Published Via 11Press: It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 radically altered nearly every part of our everyday lives — and continues to do so today. While healthcare and political news dominated the headlines, another oft-overlooked part of our economy was forced to adapt at breakneck speeds: the manufacturing sector.
Supply chains were disrupted, workforces went remote, and paces of innovation stumbled at times when steadfast production was needed most. Couple that with an increased expectancy of domestic contribution and corporate sustainability, and many manufacturers have realized a need to future-proof their production strategies.
So, what manufacturing trends can we expect to emerge as we move beyond the pandemic? The answer starts by examining the obstacles manufacturers face and how each one can be addressed.
Obstacle 1: Supply Chain (In)Security
Whether it’s a pandemic or a trade war, supply chain disruptions weigh down productivity and erode the bottom line — and 94% of all manufacturers cite it as a concern. Current supply chain dynamics are anything but agile and involve multiple steps, with each one contributing to overall costs along the way. As of March 2021, the most common supply chain concerns reported are:
- IT security: 55%
- Quality performance among existing suppliers: 53%
- Excess overhead management costs: 47%
- Global dynamics create IP risks: 42%
- Lack of transparency: 31%
With so many weaknesses, it’s understandable why many managers and executives are kept awake by supply chain concerns. The current framework is rigid, opaque, and circuitous, and if the manufacturing sector is to thrive, it must be streamlined to suit the requirements of our day.
Obstacle 2: A Shifting Workforce
One of the many adjustments COVID-19 imposed upon the world was that remote work was made ubiquitous nearly overnight. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) estimated that 33% of Americans worked remotely in 2019 before the pandemic began — a number which more than doubled in 2020 to 71%, according to the Pew Research Center.
These figures confirm that a transition to remote work was on the horizon before the pandemic hit, but health factors threw the change into overdrive. Many who were once hesitant to go remote have seen not only that it can be done without sacrificing productivity, but that the transition could be applied elsewhere, with a great boost to production. Just as remote flexibility has proven a highly desirable incentive for some employees and has reduced workplace overhead, executives have also noticed that manufacturing facilities themselves are less reliant on a physical space than ever before. By leveraging digital transformation, companies have availed themselves of outsourced manufacturing facilities, and achieved equal if not greater productivity in the process while reducing their overhead along the way.
The takeaway: in today’s digital world, the worker and the workplace have the capacity to go remote without loss of productivity — and the trend applies within manufacturing realms as well.
Obstacle 3: Accelerating Innovation
Our economy demands breakneck innovation in times of normalcy. When the pandemic hit, the need for innovative speed only got greater.
Even if the demand for manufacturing agility ebbs after COVID, the pace of innovation will continue to grow. That’s why 54% of executives cited accelerating product innovation as a priority in 2021, next only to stabilizing their supply chain.
From digital transformation empowering a remote environment to supply chain simplicity facilitating a smoother building process, there are multiple factors that determine the speed of innovation. It takes a system to accelerate the design process, and both communication and tech will be necessary to convert prototypes to products at the speed our economy demands. A holistic overhaul will be the only way forward.
Obstacle 4: Sustainability
Historically, the manufacturing industry has had a heavy impact on the environment, and consumers and executives alike are beginning to take note. The EPA estimates that 23% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions came from industry in 2019, and rising public awareness of the effects of climate change has forced executives to make sustainability a core component of their business strategy. What’s more, 89% of C- or VP-level executives have stated that sustainability is of increasing importance within their corporations, and two-thirds have said it is of greater necessity than ever.
Despite the emphasis on lowering their carbon footprint, executives and managers still face a number of challenges toward accomplishing their goal. The primary ones are:
- Sustainability standards of suppliers and partners: 58%
- Difficulty scaling to larger projects: 43%
- Lack of a practical plan: 36%
- Insufficient funding: 20%
- Not a priority at the top: 13%
While encouraging that such a large majority report an intensified focus on sustainability, clearly much work remains to be done to turn their vision into reality.
The Solution: Manufacturing On Demand
With so many obstacles facing manufacturers today, what answers can be found to help solve their production dilemmas? While a number of solutions exist, one of the biggest is manufacturing on demand (MOD).
The process of building only what is required at that moment in time, MOD presents a stark contrast to conventional manufacturing techniques. The advantages of this just-in-time manufacturing approach have been understood for some time, but digital transformation has taken the process to a whole new level. Nowadays, companies may avail themselves of digital platforms that can take the legwork out of sourcing, quoting, design for manufacturability, (DFM), and fabrication, streamlining production from start to finish.
The benefits of MOD are discussed in further detail in our free ebook: “2021 State of Manufacturing”, but here’s a sample of how modern-day MOD can be a key component of overcoming the manufacturing challenges laid out above:
- Supply Chain (In)Security. When combined with digital transformation platforms, MOD enables customers to find suppliers and partners that cannot only manufacture their products, but source the raw materials for doing so at a cost they can afford. This enables companies to simplify and secure their supply chain, bolstering it further by bringing production back home.
- A Remote Workforce. Just as remote work cannot occur without connective technologies like Microsoft Teams or Zoom, a flexible manufacturing environment is impossible without digital transformation and MOD. In fact, 95% of companies agree that expert guidance on manufacturing feasibility would be of great benefit, and budget limitations, difficulty hiring, and inadequate training are all major concerns. This is why many organizations have found outsourcing their manufacturing to the experts to be the best move for them.
- Accelerating Innovation. A more stable supply chain and remote flexibility are two of the biggest bottlenecks impeding innovation today, and by streamlining both, the pace of product development rises dramatically.
- Sustainability. Conventional manufacturing methods entail storage of large component inventories, draining corporate finances and adversely impacting the environment. By producing only as much as immediate demand requires, MOD reduces material waste and conserves resources and energy otherwise needed for storage.
From AI and robotics to principles of a circular economy, there are certainly plenty of other tactics that will be used to transform the manufacturing methods of the past, but one thing is certain: as we look to these manufacturing trends, MOD is sure to be in the mix.
Fictiv: Tomorrow’s Manufacturing Trends Today
Supply chain security, remote flexibility, accelerated innovation, and corporate sustainability are just a few of the manufacturing trends we can expect to see in 2021 and the years ahead — and Fictiv is already there. We’ve combined digital manufacturing platforms with efficient MOD principles to empower our customers with a single interface that meets all their manufacturing needs.
From sourcing a supplier and uploading a 2D or 3D design to specifying a material and process, we help create the manufacturing agility that the 21st century demands. If you’d like to outsource your part build to boost your manufacturing processes, contact us today, and we’ll show you how we can help.
