Five Manufacturing Trends to Watch By Al Cervero
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oth the immediate and longterm future of the manufacturing industry will be defined by the development of a number of ever-evolving and prominent trends. These trends are poised to have a significant impact during the rest of 2021 (and, in many cases, beyond), so it’s critically important for manufacturers to develop a keen understanding of what they are, how they will grow over time, and how they will impact the industry and the customers it serves. With that in mind, let’s look at five manufacturing trends to watch:
COVID-19 and Employee Safety
It almost goes without saying that workplace safety and compliance with CDC guidelines and OSHA regulations (along with local safety measures) will remain front of mind for manufacturers as 2021 gets underway. With COVID-19 cases on
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the rise in many parts of the world, organizations will need to continue to be vigilant in their efforts to protect employees. Doing so, however, requires a significant investment of time, effort and resources on the part of company leaders. While an efficient rollout of an effective vaccine for COVID-19 would bode well for an eventual return to normalcy for the manufacturing industry, the impact of such a rollout won’t be felt for some time. In the interim, organizations will need to continue practicing social distancing in the workplace, restricting visitors to facilities, encouraging the practice of good hygiene, and ensuring employees are healthy and fit for work before allowing them on the job. It’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the U.S., and it remains a major challenge for manufacturers across the country and around the world. While companies
do have plans and protocols in place to combat the virus, adhering to them and ensuring the health and well-being of employees is—and will continue to be— no small task.
Connected Workforce
The desire to equip workers with technology capable of allowing them to connect and collaborate from a distance has long been a trend on the rise within the manufacturing industry. As older generations continue to leave the workforce and are replaced by younger employees, and the rise of the big data era in manufacturing takes shape, finding tools and technologies to make an increasingly spread-out and remote workforce as productive as possible is a top priority for companies today. As a recent article from McKinsey explained, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased reliance
