The past 2-3 years haven't been easy for the manufacturing and industrial tech sectors.
The climate for innovative tech adoption was relatively lukewarm.
But in the past year, as interest rates stabilize, there is a renewed interest in investing in solutions that elevate the frontline workforce.
We've gathered the most important manufacturing trends impacting the frontline in 2024 in three categories:
It might seem obvious, but new technologies form the basis of many changes that the frontline will experience in the coming years.
As connected mobile devices and cloud infrastructure become more widespread, organizations are moving away from on-premise technology and manual processes for frontline tasks.
This shift has led to improved data capture capabilities, making it easier to measure activity and productivity.
It has also led to the importance of acquiring necessary digital skills (Source: PwC / Manufacturing Institute Survey, Q3 2023).
💡Nearly 92% of jobs now require some form of digital skills.
On the subject of new digital skills - it's impossible to talk about tech in today's landscape without mentioning AI. Naturally, it's made its way to the frontline and manufacturing industries.
Embedding AI in tools for the frontline can help with precise quality controls, reduction of errors, and it can provide valuable insights to support decision-making on the shop floor.
For example: AI algorithms can optimize production schedules based on factors like demand forecasts, resource availability, and equipment efficiency - leading to improved throughput and resource utilization.
But also, it can significantly streamline the hiring process.
In 2024, AI is expected to play a major role in frontline work recruitment and onboarding, offering automation, bias reduction, and insightful analytics. Embracing these technologies enables organizations to enhance recruitment, draw in top talent, and foster diverse, high-performing frontline teams.
Expectations for the new generation of frontline workers are different from what they used to be.
Their pursuit of excellence and acknowledgment underscores the importance of their satisfaction. This serves as a crucial factor in resilience, efficiency, productivity, retention, and advocacy for their employers.
This signals a pivotal shift in frontline workforce management.
In an industry that reaches an almost 40% employee turnover rate, even a small increase in retention can have a significant positive impact on overall profitability.
The key reason for this high turnover?
It's often the unmet needs of the frontline.
We see a huge disconnect between management and their frontline teams. 65% of frontline leaders believe they have effective communication strategies, but only 35% of frontline workers feel heard. And 89% of frontline workers will stay with their companies if leaders listen to their feedback.
Context is also critical to frontline worker happiness. They don’t want to work in a silo. In fact, it's no longer a thing.
Instead, what they really want is:
Now, what do we do with all of this information?
That brings us to our third ‘trend.’ More than ever, we’ll need to respond to these changes in a new way.
Our reaction to the changing technological landscape andaccomodating a new frontline workforce must keep pace with this dynamic industry.
It all comes down to:
Want to take a deeper dive into any of these topics? We explore each in greater detail in the video above, and it's also available here.
👉 What to look for in an employee training platform.
👉 How we improved safety at Coca-Cola.
👉 How to boost production flexibility (and efficiency).