Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a constant state of uncertainty punctuating global markets and supply chains as the COVID-19 pandemic causes large-scale disruptions and chaos. As 2023 approaches, the uncertainty is fueled by war in Ukraine and Eastern Europe and a brewing financial crisis and talent shortages. Manufacturers must figure out ways to circumvent or overcome these challenges through strategic moves centered in technology. One thing is certain where value creation through technology is concerned: businesses and manufacturers in particular will move toward solutions that can deliver value with minimal internal efforts, solutions that are intuitive, easy to use, and can be scaled to meet challenges worldwide.

Even before the pandemic hit, manufacturers were struggling to fill vacant positions globally. Several factors contributed to this workforce shortage: skill gaps, the perception of low wages, lack of interest in manufacturing, lack of diversity, and an aging skilled workforce. Then the pandemic added the additional stress of demand-triggered layoffs in some sectors and excess work in others, leading to mental health and safety concerns, which added to manufacturers’ woes.

Why Manufacturers Need to Look at New Frontline Workforce and Enterprise Optimization Project Deployment Methodologies 

The phrase “pilot purgatory” has become an infamous descriptor for many IoT, frontline workforce, and digitization projects, and it has been written about by virtually all top research and tech companies. The conjecture is that companies initiate and then get stuck in the pilot phase of their digitization, IoT, and optimization projects, which fail to scale and leave users, managers, the C-suite, and the shareholders frustrated. Different views have been presented on why projects get stuck in pilots and many theories have been presented to help companies avoid the pain of a stalled, slowed, or failed project.