Resilience is something we have talked about in the construction industry for decades, and it was certainly a conversation that came up in spades during the pandemic, especially as it relates to the supply chain. But it is a conversation we need to continue having on a more ongoing basis in all industries, especially in manufacturing.
Perhaps it is time to make a shift away from cost and speed being the primary priorities for businesses, and we shift to a greater focus and attention by adding more resilience to the daily mix. It seems Fortune 500 executives agree to some degree. According to the World Economic Forum, the term resilience in quarterly earnings calls rose by more than 200% in 2024 compared to 2019. We can all agree there is a benefit when we see the improvements in many areas such as making less waste, improving productivity, and building a stronger workforce through a variety of measures. But this is where the rubber meets the road.
To be clear, resilience can certainly mean different things to different people. For some, it means resilience in energy, resilience in automotive, resilience in infrastructure, you name it. Perhaps it is time to define what it means in manufacturing.
Defining Resilience in Manufacturing
By definition, resilience is the ability to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. There are two pieces to that we must dissect. Let’s take a step back and recognize, resilience means to withstand something hard that happened. At the same time, it means creating the ability to recover quickly from hard things that will happen in the future. And in some cases—again and again—unless proactive steps are taken to alter events.
Therefore, a resilient approach needs to be both reactive to today’s current threats and proactive to preparing for a world of the future and what comes next.
To be clear, resilience in manufacturing is not an easy feat. Labor challenges, complex supply chains, and threats from both cyber and natural environments pose a real risk that must be considered.
The Resilience Pulse Check survey reveals 84% of companies feel unprepared to navigate emerging uncertainties. Simply, people are aware of the need for greater resilience but aren’t quite sure how to take the necessary action. But don’t fret. You are not alone. There is a lot of hype that manufacturers are much farther along with AI than they really are. I suggest you take a deep breath and look and assess your operations, your data, your current state of people, and determine your strategy, before jumping in head first. Don’t leap before you have a tactical and strategic plan that includes your people, despite what the folks at IBM, Accenture, or McKinsey might be telling you. Or whatever report you are reading to the contrary.
AI and Resilience in Manufacturing
The big question on the table today is can technology help drive positive change in manufacturing and supply chains? Can data turn into insights to help build more resilient businesses in the future? Certainly, the answer is yes.
Case in point: predictive maintenance. Being able to gather good data can help point to potential errors that will occur, therefore enabling a problem to be solved in advance and improve on in the future. That is perhaps the definition of resilience, and most certainly can and is being applied in manufacturing.
Again, this is not an easy feat. There is much strategy that must go into AI implementation. Strategies must be aligned with corporate objectives and business priorities. We must ask ourselves the hard questions.
- What are the objectives?
- Why should we invest in technology?
- What should we invest in?
- How can we get everyone involved?
These questions cannot and should not be asked or answered in a vacuum. We need our people that understand our processes and understand what needs to occur and then can we apply AI to help reach more improved solutions. Let’s not put the cart before the horse. We need to be critical thinkers. AI will not solve the problems. It will only aid us in getting there by helping our companies realize the best solution or perhaps the correct answer sooner.
How do we continue to build resilience in manufacturing? These are the questions we need to be asking if we ever hope to build a better tomorrow and really get to the heart of a more productive and predictive manufacturing environment.
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