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Global disruptions in geopolitics create extremely uncertain times. Think of wars and conflicts, political shifts and international trade tensions. For example, how do you prevent your company from suddenly facing a shortage of raw materials? Are you able to respond to unexpected obstacles in international logistics? And how do you move flexibly with the wildly fluctuating energy prices and keep costs under control? Precisely because the unpredictability is great, these types of challenges require a clear vision and strategy and careful considerations.
At least as fast on our roller coaster is technological evolution, with Industry 4.0 as the destination. The introduction of robotics to production lines has begun. More and more data is also becoming available within production companies and there is the rapid rise of AI. They can offer numerous smart benefits in areas such as quality control, maintenance predictions, energy management and supply chain optimization. The most important questions here are: which applications are useful and which are not? What do you send and what do you not send? Those who are able to make the right choices can participate in all the tech tumult. It is mainly a matter of trying and testing, adopting, implementing and streamlining processes to stay in the leading group and stay ahead of the competition.
With all the far-reaching digitalization in the production industry, the danger of cyber attacks lurks. In fact, today the risk is many times greater than fire or burglary. The consequences are production lines coming to a standstill, digital theft of recipes and financial sabotage. Cybersecurity is therefore one of the top priorities in the innovative tech era just outlined. It requires careful risk inventories, risk awareness of employees and thorough (adaptation of) systems of your own factory, suppliers and customers. An essential theme that should be high on management's agenda today.
We cannot and must no longer ignore it: sustainability is a necessity and therefore a way of life. Green thinking and action must be woven into not only production, but throughout the entire supply chain. CO2 reduction, sustainable energy sources and circularity in the complete route from raw material supplier, via customer to consumer and back again. It requires a solid strategy and investments, which should not be seen as necessary cost items. Because sustainably driven companies know how to combine the need for a healthy climate with future-proof business models and will be the winners of today and tomorrow.
So we see that innovation, sustainability and new technology are becoming increasingly important in the world of producing companies. More than ever, this requires new knowledge and new skills from employees. More and more people will have to be able to take on not only an executive and coordinating role, but also an analytical, interpretive and proactive role. It requires employees and teams to keep up with the pace of change within their processes and the supply chain. And so there is work to be done in the field of education, training and further training. Moreover, everything will have to be done to find the right new employees in a very tight labor market.
Marcel Aardenburg
Principel Consultant ARV Group