Are You A Future-Ready Manufacturer?

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. 1 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. 2
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