Disruption is constant for modern manufacturing organisations. Even as production lines have achieved greater levels of automation using advanced technology, the value of an engaged manufacturing workforce continues to serve as a requirement for efficient operations.
Persistent challenges like the rapid pace of evolving customer demands, sophisticated technological advancements and persistent labour shortages make digital workforce management solutions critical for organisations that want to operate with greater agility.
Whilst Industry 4.0 technologies like digital automation, AI and Internet of Things (IoT) have redefined how factories run, deskless workers must be given essential resources to use this technology effectively. 85% of manufacturing leaders said they understand the importance of investing in new workforce management technology to aid the learning and development of their deskless workforce in the next one to two years.
Modern workforce management capabilities can help manufacturing organisations reimagine their workforce deployment. This article will share some workforce trends impacting the manufacturing industry and how workforce management solutions can help these organisations realise significant value.
How Workforce Management Trends Impact the Manufacturing Industry
- Growing Hiring Costs: Labour scarcity increases as the workforce ages toward retirement. The ratio of post-working-age to working-age individuals in manufacturing is projected to rise by 75%. This labour scarcity has intensified talent competition and caused churn rate costs to balloon to more than $5.3 billion yearly in talent acquisition and training costs.
- Employee Demand for Flexible Scheduling Grows: Deskless workers increasingly expect their employers to offer flexible working arrangements, such as flexible shifts, shift swapping and split shifts. Nearly 50% of manufacturing employers are offering flexible scheduling to production workers.
- Employee Experience Drives Greater Productivity: Providing a better employee experience is important for reducing attrition. As labour scarcity grows, keeping skilled workers who can adapt to new technologies is pivotal in a competitive labour market. Additionally, 49% of manufacturers say optimised productivity is a top benefit of implementing an employee experience strategy.
- The Critical Value of Strategic Workforce Technology: According to Deloitte, when frontline workers are provided with a thoughtful and strategic mix of technology to perform their jobs, productivity is estimated to increase on average by 22%. Organisations with the highest degree of digital connectivity and empowerment, which involves 75% of their frontline workers, saw more than 20% growth.
How Employee Management Software Supports Manufacturing Agility
Deskless workers are increasingly expecting sophisticated work experiences that enable advanced scheduling and on-the-job training. Supporting these capabilities requires the use of employee management software that can:
- Manage schedules aligned with production and capacity levels, maintenance, and shutdown periods
- Fill last-minute coverage gaps when unplanned absences, priority work, rush orders and emergency repairs occur
- Automate compliance requirements and limit overtime with robust notifications
- Communicate changes in process and broadcast important announcements in real time
- Train workers in new skills and re-train team members needing extra details on upcoming tasks
Manufacturing Organiaations Realiae Significant Benefits With the ADP WorkForce Suite
Manufacturers need to meet change with resilience—prioritising flexible and agile working styles that support new production demands and opportunities and navigating complex compliance and labour scheduling requirements.
Whilst managers are more aligned with their employees today, employers continue to fall short in implementing workplace processes and tools that adequately address their workers’ needs. The ADP WorkForce Suite’s capabilities can create combined benefits of up to:
- $9.8 million (organisations with 5,000 employees)
- $98.1 million (50,000 employees)
- $196.2 million (100,000 employees)
These estimates are based on the aggregated results of value studies with our existing manufacturing sector customers across a range of deployments and organisational maturities.
Read the full Manufacturer Value Accelerator and see how our customers realise the benefits.
