Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Manufacturing: Is Your Workforce Ready?

By Manish Sharma, North America CEO of Accenture 

Technology is changing job descriptions in manufacturing. The new skill sets needed include being able to work with data, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and other digital and automation technologies so they can use predictive and visualization tools to make smart business decisions. 

But today, only 17% of companies already have such a multi-skilled, digitally literate workforce; 68% plan to have one by 2026, according to Accenture’s Resiliency in the Making research. And there will be a need for more – 72% of industrial C-suite leaders say they plan to increase technology spending in 2024.

This means manufacturers are increasingly competing with technology companies for talent and employees need to learn new skills.

Engineers are already using AI to produce more design options for the products they craft, in the same or shorter time. Audi, for example, uses AI when it explores new car wheel rim designs. It has an app that can generate an almost unlimited number of designs in different shapes, colors, and styles. Designers can modify them and use them as a source of inspiration for their own developments. They can also build simulations of production lines and create digital twins, which are virtual models that can monitor and control ongoing production. 

AI will impact every job. It will become a new “co-pilot” for nearly every worker in manufacturing – and the possibilities are extensive:

• Maximize machine lifecycles by improving maintenance and reliability. People can use it to draft precise maintenance job plans, forecast when updates are required, and schedule them. This not only reduces the number of hours people spend analyzing data but also helps avoid costly breakdowns.
• Help address cybersecurity challenges. Many aging facilities have equipment that is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. A robust AI-driven sensing mechanism for cybersecurity in facilities can help make plants more secure.  
• Improve energy consumption. AI can process data from sensors on equipment and other sources to identify patterns and propose optimized energy usage plans.
• Minimize supply chain disruption. AI can automatically scan the news for stories that might impact suppliers, which can trigger operations managers to create automated alerts, as well as re-plan and schedule actions to handle risk management. 

PREPARING THE WORKFORCE FOR AI

AI will create new jobs that could be more interesting and fulfilling – and provide career and business growth opportunities that never existed before. 

The key to unlocking these opportunities is to focus on developing talent through reskilling. Companies should dramatically ramp up investment in talent to address two distinct challenges: creating AI and using AI. This means both building talent in new technical competencies and training people across the organization to work effectively with AI-infused processes. Companies should also consider partnering with governments, universities, and other businesses to establish training programs that foster the skills they need. 

For example, Accenture recently made a five-year commitment to help develop the future smart-manufacturing workforce through instructional labs, design studios, and collaborative projects at Purdue University's College of Engineering and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Such programs will become the new norm, as manufacturing in North America continues to evolve. 

A powerful new frontier for business growth is at hand: new efficiencies for companies, new job opportunities for employees, and better products for consumers. But it all comes down to strategically using technology to create new business value and embracing technology. Manufacturers and employees need to look at technologies including AI and ask: How can we use this to reach new levels of performance, both now and in the future?