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Join Augmentir at the top manufacturing and industrial trade shows and conferences across the country, where we will be speaking, sponsoring, and providing live demos of our AI-powered connected worker software.
The time has finally come for live conferences and tradeshows to return! 2022 in person events are now in full swing and we couldn’t be more excited. After two years of mainly virtual events, we are hitting the road for what we like to call “The Future of Work In Manufacturing 2022 Tour.” We’re attending all of the latest and greatest manufacturing and industrial trade shows and conferences across the country, where we will be speaking, sponsoring and providing live demos of our AI-powered connected worker software. We can’t wait to see you all in person, so let us know where we can expect to see you along the tour!
MODEX: March 28-31, Atlanta, GA
MODEX 2022 is a free in-person event taking place March 28-31 in Atlanta, GA, and is ideal for anyone looking for ways to accelerate optimization and efficiency in their operations. You can expect to see RealWear and Augmentir at MODEX 2022.
Stop by the RealWear booth for a hands-on demo of Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker platform showcased on RealWear’s newest technology, Navigator 500. Augmentir’s platform is a suite of AI-powered connected worker tools that helps your workers perform at their best, providing opportunities for continuous improvement through workflow-based learning. When you combine that with RealWear’s Navigator 500, you allow your workers to perform tasks hands-free, providing safer and more efficient operations, ultimately achieving a 10-15% increase in productivity.
NADITA Conference: April 12-13, Las Vegas, NV
The North American Dealer Information Technology Association (NADITA) is Caterpillar’s annual conference for dealer IT leadership. NADITA provides invaluable aid in keeping Caterpillar dealers up-to-date on Caterpillar’s corporate IT strategy and trends within the industry. This year’s NADITA conference will focus on how leading CAT dealers are handling the biggest industry challenges today and how they plan to build a successful workforce for the future.
Join us at this year’s event to hear how CAT dealers like HOLT CAT use Augmentir’s suite of AI-powered connected worker tools to drive innovation and improve worker efficiency within its service and repair operations and help accelerate on-boarding of new technicians to close the skills gaps in real-time.
IME West Advanced Manufacturing: April 12-14, Anaheim, CA
IME West is the largest annual advanced manufacturing event in the United States, bringing together suppliers and buyers for every part of the product development cycle. Join design and manufacturing engineers, directors, and executives from thousands of companies walking the show floor, attending the conference, and looking for inspiration.
Among this year’s presenters will be Augmentir’s VP of Strategic Operations, Chris Kuntz, as he discusses building a modern connected manufacturing workforce with AI. In his session, Chris will discuss how AI is being used to shape today’s new workforce and address some of manufacturing’s biggest challenges.
Learning Solutions Conference and Expo: April 20-22, Orlando, FL
Learning Solutions Conference & Expo is where learning professionals from around the globe have gathered year after year to share and explore what works in L&D. The event consists of the full Conference and the free-to-attend Expo with 120+ practical sessions, invigorating keynotes, many opportunities for attendees to connect, and much more. The sessions are categorized under key L&D tracks including: Instructional Design, Management & Strategy, Emerging Tech, Tools, Learning Platforms, and more.
Stop by booth 410 to hear how companies like Bio-Chem Fluidics was able to improve learning and development by reducing training times of new hires by over 80% (from three months down to two weeks) using Augmentir’s AI-powered augmented worker platform while also driving continuous improvement across its entire manufacturing operation.
North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit (NAMES): April 25-27, Chicago, IL
The North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit (NAMES) is an annual gathering of more than 500 of the most senior Manufacturing professionals from North America’s largest organizations and is the must-attend event for manufacturing executives.
Attend the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit to hear how Augmentir is helping companies like Colgate-Palmolive, Hunter Industries, Baker Hughes, and Bio-chem Fluidics accelerate digital transformation, reduce training and onboarding times, and drive continuous improvement across their manufacturing operation using AI-powered connected worker technology. Discover the necessary tools and knowledge needed to build a digital strategy that will boost productivity and promote quality improvements in your manufacturing organization.
The Connected Worker Summit: May 3-5, Houston, TX
Join us at this year’s Connected Worker Summit on May 3-5, 2022, and network with over 200 operations leaders at the Norris Conference Center in Houston, TX. Learn how to build a connected workforce to improve operational efficiency, training, asset management, quality, and safety.
At the Connected Worker Summit, discover how Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker technology is being used to shape today’s new workforce and address some of manufacturing’s biggest challenges.
AWE USA: June 1-3, Santa Clara, CA
Join the most valuable community to connect, learn, and grow your business and personal life with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. AWE focuses on Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), immersive technologies and enabling technologies (eg. Artificial Intelligence-AI, interaction, haptics, 5G, streaming and more).
Learn from those solving major technical challenges, bringing Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality into new sectors, considering ethical and legal issues, promoting diversity, and working on the cutting edge of AR/VR development. Explore AWE and discover your best way to get involved: global events, conferences and tradeshows, local and topical meetups and webinars from the AWE Nite community, classes and workshops in the AWE Academy, videos and reports: 365 days a year.
ARC Industry Forum: June 6-9, Orlando, FL
Join us at the 26th Annual ARC Industry Forum to speed up your progress with strategies and stories from the digital front lines. Learn more about how transforming factories, supply chains, and infrastructure will benefit technology end users and suppliers alike. Discover what your peers and industry leaders are doing today and what steps they are taking to prepare for the future.
Digital leaders have now validated their strategies against the real-world challenges brought on by the pandemic, and are accelerating their innovation and transformation initiatives. Many companies supported ‘connected’ remote and frontline workers far earlier than they anticipated, and will now do more. Having seen the power of disruptive technologies to transform business operations and competitive strategies, improve resilience, reduce costs, and better serve customers, it’s full speed ahead.
Smart Manufacturing Experience: June 7-9, Pittsburgh, PA
With the U.S. occupying the 8th position in the top ten list of manufacturing innovation countries. The time is now for all U.S. manufacturers to embrace smart technologies to ensure the future of their business. Companies that are slow to implement these new technologies and processes could find themselves way behind their competitors.
The Smart Manufacturing Experience enables manufacturers to get inspired and educated about emerging technologies that upskill the workforce, improve quality and advance the future of manufacturing. Participants will be immersed in a world of interactive learning and technology demonstrations. Live presentations, numerous connecting points, and visionary keynotes will deliver unparalleled understanding and know-how. This is a great opportunity for all manufacturers to explore the latest transformative technologies and make valuable connections.
Cisco Live: June 12-16, Las Vegas, NV
Cisco Live is the place to meet, greet, learn, and share ways of solving some of the biggest challenges out there. Let’s get back together to build community, share experiences, and explore the future of work.
Cisco Live delivers education and inspiration to technology innovators worldwide through large-scale in-person and digital events, as well as on-demand education. It is the premier destination for Cisco customers and partners to gain knowledge and to build community. As the place where the best and the brightest minds in IT come to learn, Cisco Live will ignite creativity, deliver practical know-how, and accelerate the connections that fuel your digital future.
Manufacturing X.0 Midwest: June 21-22, Chicago, IL
Renowned for the quality of its speakers, regional support, informative solution partners, MxD Tour and networking, Manufacturing X.0 Midwest – formerly Internet of Manufacturing – is not to be missed. On stage, find Midwestern and national manufacturing leaders teaching peers, in detail, how to take advantage of the competitive edge that technology offers, and advance digital transformation journeys.
Manufacturing X.0 is the only place to hear case studies and form common consensus with peers on how best to increase efficiencies, revenues, and resilience by leveraging digital technologies. Knowledge and discussion centers around automation and smart operations, digital transformation, and attracting talent and investment to the region’s manufacturing sectors.
We couldn’t be more excited to get back out there and discuss the biggest trends and challenges of the manufacturing workforce today and how Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker technology is being used to shape today’s new workforce and address these challenges. Check back soon as we announce the second half of 2022 events!
AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis.
AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis in manufacturing.
Is it just us or does recruiting, training, and retaining top talent today feel a lot like searching for that one elusive puzzle piece?
The seismic shift in the workforce is forcing us to get creative and be adaptable like never before. We can no longer try to force fit the old model of staffing and training into a space that looks drastically different. It’s not just about a labor shortage or the supply chain challenges created by the pandemic. Workers themselves are changing. What they want from work, and how they want to work.
It’s a new generation and if we want to remain competitive in hiring in this ultra-competitive environment, we need to embrace the variable nature of the labor market and meet workers where they are.
The solution to this head-scratching puzzle? AI-based technology. Digital work instructions and individualized training and on-the-job support can improve productivity, reliability, independence, and safety for every worker. It offers flexibility in scheduling for operations managers. It reduces downtime. All of which contribute to a more efficient – and profitable – operation.
Sound too good to be true? Brace yourselves. It’s not. Here are three ways that AI-powered technology can help.
1. Moving onboarding and training closer to the point of work
Imagine if we can teach someone in the context of doing their work. We could see an increase in productivity as they constantly evolve their learnings.
AI is allowing companies to understand a worker’s skillset and provides the ability for personalized digital work instructions to guide them in the context of work while they are doing their job, whether it’s a new worker or one with dozens of years of experience. With an AI-based onboarding approach, organizations are able to hire a wider range of individuals with varying skill sets and get those individuals productive faster.
2. Give support at the moment of need
Are you a people watcher? We are. Ever take notice of who is on the factory floor? Last time I checked, we got the “newbies” and “veterans”. The variability of the workforce, both skilled and young, proves that there’s not a one size fits all approach to troubleshooting and performance support.
Enter AI.
Give workers the support and guidance they need, at the moment of need, whether it’s immediate access to a digital troubleshooting guide, or connecting virtually with a subject matter expert. Delivering personalized work procedures for every worker allows for continuous learning and growth.
3. Improve engagement and retention
Workers that are connected and empowered with digital technology can discover and nurture diverse skills based on their unique competencies and experience. They can earn greater responsibility and independence. This increases confidence and job satisfaction. Which in turn can improve employee retention and slow the revolving door of continual recruiting and training.
The aftermath?
Workers are likely to stay and want to grow in the company when they feel included. Shortly, workers begin walking with poise and a “can-do” attitude to their next job task.
What else is possible with AI-powered connected worker technology?
AI-based technology is ideal for training workers in this variable environment. AI-based systems individualize information about workers based on previous training and data-driven performance insights. It offers step-by-step guidance at the moment of need for regularly scheduled maintenance as well as troubleshooting. It helps managers learn about workers’ existing skills and build a rationale for specific roles, resources, and certification support and then make clear recommendations based on demands.
Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. Workers are the heart of your business, and you should adapt techonogy to fit your business, not the other way around.
Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. That includes how you train your workers. But no two workers are exactly alike. Each will learn and approach problems differently. So why not use the technology that recognizes and adapts to those differences to your advantage?
To learn more about how Augmentir can help you embrace this opportunity, contact us for a personalized demo.
Today’s industrial workforce is changing in real-time – who shows up, what their skills are, what jobs they need to do, is a constantly moving target. The traditional “one size fits all” approach to training, guidance, and performance support is fundamentally incapable of enabling today’s workers to function at their individual peak of safety, quality […]
Today’s industrial workforce is changing in real-time – who shows up, what their skills are, what jobs they need to do, is a constantly moving target. The traditional “one size fits all” approach to training, guidance, and performance support is fundamentally incapable of enabling today’s workers to function at their individual peak of safety, quality and productivity.
Watch the recording of our recent virtual roundtable of industry leaders as they discussed proven approaches to delivering performance support and modern training approaches for today’s industrial workforce.
Recently, Augmentir completed a rigorous qualification audit as part of a Tier 1 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing company’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), and we are pleased to announce that our product successfully passed the audit.
A recent article published by The Washington Post shows some shocking numbers on the amount of Americans leaving their jobs over the past year. It’s no surprise that hotel and restaurant workers are resigning in high numbers due to the pandemic, but what is surprising is the fact that the manufacturing industry has been hit the hardest with “a nearly 60 percent jump” compared to pre-pandemic numbers. This “Great Resignation in Manufacturing” is the most of any industry, including hospitality, retail, and restaurants, which have seen about a 30% jump in resignations.
However, if you dig deeper, this trend isn’t new. This recent increase in job quitting in manufacturing has simply magnified a problem that had already been brewing for years, even prior to the start of the pandemic. In fact, in the four years prior to the pandemic (2015-2019), the average tenure rate in manufacture had decreased by 20% (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
This accelerating workforce crisis is placing increased pressure on manufacturers and creating significant operational problems. The sector that was already stressed with a tight labor market, rapidly retiring baby-boomer generation, and the growing skills gap is now facing an increasingly unpredictable and diverse workforce. The variability in the workforce is making it difficult, if not impossible to meet safety and quality standards, or productivity goals.
Manufacturing leaders’ new normal consists of shorter tenures, an unpredictable workforce, and the struggle to fill an unprecedented number of jobs. These leaders in the manufacturing sector are facing this reality and looking for ways to adjust to their new normal of building a flexible, safe and appealing workforce. As a result, managers are being forced to rethink traditional onboarding and training processes. In fact, the entire “Hire to Retire” process needs to be re-imagined. It’s not the same workforce that our grandfather’s experienced, and it’s time for a change.
The Augmented, Flexible Workforce of the Future
The reality is that this problem is not going away. The Great Resignation in manufacturing has created a permanent shift, and manufacturers must begin to think about adapting their hiring, onboarding, and training processes to support the future workforce in manufacturing – an Augmented, Flexible Workforce.
What does this mean?
- It means adopting new software tools to support a more efficient “hire to retire” process to enable companies to operate in a more flexible and resilient manner.
- It means starting to understand your workforce at an individual level and using data to intelligently closes skills gaps at the moment of need and enables autonomous work.
- And it means taking advantage of data. More specifically, real-time workforce intelligence that can provide insights into training, guidance, and support needs.
Investing in AI-powered connected worker technology is one way to boost this operational resiliency. Many manufacturing companies are using digital Connected Worker technology and AI to transform how they hire, onboard, train, and deliver on-the-job guidance and support. AI-based connected worker software provides a data-driven approach that helps train, guide, and support today’s dynamic workforces by combining digital work instructions, remote collaboration, and advanced on-the-job training capabilities.
As workers become more connected, manufacturers have access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools can gain insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist. Artificial Intelligence lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of performance support, training, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of today’s constantly changing workforce. Today’s workers embrace change and expect technology, support and modern tools to help them do their jobs.
To learn more about how AI is being used to digitize and modernize manufacturing operations, contact us for a personalized demo.
After more than a year of virtual conferences, we were finally able to participate in person at the AI Manufacturing conference in Dallas early this November and discuss how AI is shaping the future of the manufacturing workforce.
After more than a year of virtual conferences, we were finally able to participate in person at the AI Manufacturing conference in Dallas early this November. This year’s event was hybrid, face-to-face on November 3 and 4th, and virtually on November 5th. While it was refreshing to be able to network face to face with leaders in the Manufacturing industry, it was great to have the opportunity to also network virtually on November 5th. If you aren’t familiar with the AI Manufacturing conference, this conference is the leading Artificial Intelligence event for Manufacturing Industries. This year’s event focused on:
- The use of AI to Improve Quality, Reduce Defects, and Increase Profits
- Developing a Digital Twin to Optimize Plant Operations
- Using Building Blocks to Modernize Manufacturing Activities and Facilitate Growth
- Designing Products Enabled by Additive and Hybrid Manufacturing Techniques
- Exploring the Use of AI in Industrial Attacks and Defense
Using AI to Unlock the True Potential of Today’s Modern, Connected Workforce
Dave Landreth, Augmentir’s Head of Customer Strategy had the opportunity to present on “Using AI to Unlock to the True Potential of Today’s Connected Workforce”. In this session, he discussed the variability of the workforce with generations, how they need to be trained differently, and how AI can assist in worker proficiency. Dave also discussed Bob Mosher’s 5 moments of need and how AI can be applied at the time of learning.
The Misunderstood Fear of AI
Our founders saw that the humanistic approach was missing with traditional connected worker platforms and realized that AI was the key to saving the manufacturing world and unlocking worker potential. However, companies are reluctant to adopt AI in fear that automation will take over and eventually replace human workers in manufacturing. Others fear that AI would be used negatively to track workers, in a “big brother” type of way.
As we’ve seen with our customers, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. When AI is leveraged ethically with the workforce in mind, it can be used to help improve and ultimately grow the talent of your workers. Assessing workers on their performance has been done for years through subjective performance reviews. Using AI allows the assessments to be based on data and can provide a path forward for worker improvement and continued growth.
Understanding Today’s Struggles Within Manufacturing
The struggles that manufacturers face today aren’t the same struggles that were present 40 years ago. One of the number one issues in manufacturing is hiring. Today, most manufacturers believe that hiring is a risk, with a limited pool of candidates. They are struggling with employees who don’t have the needed skill set and are questioning how they can train them and evaluate their performance.
Manufacturing companies also struggle with retaining employees. We are all aware of the workforce retention issues right now. Employees are feeling like they aren’t heard and that they can’t contribute to the company, which causes them to look for a new career. There is also the struggle of thoughtful upskilling, meaning that formal training programs only recognize one type of worker. The average manufacturing plant sees 4 generations of workers, ranging from those fresh out of high school to the ones that have worked on a plant floor for 40+ years. Different generations learn differently and require different levels of support. There isn’t a one size fits all approach for teaching different generations.
Another challenge with the workforce that isn’t as obvious, is with mergers and acquisitions. An acquisition means that companies now consist of two workforces doing things differently and needing to understand what part of procedures from the newly acquired company is worth incorporating into the existing procedures.
Leveraging AI to Help Build and Grow a Top Performing Workforce
AI is uniquely suited to solve these challenges, and we recognized that early on at Augmentir. We started looking at how AI could help build and grow a top performing workforce. One way AI can help is the ability to hire for potential by increasing the hiring of candidates to those not as skilled. AI allows companies to understand a worker’s skillset and provides the ability for personalized workflows to guide them in the context of work while they are doing their job, whether it’s a new worker or one with dozens of years of experience. AI can also help with the “Right person – Right Job – Right Time” approach – always ensuring that the correct person is performing the task at the most efficient time.
The use of AI allows all workers to contribute by allowing inline feedback to optimize work procedures. In addition, AI can be used to ensure personalized career job competency allows workers to be hired even if they do not have the optimal set of skills and experience. Measuring a worker’s proficiency when they are completing the work allows the worker to focus on each specific step and guides them at the time of need, instead of during classroom training. AI provides workers with predictive and stable data to help them grow in their roles. Having a data-driven way to measure success and provide advancement opportunities helps establish career paths as well as opportunities to grow.
With an AI-based onboarding approach, organizations are able to hire a wider range of individuals with varying skill sets. If we can teach someone in the context of doing their work, onboarding time is reduced due to being able to train them in the field. We also see an increase in productivity and are constantly evolving their learnings. When workers feel included and confident about their careers, they are also more likely to want to stay and grow with the company. The ability to train workers in the field while doing their jobs with AI personalization allows you to clearly and quickly assess how a worker is doing, where you focus the help to them, and driving those 1:1 work procedures is a game-changer.
AI in Manufacturing will solve many of the challenges that we are seeing.
Learning & Development and the 5 Moments of Need
The Five Moments of Need methodology was created by Bob Mosher, a thought leader in learning and development with over 30 years of experience. He realized that after 20 years, classroom teaching was the wrong approach since it rarely teaches you things that you do in your job on the shop floor. Classroom learning allows an individual to gain a certain level of confidence, but quickly falls off when it’s time to apply it within context to a given workflow.
According to Bob’s methodology, the 5 moments when our workforce needs knowledge and information consists of:
- When people are learning how to do something for the first time (New).
- When people are expanding the breadth and depth of what they have learned (More).
- When they need to act upon what they have learned, which includes planning what they will do, remembering what they may have forgotten, or adapting their performance to a unique situation (Apply).
- When problems arise, or things break or don’t work the way they were intended (Solve).
- When people need to learn a new way of doing something, which requires them to change skills that are deeply ingrained in their performance practices (Change).
The approach that Bob and his team adopted in the last 10 years is to think more about performance support. The variability of the workforce, both skilled and young, proves that there’s not a one size fits all approach. This is where AI comes in: being able to deliver personalized work procedures for every worker, allowing for continuous learning and growth. Based on proficiency, there may be a more guided set of work instructions, a session with a remote expert, or a supervisor sign-off required in order to complete the job on quality and on schedule. AI can also be used to continuously measure and assess how the workers are doing. This is where organizations can start seeing growth within their workforce.
Looking Ahead
We had a blast at this year’s AI Manufacturing conference and are already looking forward to another successful event next year! If you’re interested in learning more about why AI is an essential tool in digital transformation, from reducing costs and downtime to improving over quality and productivity, we’d highly suggest considering attending next year. In the meantime, if you’re looking for information surrounding AI, digital transformation, and building a connected workforce, check out our eBook: “Building a Modern, Connected Workforce with AI”.
Augmentir, a data-driven, AI-powered Connected Worker solution ensures that your frontline workers can go the extra mile every day by providing training, guidance, and support through the combination of digital work instructions, remote collaboration, and advanced on-the-job training.
In 2009, the Extra Mile America Foundation, a foundation promoting action and empowering positive change, first celebrated the “Extra Mile Day”. Fast forward to 2014 and 527 US cities declared November 1st as the official “Extra Mile Day”. This day is designated to living life to your full potential, having a positive influence, and always striving to make the world a better place.
At Augmentir, we believe in positive change, living to your full potential, and going the extra mile every day. In 2017, our founders decided to continue their journey of creating some of the most important software technology revolutions in manufacturing (Wonderware (1987), Lighthammer (1997), and ThingWorx (2008) by focusing on the most important asset, the frontline workers.
We recognize that today’s industrial workforce is different, and the old way of supporting workers just doesn’t work anymore. The static “one size fits all” approach used in the past, no longer applies to this generation of workers.
Augmentir, a data-driven, AI-powered Connected Worker solution ensures that your frontline workers can go the extra mile every day by providing training, guidance, and support through the combination of digital work instructions, remote collaboration, and advanced on-the-job training.
As your workers become more connected, companies have access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools can gain insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist. Artificial Intelligence lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of performance support, training, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of today’s constantly changing workforce.
When it comes to our frontline workers, let’s enable them to go the extra mile, not just on November 1st, but every day, by empowering them with the only AI-powered Connected Worker solution.
Augmentir CEO Russ Fadel had the opportunity to be interviewed recently by Ann Wyatt, Industry 4.0 and IIoT Enthusiast, for the OnRamp Manufacturing Conference.
Earlier this month, Russ Fadel had the opportunity to be interviewed by Ann Wyatt, Industry 4.0 and IIoT Enthusiast, for the OnRamp Manufacturing Conference. OnRamp Manufacturing is the leading conference for manufacturing innovation that brings together the manufacturing industry’s leading corporations, investors, and startups. The conference highlighted innovations disrupting the manufacturing industry, the leaders making such innovations possible, and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry.
In this exciting interview, Ann and Russ discussed some of the top challenges that today’s manufacturers face, and how technology such as AI and connected worker solutions that recognize the variability in today’s workforce are empowering workers by giving them tools and resources that will set them up for success.
The following is a recap of some of the highlights of the discussion.
The great resignation is upon us now
The consistent story of the manufacturing workforce is that there is an aging workforce and 30-40% of that workforce will leave within the next 5 years, taking valuable, hard to capture tribal knowledge with them. Many manufacturers were under the misconception that the remitting workforce would pass down their knowledge to the next generation as they did before. However, this was a big misconception. Even prior to Covid, the dynamics of the workforce themself have changed. In the last 5 years, the tenure of manufacturing workers is down to 17% and that decrease escalated even more as a result of the pandemic.
The stability of the workforce has decreased in the past 8 years. Old work processes were designed during a more stable time and unfortunately aren’t applicable for this generation of workers. Today’s workers are in the factory less frequently, don’t stay as long, and due to Covid, may be out for short periods of time, resulting in the need for a more dynamic workforce. To deal with this rapidly changing workforce, manufacturers will need a more data-driven approach powered by AI to empower their workforce.
A highly effective, cross functioning workforce
Over the years, the manufacturing industry has done a really good job of connecting machines into the fabric of the business and giving operators the necessary data to help run those machines better. Our frontline workers, the last piece of connectivity, are the least connected set of workers in the company. Frontline workers should be fully integrated into the fabric of the business from a collaboration standpoint so that they can access the data they need as well. Secondly, when they are working, it needs to be understood what workers are doing well and what they are struggling with, so we can match people with the tasks that they already excel at.
Top trends and key challenges in today’s workforce
At the highest level, everyone is talking about the disruption of the mobile supply chain. The role of the manufacturer is to put supply into the supply chain and to safely build products at acceptable quality and productivity levels, matching today’s workforce with today’s task load.
The new dynamics of the workforce (lots of turnover, shorter tenure, people leaving abruptly) are at odds with what manufacturers are trying to do, which is to be a stable source of supply to the global supply network. Technology today, specifically AI, lets us understand at a data-driven level and in real time how workers can perform at their individual best, based on their training experience and raw ability for a specific task.
How Hybrid Work is impacting the manufacturing workforce
With Covid came an immediate need for remote presence, but the real issue is the idea that a subject matter expert needed to be on site for support. This way of working is now a thing of the past. When we think about having frontline workers fully connected to the organization, at any moment in time, they should have direct access to the tools and resources that would help them do their job better. Connected work in the future means using AI to allow frontline workers to have access to internal and external resources that are appropriate for them at their fingertips.
Another interesting statistic resulting from Covid is that employee engagement is down almost 20% from pre-Covid times. Manufacturers are always concerned about employee engagement, particularly with certain jobs that might be repetitive. AI is extremely helpful in measuring signals of engagement but also provides tools to the organization to increase the level of engagement of frontline workers. One thing that causes a reduction in engagement is when a worker feels like they can’t perform a job so they become frustrated.
Using AI to give frontline workers the tools and information they need when they need it is one way to help increase engagement. The other way is to let them feel connected to the actual importance of their work.
Hiring, Training & Reskilling
The new workforce dynamics and the nature of hybrid work are also now forcing manufacturers to re-think employee onboarding and training.
The historic methods of onboarding and training taught workers everything they could “possibly” do which resulted in overtraining. The data-driven era we’re entering into is one of continuous learning and development powered by AI. Training shifts from the things frontline workers are possibly going to do to what they are probably going to do. This results in reduced training times, continuous learning and development, and the ability to upskill at any point as needed. Learning is always available, training content is available to the worker on the shop floor at the time of need. Reducing the initial onboarding training and allowing training to occur at the moment of need, coupled with AI for scoring, provides insights into the most effective training modules as well as what needs to improve based on demonstrated execution.
Transforming Today’s Workforce with AI & Connected Worker Tools
One challenge with connected worker data is that it’s inherently noisy. In many cases, up to 37% of the signals that come back are not representative of what is actually happening. Fortunately, AI excels at recognizing patterns in noisy data, so we can use that to focus companies on the work processes that have the most opportunity, allowing organizations to understand their actual proficiency at any procedure or job. This helps them understand current workforce skills and where they should invest if they want to get the largest return, with AI being the driving technology that unlocks those signals in noisy data.
AI is largely embedded in most aspects of our lives. It will play an equally large role in helping the connected workforce progress and become part of the 21st-century solution and the next generation of how people work. Adopting these methodologies early on will make the overall digital transformation process a lot easier for manufacturers.
