Are You A Future-Ready Manufacturer?
It’s important for manufacturers to stay current if they wish to remain successful. Positioning
yourself for growth means looking to the future and gaining efficiencies through new
technologies. That’s why this question may be the most important one for your business—are
you a future-ready manufacturer?
Before you can adequately answer that question, you and the members of your organization
need to know the answers to these three questions:
XX Where are we today?
XX Where do we want to be in three to five years?
XX How can we embrace innovation and automation?
If decision-makers in your organization can’t answer these questions, you have bigger issues
than you may realize.
At the very least, tackling these tough questions now will put you ahead of competitors who
are consumed with putting out today’s fires rather than focusing on growth opportunities.
Manufacturers that aren’t prepared for the coming global megatrends and don’t invest in
breakthrough technologies will be rendered irrelevant—and more often than not, it will happen
at a much faster rate than they ever could have dreamed possible.
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Are You A Future-Ready Manufacturer?
The paradigm is shifting
PricewaterhouseCoopers™ polls
Megatrends that can’t be ignored
Ten years ago, if someone had told you
manufacturing decision-makers every quarter
PricewaterhouseCoopers and other research
that in 2017 the world’s largest taxi
on where they plan to spend money. The
firms focus on megatrends—global, sustained,
service would own no vehicles (Uber®),
tech-spending trend is clearly on the upswing.
and macroeconomic developments that
our largest media service would produce
In the third quarter of 2015, 22 percent of
impact societies, economies, governments,
no content (Facebook®), and the world’s
manufacturers were looking to spend more on
cultures, and businesses like yours. Here’s
largest retailer would have no inventory
IT. That figure had doubled by the last quarter
what’s happening:
(Alibaba®), you probably wouldn’t
of 2016 to 44 percent.
XX Economic power shifts east—Not
believe it.
Meanwhile manufacturers, distributors,
How do you set your course for growth? Keep
all economists agree that China’s
your eyes on these four key areas:
economy—approximately $11 trillion gross
and retailers sitting on top of vast
domestic product—will eclipse the United
inventory stocks and hundreds of
1. Ensure and increase profitability—If
States’—coming in at just under $18
facilities are struggling to stay
your business’ data isn’t useful, visible, and
trillion—sometime soon. However, there
afloat—like Sears and JC Penney —or
accessible 24/7, you don’t have the clearest
is little question that China, India, Brazil,
are going under year after year under
picture of what’s going on at your
Russia, and the Asian Pacific nations will
this new paradigm.
company. Data analytics and business
eventually surpass the U.S. and European
intelligence tools are helping even the smallest
Union in population and purchasing
Today’s factories are smarter than
startups gain an advantage and
power. That doesn’t mean every company
ever. Plants are embracing robots
boost profitability.
will do business overseas, set up shop
®
®
for practically every purpose. Lean
there, or look to expand. However, it
manufacturing, Six Sigma™, change
2. Drive productivity up and costs
does mean you should be thinking about
management—the trends morph and
down—You gain efficiencies by making your
shifting markets and where it is you need
pivot all the time, but at their heart,
workforce more capable. Reduce the rate of
to be to compete.
the key is working smarter and more
rework and quality mistakes, remove a time-
efficiently—all the time.
wasting step in your process, and give people
population will jump from seven billion to
XX Population explosion—The world’s
the tools and training they need to achieve
eight billion by 2025. If population trends
Keep an eye on the forecast
“wins.” Remember, some of the best waste-
continue, Africa will account for 50
The next generation of manufacturers
reduction and safety culture ideas come from
percent of the world’s population growth
can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. They’ll
the shop floor.
by 2050, while Japan and countries in
need to be aware of how the world is
Europe will see a great decline.
changing, pay attention to economic and
3. Open new opportunities for growth—
geopolitical forecasts, and—this can’t be
Add new services and products and
urbanites are being born every week. Cities
emphasized enough—invest
extend your reach by selling into new
that occupy less than 1 percent of the
in technology.
segments and geographic areas. You could
world’s land mass will consume 75 percent
also move production to areas with lower
of the resources we create. Mega-corridors
operational costs.
—sometimes called “sprawls”—between
Innovation is important, but for the
average manufacturing plant looking
XX Extreme urbanization—1.5 million new
major cities are where many manufacturers
for a toehold, the key is knowing your
4. Leverage technology for growth—
customers and their needs just a little
today and tomorrow—Allow for better
bit better than the competition does.
connectedness with open architecture.
is lacking in many population boom areas.
KPMG™ made that last point clear in its
Hardware and software upgrades will become
The world’s food demand will grow by
2016 Global Manufacturing Outlook:
easier for your customers and staffers and
35 percent and energy demand by 50
extensibilities will let users tap into modern
percent. Current oil reserves won’t be
technologies as they become mainstream.
enough, so count on more ocean drilling
“With limited baseline growth expected
in most markets, manufacturers will need
will want to set up shop.
XX Scarce resources—Fresh drinking water
and fracking and hopefully some
to invest in new technologies in order to
Keep these tenets in mind as we move into
breakthroughs in cost-effective, renewable
grow the pie.”
what’s happening in the world and how we
fuel sources.
can prepare for the unexpected.
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