Why manufacturers need to focus on upskilling their staff and workers

GOING DIGITAL can signify a lot of things but for manufacturers, it is essentially about leveraging technology to augment processes and amplifying value.

However, transforming traditional processes to develop business models that satisfy an evolved market and equip their facilities with new capabilities is a big challenge for manufacturers.

We must also remember that tech skills are in low supply, which means integrating concepts such as the smart factory, machine learning, the internet of things (IoT), and so on, can be very overwhelming.

This is why upskilling current employees and talents is critical – to ensure that successful piloted digital projects can be pushed forward into actual deployment without disrupting current processes and workflows.

Employees that have been performing traditional processes for years and years on end need to upskill and upgrade themselves to be aligned with technological advances.

While arguably, digital-based talents can still be acquired, the expertise and experience of current employees will significantly add value to the deployment as higher production quality can be attained.

New recruits, on the other hand, will be time-consuming as training will have to be provided from scratch and they may not have the necessary manufacturing knowledge to help support impactful outcomes.

Upskilling present employees can be highly beneficial and valuable as they can be absorbed into digital projects from the pilot stage, giving them first-hand learning and maneuvering experiences.

Not only that, it will create a progressive working culture where “going digital” can be embraced by the organization, well beyond the implementation phase.

After all, it’s about being digital at the very core, integrating skills, experience, and expertise alongside technological growth.

In essence, upskilling a manufacturing entity is a mammoth task that will alleviate business prospects in the long run.

Although upskilling is not a prominent practice, manufacturers are progressing, nevertheless, and they are proactively adopting digital solutions despite all the challenges because transformation projects are not just a phase, they are what will establish the future of the industry.

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