The Rise of Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0
Manufacturers in industries like automotive & electronics are accomplishing even faster and much more sustainable change through Industry 4.0 as they hit the tipping point of digital adoption.
The manufacturing industry in the United States is experiencing a new talent reality, with a high talent shortage, low unemployment, & transforming skill requirements in a more digitally-driven industry. Technical skills are more difficult to find and train than ever, compounding the need for more skilled manufacturing workers in the talent pipeline.
Over the last decade, companies have faced increasing amounts of disruption. Rapidly changing client tastes and demand uncertainties and troubles are putting an unprecedented strain on planning systems. National security concerns, trade barriers, and disturbances in logistics force corporations to look for alternatives to globalized supply chains.
Significant swings in demand cause dramatic operational and capital cost cuts in certain areas while requiring quick expansion in others. It will reconfigure manufacturing flows and management because of physical separation and remote workforce manufacturers. Meanwhile, growing global awareness about the environmental impact of human activity has compelled businesses to reconsider their manufacturing techniques.
We can expect the manufacturing industry in the United States to add up to 3.5 million new jobs in the next decade. These are not the low-skilled jobs of the past. These are digitally advanced jobs that require the development of new skills. As the need for talent grows, we need more individuals with new capabilities to fill today’s and tomorrow’s jobs.
Organizations must increase efforts to upskill & reskill employees to compete in the digital world and provide long-term job security.
Now is the moment to emphasize advanced & attractive jobs that are developing at the edge of the manufacturing sector and capitalize on the range of possibilities that Manufacturing 4.0 offers.
The Manufacturing Skills Shift
As routine & repetitious jobs are increasingly automated, technology is changing work and generating new roles. Most firms in the United States expect an increase in total headcount because of digitization, and the discourse has switched from automation, eliminating jobs, to transforming jobs.
Traditional manufacturing skills are in short supply, while it has developed thousands of new specialized professions to maintain and oversee automated technologies.
Manufacturing and production are at the forefront of the digital revolution. With companies predicting the highest turnover in the next two years, 18% of employers plan to increase their staff owing to automation. Only 12% intend to decrease personnel as manufacturing employers expect high turnover and shorter-than-ever skills cycles.
In the era of advanced digital manufacturing, hiring individuals for learnability — the desire and ability to develop & adapt will progressively become an operational advantage.
Upskilling Opportunities Are More Important Than Ever.
As manufacturing technologies and processes evolve, it is essential to recognize adjacent skills and train workers for new positions through rapid training and development programs. By putting movement and work closer together, the top employers understand talents, get smarter about training, and think differently about adjacent skills, ensuring more strong returns on their investments.
ManpowerGroup brought companies such as Siemens, Microsoft, Caterpillar, & GE to develop an industry-recognized classification that describes the digital manufacturing jobs of the future. This ground-breaking workforce study, developed in collaboration with the Digital Manufacturing & Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), finds 165 data-centric positions, including 20 core roles that will shape the future of manufacturing.
Hence, by using this approach to create the Advanced Academy of Manufacturing, in collaboration with Rockwell Automation, to upskill veterans for careers in digital manufacturing.
It offered sped-up learning through an innovative combination of academic education, hands-on work training, and soft skills coaching to assist veterans in applying their military skills to roles employers cannot fill. The training leads to well-paid, long-term work after only 12 weeks. Since the Academy of Modern Manufacturing’s establishment, over 95 percent of veterans have graduated, with over 80% receiving immediate long-term employment offers from leading employers.
This model has evolved into a blueprint for laying the foundation for manufacturing 4.0 & helping people in developing skills that will make them useful in the long run. As a result, employers gain a competitive edge.