MANAGEMENT
MANUFACTURING’S
NEW NORMAL
In times of uncertainty, largescale
projects and investments
are rarely a priority – and no
one knows quite how long the
uncertainty engendered by
COVID-19 will last. As a result, many
may see the impacts of the COVID-19
crisis as a roadblock for wider digital
transformation initiatives in manufacturing.
But this isn’t quite the case. While
COVID-19 has put digital transformation on
hold for many manufacturers, for others it
is accelerating the initiative.
Below, I focus on three trends I’m seeing
as the crisis plays out:
• Flexible manufacturing
• Flexible workforces
• Re-shoring
It’s certain that in the long term, the
eff ects of the crisis will change the way we
see digital transformation forever – but
rather than applying the brakes, I believe it
will ultimately accelerate digital
transformation trends that were already
underway before the pandemic.
Trend 1: Flexible Manufacturing
to Meet Demand
It’s well known that the pandemic has led to
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extreme spikes in demand for some
products – both established equipment,
such as PPE, and new devices, such as
testing kits. Manufacturers are having to
quickly scale up production and, in some
cases, pivot to create products they’ve never
worked on before.
But this trend isn’t completely new. Over
recent years, we’ve seen manufacturers
trying to adapt in step with rapidly changing
customer demands. The crisis has simply
made this kind of adaptability more
important.
For example, one consumer goods
manufacturer has recently changed the way
it designs and produces its product lines, so
it can update orders for its customers every
three to six months. And this is not an
isolated case – across the manufacturing
sector, we’re seeing manufacturers develop a
much closer connection to customers.
They’re producing more customised
products, in shorter runs and smaller orders.
Key technologies, such as automation and
IoT, are crucial here. These advancements
will help manufacturers gain a deeper
insight into their assembly lines and supply
chains, and allow them to adapt and change
course as time demands.
Trend 2: Flexible Workforces
One impact of COVID-19 has been the
requirement of a more fl exible workforce,
as manufacturers face the challenges of:
• Maintaining socially distanced shifts
• Rapidly training replacement shifts
when an entire shift is forced to
quarantine
• Bringing in expertise for training and
repairs remotely (to avoid the timedelay
of quarantining experts who are
fl own in from abroad)
Again, these challenges are now more
pressing, but manufacturers have been
under pressure to make the workforce more
fl exible for some time. The need for
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