Using Technology to Battle Labor Shortages

Even though the “Great Resignation” began over a year ago, employers around the world are still struggling to hire and retain strong talent as standards for employees have risen for aspects of work such as salary, hybrid work options, technology to do their job, and more.

Many businesses, especially in the manufacturing industry, realize that a modern workforce requires modern technology. Once hired, it is imperative to have visibility into data to understand what is working and what is not working for your employees. In addition to the increased visibility for management, technology also satisfies expectations from the next generation of workers who are digital natives. Ease of use, efficiency, and accuracy are some of the aspects digital natives look for in the tools they use to accomplish tasks. Allocating all resources efficiently will help save your company time and money.

Our industry experts have detailed the pains that companies like yours are experiencing and some insights to reassure you there are better ways to battle labor shortages and the skill gap than “NOW HIRING” signs and overhauling onboarding training processes.

Challenge: Attracting and Retaining New Talent

The new generation of workers is looking for progressive, technologically advanced companies to work with. A research study about Generation Z (Gen Z) working habits found 91% of these workers will take a job that offers technological solutions over a similar job without this offer. Growing up with the rapid expansion of the Internet, it is no wonder Gen Z looks for opportunities that provide advanced tools that can keep up with the pace of work digital natives are used to, unencumbered by manual processes. Old-school business practices are no longer what is being taught to these upcoming generations.

Solution:

Having a whiteboard on the shop floor to detail jobs for the week isn’t going to cut it anymore. Equipping your company with the latest technology will help attract the younger generations of workers. That means upgrading your scheduling and file cabinets to a cloud solution, making software and data accessible on mobile devices, shop floor stations, and workplace desktops. Implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system brings together schedules, production processes, estimating, quoting, purchasing, and more into one convenient, technological solution. Having a simple solution means the learning curve for current employees will be minimal and new employees will be grateful for working within an organized, modern environment.

Challenge: Data Visibility

Oftentimes, manufacturing companies play a guessing game when it comes to scheduling and job assignments. Broken processes, disparate software systems, or dated software can limit the visibility that management has into their team’s efficiency. It is imperative for managers to be able to schedule employees based on productivity and knowledge and help those employees struggling with more training resources to improve their value to the company. Not only will this help employees when working, but it will boost morale by knowing their management cares about them and their professional growth. When employees care about the work they are doing, they are more likely to put effort into their daily jobs. Even redundant, laborious jobs can be seen as valuable to the employee after seeing how the work affects the team, the company, and the bottom line.

Solution:

“People like to know how they are doing and see improvement in their performance; this gives them something that they can see in real-time, all the time, and it makes everyone want to do better."

Lance Thrailkill CEO at All Metals Fabricating

Holding employees accountable not only to managerial staff but to each other fosters an environment of healthy competition among employees. Everyone wants to know they’re making a difference at work and having full data visibility can be a remedy for burnt-out workers to find renewed meaning in their passions. With full data visibility and business intelligence, you can efficiently schedule around expertise and have your business running at maximum productivity. Sometimes, a new machine or process is not what is needed, instead, try using training modules and comparing productivity before and after the modules to understand its effect. Showing employees statistical data to prove their significance will keep them from feeling insignificant and potentially leaving for another job.

Challenge: Inefficiencies Taking Up Resources

When production demands are high, many manufacturers ramp up their hiring or machine investment efforts, but current labor shortages, the industry’s skills gaps, and growing economic concerns make it extremely difficult to do. What if more employees or machines are not what your company needs? You may not be running your machines at full capacity, or under/over staffing wrong jobs or stations, causing inefficiency in the resources you already have. Instead of purchasing new machines or investing in new hires with long ramp-up times, money can be allocated to more important business aspects.

Solution:

While you may think your machines are running at full capacity, this is often not the case. It is important for you to have this visibility into utilization to increase efficiency across your company. Without it, you may be losing time, money, and resources on production that could be used elsewhere. This not only saves the resources you are already using, but it allows you to save and spend where it is most necessary.

“We can now understand when a machine can absorb more capacity. Instead of a new machine, we might need to add a person, or two, or move someone to another shift.”

Michael Behrens, President of Complexus Medical

Before machine intelligence, Michael Behrens believed his machinery was running at 100%, what was eye-opening for many at Complexus Medical was the realization that most areas were being utilized only sub-50%. Behrens was able to save about a six-figure sum of money on machine purchases that he could then use in other areas. Even when a machine may seem to be performing at capacity, being able to see the exact utilization of a machine can drastically improve productivity across your company. Not having to buy new machines, but rather using the ones you already have at maximum will allow your company to allocate resources more effectively, whether that be time, profits, or employees.

With the newest generation beginning to enter the workforce, it’s important for businesses to keep up with the latest industry trends like using technology as a talent advantage, turning to automation, and dealing with supply chain demands. Don’t miss out on incredible talent because your company was not up to date.

You may also be interested in the following articles:

• How ERP Technology is Shaping the Future of F&B Manufacturing
• Combatting the Labor Shortage in the Food & Beverage Industry
• Top Manufacturing Trends That Are Influencing 2023 Planning