaptability.

The turbulence of today's manufacturing environment calls for agility in the boardroom – but also for adaptability on the factory floor. The?positive VUCA qualities are also needed by manufacturing systems and the teams who create them.

To?stay productive and profitable, manufacturers and machine builders need to turn their dilemmas into an opportunity to improve their production and be prepared to adapt. They need to complete the equation: with the enabling technologies plus an automation partner who shares their vision, understands what they are up against and offers a clear path forward.

As final consumers, to enjoy the promise of a VUCA future, we need machines and lines that are as adaptive as our best leaders.

External references:

Wikipedia page: VUCA definition

B&R Industrial Automation: Adaptive manufacturing survival tactic for manufacturing leaders in a VUCA world

Harward business Review: What VUCA Really Means for You (hbr.org)