Many people have been having this misconception that the jobs in the manufacturing industry are dirty, dangerous, labor-intensive, and low paying. But now this perception is getting changed, and today’s reality is that manufacturing is evolving in the U.S, and the industry is bringing a whole lot of jobs for the next generation.
According to Global Manufacturing Scorecard released by Brookings Institution, the U.S (with 77 points) ranks among the top manufacturing countries in the world along with U.K (78), Switzerland (78), Japan (74), and Canada (74). The rankings are given based on their manufacturing policies, infrastructure, workforce investments, and cost considerations. Source
The Real Challenge
According to one survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers, it was one of the biggest challenges for 76.7% of manufacturers to attract and retain quality and skilled workforce.
One-third of American parents would not encourage their children to pursue a career in manufacturing due to concerns related to compensation and job security, according to the Manufacturing Institute.
The Possible Solution
Manufacturers can do a lot to attract the next generation of manufacturing employees. They can build associations by joining hands with multiple manufacturing companies (10-20) to louder their voice and create opportunities. Employers might think that by revealing their resource problems to competitors, they become more likely to be at risk, whereas it makes them stronger. Collaborations can do wonders.
Are Manufacturers Prepared for the Next Generation of Manufacturing?
With several significant transformations in the past decade, today’s manufacturing industry is getting prepared to welcome the next generation of manufacturing. The majority of these next-gen technologies will focus on product fabrication and the quick development of products. To be successful in the age of industrial internet, manufacturers will require revamping their business models as per the future requirements.
Key factors that will have a significant impact on the future of manufacturing:
- Technologies like automation and robotics will become prevalent in the industry.
- 3D manufacturing techniques will help in producing custom products in less time and minimize the requirement of tooling and traditional pre-production processes.
- Sensor powered machines and connected equipment will become common and produce data more than ever.
- Analytics will continue to play a vital role in the industry.
What can help the Industry to Prepare the Next Generation of Manufacturers?
Robotic Automation
Complete dependence upon robotic automation is likely to be the future of manufacturing. Even today, robotic technology can be acquired for small scale manufacturing for around $20,000 that can deliver work for up to 6,000 hours. People working in the manufacturing industry would already know that this technology has been playing a crucial role in the industry for long.
Robots neither have nor will they replace the human workforce, quite the contrary, there will be a huge demand for skilled mechanics and technicians for the utilization and maintenance of the robotics. Yes, the lack of qualified, trained, and experienced technicians might have been preventing many manufacturers from investing in robotic automation.
The only thing manufacturers need to prepare for the future is to adopt technologies like robotic process automation and train the workers and interns about its optimum usage. Also, organizing seminars and events to make students (that are about to be graduated) aware of the career options in manufacturing, can help prepare the next generation of manufacturers.
Also Read: Different Ways Machine Learning Is Leafing to Smarter Manufacturing
The Age of Automation
- Many experts agree that the future of manufacturing will slowly depend upon automation. In manufacturing mills and firms, half of the working hours are spent on manual jobs.
- An analysis of European and North American manufacturing jobs found that almost 48% of hours are majorly spent on physical labor.
- While it is estimated that by 2030, only 35% of the working time will be spent on manual work.
Outsource Manufacturing Back-Office Functions: The Next Step toward Growth
There are many back-office operations and tasks that you can outsource to get more time to focus on your core business – manufacturing and developing products. When you plan to outsource manufacturing accounting and bookkeeping tasks to an accounting firm, the firm will provide you with competent services using the latest technology, without you having to arrange a physical office space.
The advent of 5G networks will allow uninterrupted, superfast, and highly secure internet connectivity that will enable CPAs to connect with you and give you your financial information quickly and safely. They will also become able to perform real-time analytics with the help of artificial intelligence and tools like big data analytics.
As 5G networks will become common in the future, they can boost the usage scope of AI and machine learning. These technologies can have enormous impacts on the accounting functions too. For example, the use of blockchain, AI, and big data can make it easier for accountants to verify transactions in real-time and audit big size financial data without sampling.
Auditing will also become more manageable with access to complete data sets. In the future, auditing will involve capturing unorganized data sets from multiple sources, cleaning them, analyzing them, and presenting insights of financial reports in an easy-to-understand format, with all of it is done virtually in real-time.
Conclusion – Build the Next Generation of Manufacturers
Today’s young talent isn’t interested in manufacturing jobs, not because they don’t want to do hard work but because the industry doesn’t attract them. They think manufacturing jobs are surrounded by dirty hands-on work, and life risks are high inside noisy factories. Whereas manufacturing workers know that the case is different today, but still, it is difficult to refresh this image of the industry.
2025 might seem way too far from today for mid-school students to think about their future. They might not realize it today, but they are going to be part of the workforce in 2025, and there will be millions of work opportunities for them in this industry. The manufacturing industry will change and grow with technological advancements, and it will require more people to run machines and bring new programming ideas, new manufacturing models, etc.
Thus, it is the right time to engage them and change their perceptions toward the industry for good and so that they will be able to make better decisions for their future. Manufacturers need to eradicate the old negative image of the manufacturing jobs and replace it with what the industry actually is today – technologies like robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are changing the way we produce products. And the future will be much more advanced than ever before.
Amid the coronavirus breakdown, unless you are manufacturing sanitizers, gloves, masks, medicines, or medical equipment, you might be going through a hard time trying to keep your business running. Many companies around the world are struggling to get their business back on track. If you are also facing problems in managing back-office functions of your manufacturing firm due to any possible reason, then contact Cogneesol – a firm having a team of expert accountants, known for their expertise and trusted by many businesses worldwide. Even in this crucial time, we are working 24X5 to deliver satisfactory services. Get in touch with us today to get a free trial. Call us at +1 646-688-2821 or email at info@cogneesol.com.
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