We are on the precipice of a big transformation in the manufacturing industry—one where the worker will need to work differently than ever before. The opportunities will be huge for both the workers and the organizations, but candidly if we aren’t prepared, we may have a rocky road to get there.
A Deloitte analysis of government data suggests there are estimated 1.9 million open positions that could remain unfilled in manufacturing due to the skills gap by 2033. Yikes. Open positions ultimately mean lost opportunities for manufacturing companies.
Andrea Masterton, vice president, marketing, Poka, an IFS Co., says there are a range of labor-related challenges the manufacturing industry faces today including employee turnover. Here’s the reality. Replacing a worker costs three times the annual salary and one hour of downtime is equal to $260,000 on average. We simply cannot have that much lost revenue in manufacturing.
What’s the solution? Digital transformation and AI (artificial intelligence) will completely reimagine how we work in factories, but we must prepare our workers for what comes next. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
Who’s the Connected Worker?
In my candid conversation with Masterton, we discussed if AI is going to completely eliminate workers on the factory floor—no—and if AI is going to change the profile of the worker we need—yes!
Masterton describes the attributes of a connected worker, saying they need to be competent, safe (know how to mitigate risks and are aware of the risks), agile and versatile, motivated and engaged, and have the soft skills needed to be a manager of their own areas of responsibility.
“We are hiring them for their thinking, not just their muscle and executing a task,” Masterton so eloquently describes.
How Can Technology Help?
During my time at IFS Connect in Nashville in early June, one really big takeaway is the nature of work is going to change, but there are still going to be workers in factories. What will end up happening instead is we will need to leverage AI to augment those workers to make their tasks and jobs more efficient, safer, and productive.
“We are thinking about the ways in which AI will help augment the worker in the future, not replace the worker,” says Masterton. “Agentic AI isn’t going to be autonomous and completely operating the equipment on its own.”
Rather AI is going to be a tool manufacturing companies can leverage to improve the way workers work. As an example, IFS Connected Worker, powered by Poka, can support workers on the factory floor, providing access to information to connect the team.
“Connecting those front-line workers has been a part of that last mile we have had to make sure we have a truly connected factory,” Masterton says.
With forms and checklists, users can track, understand, and assign issues and tasks. The technology also monitors KPIs (key performance indicators) to help gain insights to make decisions faster. Ultimately, all of this will help accelerate skills development and reduce training time, while also heightening safety, quality, and productivity.
Let’s consider an example of making lessons and visual-based instructions. With AI, companies can take a 40-page SOP (standard operating procedure) and convert it in a second into a Poka-formatted work instruction. Taking it a step further, the technology can watch someone performing a task and break it in multiple steps in a Poka work instruction. This is 75% faster for manufacturers to create work instructions.
“The companies that are going to do well are going to be the companies that walk the talk. They are going to win the talent war,” says Masterton.
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