Intel Study Shows Workers Open to Digital Supply Chain
It’s pretty inevitable at this point that supply chain is going digital. Or, at least, that’s what all the research says.
And there have been many stories about workers being… hesitant to make that change, for fear, in many instances, of losing their jobs.
However, there’s research to suggest that factory workers support the shift to digital.
Intel, a company unsurprisingly leading the way into Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), understands that it’s model may not transfer well to the broader supply chain industry. But rather than shrugging and doing their own thing, they wanted to know why. So they did research.
A group of 145 participants were recruited to help transform their in-the-trenches experience to research data. Understandably, the participants framed their responses in pain points, rather than responding to any one technology.
Their top five pain points were information challenges, equipment maintenance and upkeep, communication challenges, safety hazards, and equipment not being a good fit. But what’s interesting is that more than half of participants brought up company culture and leadership as a barrier. C-level people at companies are seen as ‘decision-makers’ but many of the workers want changes toward IIoT as well, and getting the buy-in from them increases the likelihood of successful adoption.
The researchers also found that a large barrier is understanding of what IIoT and Industry 4.0 means. “When you actually talk to participants about what the future might look like, they actually talk about Industry 4.0 types of technologies; they just don’t phrase it that way,” says Irene Petrick, director of business strategy for Intel’s Industrial and Energy Solutions Division. “They want more visibility, they want to know more about their machine status, they want more interaction between their station and other stations, and they identify data silos.”
This research matches what we found in the 2018 Annual Industry Report, which is why we provided frameworks to help companies overcome three major barriers to NextGen supply chain adoption:
- Making the Business Case for NextGen Supply Chain Investments
- Tackling the Supply Chain Skills Gap and Workforce Shortage
- Building Trust and Security in Digital, Always-On Supply Chains
You can download the report for free at mhi.org/publications/report
Quotes were pulled from https://www.automationworld.com/evolving-worker-digital-transformation. Read the full Intel report at https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/04/report-intel-manufacturing-research.pdf
