Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector isn’t as prominent in the public eye as industries like tourism and hospitality.
2C Workforce Solutions
The manufacturing sector isn’t as prominent in the public eye as industries like tourism and hospitality. Nonetheless, the global pandemic saw the industry endure its most severe disruption in over a decade. Fortunately, a strong recovery is underway — data from the UN Industrial Development Organization indicated a global growth rate of 18.2% in 2022. As the industry recovers, resilience is the key theme giving rise to the trends that are altering the global manufacturing landscape. In fact, a poll of over 200 C-suite decision-makers at global manufacturing companies found that 68% listed improved resilience and agility as a top business priority in the coming years.
Here are some 2024 insights on the biggest trends shaping the future of manufacturing:
Smart Factories Are Changing How We Make Things
Smart factories are part of the broader “Industry 4.0” movement that’s transforming operations and shop floors in production environments across Europe, North America, and China.The first and second industrial revolutions were associated with mechanization powered by steam and the rise of assembly lines. The third saw the adoption of computers in manufacturing. Industry 4.0 continues the push towards automation, employing technologies such as IIoT (industrial internet of things), big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics.
AI, Machine Learning, And Advanced Analytics Drives Efficiencies
A typical oil rig has more than 80,000 sensors, providing data on everything from process parameters (temperatures, pressures and flow rates, for example), to machinery and equipment status.
This allows for remote monitoring and focused manufacturing, which is both fed by data. However, those many sensors put out, on average, about two terabytes of data per day — well beyond the scope of what can be effectively analyzed with conventional methods of data analysis. This partly explains the rise of advanced analytics methods powered by AI and machine learning. AI-based decision-making is being used for everything from quality inspection, to supply chain management, production line checks, and inventory management.
Predictive Maintenance And Digital Twin Technology Reduce Errors
In manufacturing, equipment failures can be extremely expensive. For example, a compressor failure at a petroleum plant can cost between $1 and $2 million per day, while studies show that unplanned downtime costs manufacturers $50 billion per year. Data indicate that predictive maintenance can reduce downtime by 30% to 50%, increase machine life by 20% to 40%, and cut costs by more than 30%.
Supply Chain Restructuring Is Changing Where Products Are Made
The same need for resilience that is spurring on the Industry 4.0 phenomenon is also driving dramatic shifts in shoring and sourcing, especially across North America and Europe. In 2021, 83% of manufacturing companies in the US confirmed that they would be reshoring, as opposed to just 54% in 2020. The economic impact of reshoring is estimated to be $443 billion in the US. The strategic shifts in supply chain management aren’t limited to the location of the manufacturing facility.
Microfactories Emerge As Commerce Evolves
This change in thinking has led to the growth of the microfactory — small, highly modular setups that make use of leading-edge technology like artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data, to enable hyper-autonomous manufacturing. The microfactory trend is a perfect amalgamation of the two megatrends (smart factories and supply chain restructuring), and all the smaller trends already discussed. The hunt for resilience has seen manufacturers try to improve their flexibility to accommodate small part runs, and to rapidly switch production lines to assemble new models.
Manufacturers Raise Wages And Reskill Workers To Combat Labor Shortage
An August 2022 survey from The National Association of Manufacturers reported that recruiting was the biggest problem for 76% of the manufacturers surveyed. Increasing pay is one-way manufacturers are looking to lure talent. Nearly three-quarters of manufacturers said they’d be raising wages by more than an average of 3% in 2022. That’s on top of increases made in 2021 when wages for new hires saw 6.8% growth and the industry overall raised wages by 3.2%.
