JULY 20228MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSIN MY OPINIONNOT YOUR PARENT'S FACTORY JOB: UPSKILLING KEY TO DIGITAL MANUFACTURING SUCCESSBy Hao Dinh, Vice President Of Technology, EnproToday's digital factories are occupied by robots and are run by automation software that receive real-time updates from the production floor via Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. During COVID-19, Industry 4.0, the term used to include all the technologies enabling digital manufacturing, proved its value by enabling organizations to run production during the pandemic. Per a Mckinsey survey of 400 global manufacturers, 94 percent of respondents indicated Industry 4.0 had helped them keep their operations running during the crisis, and 56 percent said these technologies had been critical to their crisis responses.. There will be future crisis that will affect operations thus firms are heavily investing in Industry 4.0. A 2020 Gartner Smart Manufacturing survey shows (): · 86 percent of respondents state digital manufacturing is an integral component of their digital supply chain strategy· 84 percent agree they expect digital manufacturing to increase their competitivenessLike other technology led disruptions, digital manufacturing success is dependent on the people affected by the change, the enhanced processes that are enabled and the underlying technologies. In 2022, there are numerous examples of "best practices" associated with Industry 4.0. Specifically, templates that document how firms have successfully deployed Industry 4.0 technologies as well as implementation providers with proven solutions are readily available.The human side of technology, from my experience, is the key criteria that needs to be addressed. I've led Industry 4.0 implementations that did not deliver the return on investment (ROI). It was not the technology or the processes that caused the missed ROI, it was the people. Specifically, the people affected by the new technologies agreed the digital solutions would benefit not only their daily jobs, but also improve overall factory production. The issue was we did not correctly upskill the employees to effectively use the new technologies and enhanced processes. As a lesson learned, every Industry 4.0 initiative since the missed ROI, I've ensured upskilling is a priority. It's been challenging since the current mindset is to focus on the process changes and the technologies. Training was an afterthought. The mindset of "build it and they will use it" is false and an expensive assumption.Hao Dinh
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