March Edition: Future-Proofing Your Manufacturing Workforce

How can plant heads address the growing expertise shortage in manufacturing operations?

The National Association of Manufacturers, USA, forecasts that the US Bureau number is well poised to swell up to 2.1 million by 2030, representing an opportunity cost of $1T annually.

Most industrial nations, too, are grappling with the similar dual challenge of ageing workforces and a pronounced labour shortage. Over the past three years, the average tenure, time in position, and retention across manufacturing have gone down over 75%. This labour shortage has become a pressing concern for manufacturers, employees, and investors, as it can affect productivity and growth.

Now, even though Consulting Firms proclaim AI in Manufacturing & Industrial Automation tools would solve this crisis, heavy manufacturing industries still need to rely heavily on Plant Operators for Critical Equipment Maintenance and ensure the proactive safety of Plant Operations as per OSHA standards.

So, how did we arrive at this situation?

• The Baby Boomer Boomerang: As experienced Senior Operators reach retirement age, their departure creates a significant knowledge and skill gap that younger generations still need to fill. The critical risk is that even senior plant operators are not inclined to support their children in taking manufacturing jobs.
• Manufacturing's Image Problem: Perpetual stereotypes of dirty, lack of innovation, safety risk, and lack of career growth continue to dissuade potential recruits. Tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z workforce mainly favour technology, software, and other opportunities where working conditions and compensation are more attractive.
• Long Learning Curve: Expertise in operations is developed from practical field experience, tribal knowledge, and trial and error. Further, the situations that enable operations teams to hone their skills are sporadic. For these reasons, engineers often have to commit at least 10 years to becoming experts.
• Lack of Self-Learning Tools: The new generation of engineers grew up with smartphones and apps that bring everything to their fingertips. On the other hand, developing expertise does not have tools and requires shadowing other experts to learn from them. This demotivates engineers, pushing them out of operations.
• The Skills Mismatch: The Industry's embrace of automation and complex technologies necessitates a workforce equipped with STEM skills – capabilities many traditional manufacturing job-seekers lack. And there is a high associated cost of retraining senior operators.
• Lack of Diversity: As per the 2023 Career Advancement in Manufacturing Report – Xometry, only 1 in 3 manufacturing professionals and 1 in 4 manufacturing leaders are women, with no significant change from 2021.
• Global Narratives on Environmental Impact: Heavy manufacturing industries are often linked with pollution and global warming, while their significant economic contribution and ongoing efforts towards sustainability fail to become mainstream, dissuading younger workforces from joining this Industry.

To summarise, there are not enough skilled workers to do the job, nor are enough unskilled workers willing to commit long-term to an industry that is considered old and stoic. Further, the lack of tools that can address these issues is leading to chronic risks in process continuity for Heavy Manufacturing, which include:

1. Inability to fortify Knowledge Management to enhance Operations Excellence across all sites.
2. Additional Capex to hire consultants for plant anomalies and retrain junior operators.

So how can Plant Heads win this looming talent shortage crisis for the operations?

Short Term: Support Engineers with Self-Service, Prescriptive Maintenance tools

1. New Digital Initiatives to Support Plant Operations: Bring innovative and contemporary technologies to change the industry's image, create excitement, and connect with the younger workforce.
2. Democratize Operational Expertise to all Sites: Use AI-based Prescriptive Maintenance solutions that provide a framework for capturing expertise from senior experts and can guide the younger teams with FMEA, equipment Failure Modes, root cause analysis, and mitigation steps across all sites.
3. Empower Operations Teams with Self-Service Tools: The next generation of engineers like flexibility and ownership. Provide them with self-service solutions that help track operational KPIs such as availability and performance without dependency on corporate teams.

Mid Term: Reframe Narrative & policies to Retain Diversity

1. Reframing the Narrative on Safety & Working Conditions: Showcase investment in Digital Initiatives for Plant Safety and additional capex to retrain Plant Operators, primarily influencing the senior Plant Operators and driving word-of-mouth referrals.
2. New Job Roles to Retain Diversity: As per the 2023 Career Advancement in Manufacturing Report, the top three job functions with the most significant female representation are human resources, business, and quality control. Recruiting more women into entry-level roles right out of college and building them up through the company could be a critical game-changer.
3. Employee Engagement Programs: Alignment with Health Insurance programs & other initiatives provided by new-age tech firms to make the positions more attractive. For example, partial sponsorship for upskilling or management programs enables best-performing plant operators.

Long Term: Newer Technologies & Approaches

1. New Career Paths & Functions: Operations teams in manufacturing are split into several isolated functions like reliability, performance, process, energy, instrumentation, etc. Creating more cross-functional roles and career paths focussed on new technologies can not only engage the workforce but also help improve operational efficiency.
2. Robotic Automation: Plant-wide robotic Automation could replace repetitive production floor operations such as heavy lifting, joint welding, or transportation of Raw Materials.
3. Machine Vision: Eliminate the need for human monitoring in the QA process by using Autonomous Machine Vision solutions that can spot defects and sort products accordingly.

Winning this war for talent requires more than just brute force. It's about agility, vision, and a commitment to reshaping the image of heavy manufacturing. By embracing technology, celebrating diversity, and investing in the future, Plant Heads can transform their factories into beacons of innovation, attracting the best and brightest to build a more sustainable, prosperous future for the industry.