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Author: Peter Paul Schreuder, Chief Cloud Officer & VP of Support at IFS Ultimo
When we think about innovation in the workplace, we often imagine office workers using laptops. Yet, today’s industrial businesses are grappling with numerous complex challenges, including global supply chain disruptions, increasingly strict health and safety regulations, intense competition, escalating costs, and, perhaps most critically, a shortage of skilled labour. Fortunately, companies can take strategic actions to not only mitigate these risks but also transform them into opportunities for fostering employee engagement, enhancing customer satisfaction, and driving business growth.
The future of work in industrial organisations focuses on simplifying and safeguarding the lives of those who manage complex machinery. It’s a business that, at its core, revolves around people. These highly skilled professionals are primarily looking to reduce administrative hassle and to free up more time to focus on critical and value-added tasks.
Engaging the Future Industrial Workforce
Our 2023 Trends Report highlights an ageing workforce as the top concern for organisations in the industrial sector. This concern is closely tied to the challenge of attracting and retaining skilled workers, which ranks among the top three future concerns for businesses surveyed.
While the outlook may seem challenging for sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics, the latest generation of enterprise asset management (EAM) technology offers a way to engage both younger, tech-savvy employees and retain experienced, older staff whose knowledge is invaluable to operations.
In maintenance environments, for instance, mobile technologies and wearables can be effective for visualising and validating recommended procedures in a format that resonates with today’s tech-oriented workers. These tools enable maintenance teams to work ‘hands-free,’ enhance error detection, and reduce overall inspection times. Wearables also play a crucial role in capturing the ‘silent knowledge’ of seasoned staff by supporting a ‘hub and spoke’ model for remote and automated diagnostics. This setup allows frontline workers to remotely access extensive technical data and expertise, reducing the need for specialised skills on-site.
Mobile hardware is being used more frequently for tasks like scanning, printing, and label management. This technology is ideal for managing stock and inventory—both incoming and outgoing – on the shop floor, in logistics companies or in warehouses.
As this example illustrates, mobile technologies significantly enhance worker satisfaction and efficiency. Employees who are content with their tools are naturally more productive and engaged than those who are frustrated with their equipment.
We also find that while there can be resistance among older workers to use smartphones and tablets, the younger generations use them as a given. They consider paper-based working a process of the past.
Unifying Your Team with Targeted EAM Solutions
Research shows that disengaged employees can cost businesses millions annually due to lost productivity. Thus, providing digital and physical tools that ensure a seamless and efficient workday is not merely a luxury but a necessity. One of the most effective ways to optimise any team member’s work environment is by fostering effective communication and collaboration.
In asset-heavy industries like manufacturing, an EAM system is critical to ensuring all business objectives are met safely and competently. When an EAM system is fully integrated into an organisation’s technology framework, it allows different departments to access unified data. For example, reliability engineers can input asset data that maintenance planners can easily review and act upon.
Consider the case of the Bristol Port Company, which opted to replace its fragmented maintenance system and dozens of databases with a centralised EAM solution. This strategic move gave the Port, which employs over 12,000 people, complete control over its data, leading to improved decision-making capabilities.
As part of its digital transformation, the Port has implemented a more efficient and effective ‘permits to work’ process, prioritising safety for both staff and contractors. The old system was outdated and cumbersome to use. With the help of an EAM solution, the team now benefits from improved visualisation of hazardous and non-hazardous tasks, allowing for faster and more thorough work conflict resolution. Having complete control over the collected data also supports better business decision-making.
Increasing Equipment Reliability with Connected Frontline Operators
The value of an EAM solution can be maximised when the frontline team members, responsible for day-to-day operations, are also digitally connected. Connected Worker platforms empower these team members with easy access to work instructions, checklists, and the ability to collaborate to solve problems.
Take the example of a Bosch Power Tools factory that brought in a Connected Worker platform to improve communication between maintenance and the factory floor. Within days of going live, workers started posting issues they were experiencing in production. The equipment was tagged along with photos and videos. Maintenance was notified in real-time and was able to automatically create work orders in their EAM system when required.
The integrated systems helped to document issues resulting in better insight in support of root cause analysis. In less than six months, the Head of Manufacturing IT reported an eight per cent improvement in productivity. This was largely due to the impressive reduction mean-time-to-repair and in equipment downtime by reducing the time to resolve issues
The Key to Staying Competitive
For industrial companies looking to maintain a competitive edge, transparency is the key. Establishing transparency across business functions such as maintenance, safety, and operations can provide a significant competitive advantage.
By seamlessly connecting industrial employees to their work environments, businesses empower them to work more intelligently, maintain higher safety standards, and achieve superior business outcomes. Companies that recognise this and invest in ensuring their staff can manage assets through straightforward and effective processes will be well-positioned to tackle any future challenges.
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