Why is a better together approach necessary?
It takes a number of overlapping strategies to win in our competitive marketplace. Dive into the four biggest challenges at top-of-mind for manufacturing leaders leading into 2024 and beyond, and how we can respond.
Talent acquisition, retention, and upskilling
45% of manufacturers said that they had to turn down business opportunities because they did not have enough workers*. Address skill shortages through targeted training, optimization, and collaboration efforts to bridge the gap between company needs and your available talent pool.
* [Source : NAM]
THE CHALLENGES:
Sixty-seven percent of surveyed manufacturers said that their companies struggle to find employees with the right skills [Source: Autodesk 2023 State of Design and Make Report].
- Sales people and engineers are bogged down with repetitive, non-engaging, transactional work, that provides minimal value to the organization. It’s a creativity killer.
- How to scale operations to manage increased orders and throughput with limited resources.
- Cultivating innovation and creativity in engineering and design teams to prevent low engagement and attrition.
45% of manufacturers said that they had to turn down business opportunities because they did not have enough workers. [Source : NAM]
- An aging workforce might resist change or bring a traditional education that didn’t keep up with rapid tech changes.
- Shortage of new skilled labor and difficulty retaining existing high-value talent.
- Providing ongoing incentive and access to industry-aligned training to bridge worker skill gaps.
HOW YOU CAN RESPOND:
- Allow engineers to focus on higher-value work. Incorporate design automation tools to streamline design workflows, improve efficiency, and boost confidence in the work.
- Within our market of high-attrition, automation reduces overall labor requirements by systemizing repetitive, low-value tasks.
- Promote knowledge sharing within the organization to encourage access and collaboration which fosters skills advancement, employee retention, and greater innovation in designs.
- Leverage advanced design and simulation techniques to inspire your workforce to explore new concepts, test physics, and innovate in rapid succession.
- Provide structured training and enablement programs for new hires, focusing on specific concepts and workflows.
- Upskill existing employees with ongoing training and support to ensure they are employing the latest digital manufacturing tools and techniques.
- Manage goals and performance related to continuous learning for workforce growth and individual careers. Provide diverse training options, including trade schools, colleges, online, and in-person programs.
Crafting a better customer experience
Your company struggles to effectively assist customers, often lacking timely and accurate information for pricing, order changes, and post-sales support. This results in suboptimal customer experiences and potential loss of sales.
Getting to market faster
Surveyed manufacturers adopting digital transformation say they can launch a product or service quicker (49%), can scale faster (46%), and have experienced increased innovation (46%). Non-participants lack internal collaboration and have antiquated product development techniques that hinders innovation and time-to-market for products or variations.
THE CHALLENGES:
- Meeting the rising demand for customized products is a challenge due to long wait times for prototypes, iterative product cycles, and inefficient launch processes.
- Ensuring compliance with both internal and regulatory standards poses difficulties, leading to delays and resource consumption.
- Transitioning from prototypes to full-scale production is sluggish, impacting production timelines and efficiency.
- Concern about the durability and optimal design of your products.
- Seeking strategies to gain a larger market share faster than competitors.
HOW YOU CAN RESPOND:
- Data-Driven Development: Use various data tools like 2D/3D design, simulation, and digital twins to build a solid foundation for product development and testing.
- Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): Implement PLM to centralize data, streamline collaboration, and automate processes across teams. This leads to faster decision-making, fewer errors, and quicker introduction of new products.
- Design Automation for Customization: Apply design automation to support customer orders, change requests, and customizations, making the engineering department more efficient.
- Automated Sales Processes: Employ systems for sales configuration, quoting, and pricing to adapt to the demand for personalized products, enhancing selling, design, and manufacturing efficiency.
- Simulation over Market Feedback: Utilize design simulation to speed up product iteration cycles and improve product launch efficiency, bypassing the need to wait for real-time market feedback.
- Regulatory Compliance through Validation: Ensure designs meet regulatory standards through thorough simulation and validation, covering safety, performance, and industry-specific requirements.
- Expedited Prototyping: Speed up the transition from prototypes to full-scale production by identifying and addressing design flaws during validation, minimizing physical prototypes needed.
- Innovative Design for Market Share: Drive faster market share by innovating designs that stand out, attract customers, and capture market demand ahead of competitors.
- Streamlined Sales with CPQ: Implement CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) systems to accelerate market share by making the sales process smoother, reducing quote times, and providing personalized solutions for increased customer satisfaction.
Driving optimization with digital manufacturing
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