With business model changes and collaborative efforts, manufacturing could help usher in economic recovery after the pandemic.
The entire world is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries, communities and even businesses are still uncertain about how the events of the last year (and even more so, moving forward) will affect the population, the economy, and worldwide recovery.
While there is a lot of uncertainty as we progress through the pandemic with glints of light at the end of the COVID tunnel, it can be certain that manufacturing will have a solid impact on how society moves forward, perhaps even in the same way that manufacturing was impacted at the onset of the pandemic.
The Before Times
Before the pandemic began, society was on a steady path of digitization. Industry 4.0 was becoming an impacting part of major businesses—both as a marketing term and as an actual industrial tool—and even the manufacturing sector was seeing booming business, as well as the opportunity to reinvest in everything from software and infrastructure to capital equipment.
Businesses in the manufacturing sector have long been slow-moving ships when compared to businesses in other sectors. And justifiably so. Manufacturers often have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in equipment and staff that are built up over time—often to complete very specific tasks for niche clientele.
Finding clientele that need a specific part or process or material and being able to create parts en masse are often part of the profit center for manufacturers.
Then COVID-19 happened.
The Pandemic’s Impact
As it did with most businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the manufacturing sector. In fact, many companies saw challenges on both the supply chain and demand sides of their businesses. These challenges made many manufacturers realize that there was (and still is) a significant need to adapt and adjust their business models.
The hard-hitting impact of the pandemic has even led organizations like the World Economic Forum (WEF) to develop projects to help manufacturing businesses gather data and adjust their strategies to fit.
Global Pandemic Recovery
Not only have manufacturing businesses seen challenges during the pandemic, but it has also enlightened much of the general public about their reliance on the manufacturing sector. Whether it was a lack of toilet paper or PPE, the need for resilient and adaptable manufacturing and supply chains has become abundantly clear.
According to the WEF, the manufacturing sector has the opportunity to become the engine for recovery, even as these businesses are just getting a grasp on the need for new business models and practices.
In an article by the WEF, the organization states, “The global pandemic has necessitated creative thinking from manufacturers around the world, and in doing so, new business and operating models built on resilience and sustainability have emerged.”
In the article, the WEF points out that manufacturing can be an analogous “engine” for recovery. Where the engine block is industry and government leaders building new business models, Industry 4.0 (4IR) technologies are the turbocharger, fuel and oil are the workforce and data insights, and the pit crew is industry collaboration.
Organizations had already seen how 4IR technologies can aid their businesses pre-COVID, but adoption, like most things in manufacturing, was slow to take root. The pandemic has sped up those plans and business models. “Accelerating the adoption of critical 4IR technologies can, just like your car’s turbocharger, increase the efficiency power and performance of manufacturing, and accelerate our recovery from this global pandemic,” according to the WEF.
Developing an upskilled workforce has been a challenge in manufacturing for a while, but it will certainly have a bigger and broader impact in the post-pandemic world. “New technologies are transforming what it means to work on a factory floor, and industry players must collaborate to shift the “dull, dirty, and dangerous” perception of manufacturing job profiles to attract a new generation of leaders.”
Collaboration has been an impacting business practice in several places, but multi-stakeholder efforts in manufacturing have often been limited and/or trumped by competition and a chase for business. This idea of cooperative business practice may feel counterintuitive at times, but the WEF explains, “Most of these challenges are so massive and embedded, in fact, that no one company or even government could hope to address them on their own. By working together on these issues, however, there is an enormous opportunity to create a win for companies, governments, and most importantly, people, that no single stakeholder group could accomplish on its own.”
Collaborative ecosystems emerged during the grip of the early pandemic response. WEF cites a number of OEMs in the additive manufacturing sector (even direct competitors) working together to address shortages and growing demand.
While the engine analogy illustrates the possibilities and opportunities that manufacturing and industrial businesses will have as we emerge from the pandemic, there’s still a real need for adoption and collaboration before we can get the engine started. If these industries start making moves now, they could have the opportunity to emerge from COVID-19 as the driving force behind the recovery.
