Why manufacturers must embrace skills transformation to be future-ready

The manufacturing sector has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years and COVID-19 has further accelerated the pace of change. Players globally have been adapting to new ways of functioning with a result-driven transformation agenda at the core.

Digital technologies have been instrumental in driving this transition. The industry 4.0 wave has coerced almost all players in the industry to adopt automation and digital technologies, but maturity levels vary. Organisations at the forefront of digital adoption have certainly seen better results.

And so, digital transformation is top of the agenda for practitioners in the manufacturing sector now to tackle growing competition, reduce costs and improve efficiencies.

What’s equally crucial for manufacturing sector leaders – to ensure that they meet critical business goals – is to build the talent pipeline to service this transformation and innovate for the future. For an industry like manufacturing, which often carries the weight of legacy approaches and systems, this is an ambitious task.

Purpose-driven digital manufacturing

The industry has come a long way to adopt connected, data-driven manufacturing that has undergone a metamorphosis - from shop floor to top floor. Subsequently, the demands placed on manufacturing sector leaders are increasingly challenging today.
Almost all of them are looking at transformation holistically.

“Digital in manufacturing must address all three stakeholders – customers, communities, and employees and how to make things better for them. Modernising legacy systems, processes, and technologies and integrating them with new systems are all key priorities that contribute to the transformation,” says R Nanda, Chief of Human Resources & CSR at Tata Chemicals.

The manufacturing sector is witnessing the emergence of several trends that were once unfamiliar to the industry. These include:

1. The need for hyper-personalisation and the right experience delivery across all touchpoints to customers
2. Remote operations & data-driven processes through automation
3. Digitally driven smart products that are helping players rethink their entire business models

This presents leaders with a great opportunity.

Dulles Krishnan, MD, Coursera Enterprise, India & ANZ, says, “The potential for automation in the manufacturing sector is 1.3x higher as compared to other industries, this means that the sector is ripe for innovation. At the same time, some of these trends are driving a pressing need in the industry for a massive skill transformation. Smart customers and smart products are demanding digital-ready, tech-savvy employees in manufacturing companies.”

Building the skill for future-ready manufacturing
Manufacturing sector today recognizes the need for comprehensive upskilling, cross-skilling and reskilling initiatives that are designed to drive a systemic change. In addition to the foundational skills that employees in the sector possess, new skills around automation & analytics, connectivity and advanced manufacturing are driving competitive advantage for companies.

Several companies are offering formalised courses and certification programs to employees to acquire new skills and apply it in their everyday work life. Cross- skilling, for example, a key focus area. Domain experts are now trained in data science so that they can leverage data for better business outcomes, whereas IT teams are encouraged to develop ‘design thinking’.

‘Digital champions’ with matured digital awareness are moulded across functions. One of the popular strategies among companies is reverse mentoring, where the digital-savvy millennials collaborate with senior employees to bridge the digital skills gap.

According to Jayanta Banerjee, Group CIO of Tata Steel, training the employees is no more a choice but a necessity for manufacturing organisations. “The success of a digital transformation program is measured in terms of how the users or employees are using it in their daily business, every time. Adoption is a big challenge as there is a great digital divide within organisations.”

Promises of reskilling & upskilling
As Vineet Jaiswal, Deputy CEO – Center of Excellence, Vedanta, rightly summarised, learning is not a sprint but a marathon. “Continuous learning is essential to prepare the workforce to be nimble, fail fast and innovate. I think a holistic cultural change is the biggest RoI one can drive from a successful training/reskilling program.”

As workforces prepare themselves for a future full of frequent changes, Coursera highlights some skills that will be the most sought-after in the manufacturing industry:

Top digital skills: Product design, Graphics, UX design, Statistical visualisation, Cloud Computing
Top human skills: Professional development, Storytelling, Public Relations, Negotiation, Change management

Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in