The future of manufacturing companies is largely influenced by how they can adapt to constant change. An article published by Hitachi Solutions describes what is happening in the industry right now, and what the next path may be. Here is a short selection of some of the topics.

 

There are not enough people

Long-term labour shortages are associated, among other things, with the Great Resignation, a phenomenon experienced by companies around the world during and after covid. People left their jobs en masse to find new job opportunities. Either with a higher salary, or perhaps with a better work-life balance option.

The age of employees in the industry also plays a role. According to a report by the Manufacturing Institute, almost a quarter are aged 55+. Addressing, hiring and retaining young talent is therefore the first challenge for manufacturing companies.

 

We want a better customer experience

A significant shift in consumer behaviour, and a change in the method of communication between customers and brands, lead companies to a new business model. PaaS (Platform as a Service) allows manufacturers to offer rental services on a subscription basis, rather than selling their goods. They incorporate IoT, AI, predictive analytics, can better understand the customer’s needs, and offer them value-added services.

 

IoT improves industrial applications

Industrial IoT (IIoT) is starting to be used, for example, for remote monitoring of the performance of production equipment, identification of possible problems, planning of enterprise resources, quality control, and the like.

 

Predictive maintenance has its successor

The mentioned article also talks about the new generation of predictive maintenance. It is a predictive solution. Predictive maintenance uses data analysis to identify anomalies, predictive solutions directly offer technicians a way to fix the problem on the first try.

 

Digital twins for every aspect of business

Simulation through digital twins allows manufacturers to conduct tests, model scenarios, train and observe how equipment performs under different conditions without having to change real-world production situations. It is thus great for optimizing production by modelling various processes, for identifying potential bottlenecks, for testing new production lines and prototyping new products in an easy and affordable way, for testing repairs and improvements to measure their effectiveness, and for modelling new business opportunities to support growth strategies.

 

Source: https://global.hitachi-solutions.com/blog/top-manufacturing- trends/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqP2pBhDMARIsAJQ0Czo3HGnQro7fCIY0TybWS9k41JAg- OJp7yu6xwWS94SDfP3S69B4ldYaAuiYEALw_wcB