{"id":39178,"date":"2024-08-29T11:18:57","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T10:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/?p=39178"},"modified":"2024-08-29T11:18:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T10:18:59","slug":"boosting-productivity-key-strategies-for-industry-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/2024\/08\/29\/boosting-productivity-key-strategies-for-industry-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Boosting productivity: Key strategies for industry success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Terry Smagh, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Infor, on the \u2018significant value\u2019 of digital automation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Productivity is a critical focus within industry. Businesses of every size, operating in every sector, are continually seeking to improve the efficiency with which goods are produced and customers served.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Increasing productivity posits huge opportunities \u2013 such as increased profits, greater investment in labour costs and business growth. It\u2019s no surprise&nbsp;productivity is positioned to be a top priority for CEOs in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this urgent drive for productivity, only a small percentage of businesses are managing to move the dial. There&#8217;s a clear, growing gap between leaders who have made meaningful improvements, and those stuck in the productivity quagmire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Breaking down the productivity barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><br><\/strong>Businesses face myriad challenges around driving productivity. Each comes with its own complexities, impacted by everything from business size to sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Obsolete equipment and technology:\u00a0<\/strong>Reliance on outdated machinery and a lack of technology adoption can block the path to productivity. With increasing maintenance costs and ever-slowing run-times, a cumulative effect can worsen the impact over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Supply chain disruptions:<\/strong>\u00a0Whether it\u2019s raw material shortages, transportation delays, or geopolitical instability, the list of external factors that can impact industrial business is ever expanding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory compliance challenges:<\/strong>\u00a0Keeping pace with regulatory changes takes up a significant amount of time and headspace, absorbing critical resources and stopping teams from amplifying output.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The skills gap:<\/strong>\u00a0Hiring and retaining talent is increasingly difficult \u2013 with\u00a0US manufacturing currently facing a major hiring crisis\u00a0that can be seen replicated across the globe. Plus, research outlines that 33% of businesses reported a lack of technical skills as hampering their productivity efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Businesses must find a way to overcome these hurdles if they want to start improving productivity. Some are already doing this successfully \u2013 and enjoying significant business benefits as a result. For those who are struggling to make meaningful gains, reflecting on the actions of their more successful peers should be a significant source of interest.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The productivity opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To drive tangible and effective productivity gains, businesses need to take a two-pronged approach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first driver,&nbsp;<strong>physical automation<\/strong>, has been underway for over a century. Whether it\u2019s investment in robotics or machinery, businesses already understand that completing physical processes with machines is a sure-fire way to get more done, faster, and with less resources. But because most already have this in place to a significant extent, there isn\u2019t huge scope to make further headway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To really ramp up productivity, businesses will need to embrace the second prong: digital automation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From optimising workflows to simplifying processes,&nbsp;<strong>digital automation<\/strong>&nbsp;refers to using technology to automate tasks or actions. This offers far more lucrative productivity returns but is currently where most are falling short.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that, before they take this step, enterprise businesses should modernise their IT environment. This not only ensures readiness for new technology \u2013 such as digital automation \u2013 but also builds a stable foundation for innovation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Manufacturers can have a number of reasons to implement digital automation: from narrowing the skills gap to informing new product development. Wherever they choose to invest, research shows businesses have consensus on the key reasons \u2013 with increased productivity (61%) coming out on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, the power of your output isn\u2019t driven by investment in your plant or equipment: it&#8217;s driven by how you use your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sixty-three per cent of businesses said past investment in digital technologies helped their business to be more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Powering productivity with data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every industrial business has access to copious amounts of raw data that can be used to create efficiencies and improve productivity \u2013 yet many struggle to put that data to good use. To truly capitalise on this rich information source, businesses need to implement valuable tools that extract actionable insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using data effectively also positions businesses to make the most of advancements like Machine Learning and AI, with the benefits of an AI-powered productivity boost already being keenly felt by some.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Four key considerations for the digital automation journey:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Modernised platform:<\/strong>\u00a0Before you can begin, you need to modernise your IT platform and applications to support the adoption of digital automation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data compatibility:\u00a0<\/strong>Understanding data and the process that sits behind data is crucial to delivering digitalisation successfully.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Commitment to upskilling:\u00a0<\/strong>Without fostering the right skillsets to nurture the digital automation journey, many businesses will struggle to put their data to best use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Proactivity:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s no time like the present. Industry can\u2019t wait for the right support or moment to take the next step.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Act now to make productivity gains<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advent of physical automation has completely transformed the landscape of industry. Now, as businesses seek to escape long-standing productivity ruts, it\u2019s a business imperative to kickstart digital automation, with benefits such as greater efficiencies becoming a critical driver of success in an increasingly volatile market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And time is of the essence. The significant value of digital automation is clear, compelling and within reach \u2013 meaning businesses that act quickly have much to gain over their competitors. For many, their vision of a more productive operation is on the horizon: through fully embracing digitisation, they can set sail towards a brighter future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Terry Smagh, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Infor, on the \u2018significant value\u2019 of digital automation. Productivity is a critical focus within industry. Businesses of every size, operating in every sector, are continually seeking to improve the efficiency with which goods are produced and customers served.&nbsp; Increasing productivity posits huge opportunities \u2013 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":39179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1463,4664,1576,33,2834,1282,44],"tags":[217,7100,148,726,4328,1215],"class_list":["post-39178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apac","category-intelligent-technologies-data","category-analysis-insights","category-industry-verticals-manufacturing","category-strategy","category-tech-trends","category-top-stories","tag-data","tag-digital-automation","tag-infor","tag-manufacturing","tag-productivity","tag-terry-smagh"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39180,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39178\/revisions\/39180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}