by Brianna Crandall — October 28, 2015—Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), a member-driven global business network for senior industrial executives, has identified six new critical issues facing the manufacturing industry for the year ahead. This year, the MLC’s Critical Issues Agenda is organized around the key theme “The Journey to Manufacturing 4.0.”
The MLC’s annual Critical Issues Agenda is the result of a member-driven process that identifies the most urgent and important issues facing the global manufacturing industry in the year ahead based on extensive consultation with more than 200 senior executives and associate members of the MLC and Board of Governors. The new Agenda also establishes the MLC’s strategic plan for the year.
“The MLC’s decision to embrace Manufacturing 4.0 as its direction for the future reflects a powerful ambition to use advanced technologies to take manufacturing to a new, game-changing level,” said MLC Co-founder, Global Vice President and Editorial Director David R. Brousell. “The opportunity to use information to speed and tailor production, engage more intimately with customers, and create new products and services previously unimagined, is almost limitless. Now, the challenge for manufacturing executives is to lead their companies into this brighter future.”
Theme: The Journey to Manufacturing 4.0
According to the Agenda, the global manufacturing industry is entering an era of radical change. Driven by new transformative cyber-physical technologies, manufacturing companies around the world now envision a future state for the manufacturing industry that will change the rules of competition, how work will be performed, how companies will be organized, and how leadership must lead.
Characterized by highly intelligent, agile, information-driven factories able to respond rapidly to change; connected sensor networks and advanced data analytics; and entirely new, customized smart products and services, Manufacturing 4.0 promises to touch every function and aspect of the manufacturing enterprise, from the plant floor to leadership roles and business models.
The MLC’s new Critical Issues Agenda is designed to help manufacturers align their thinking and practices for a successful journey to Manufacturing 4.0. The six critical issues for 2015/2016, and their key areas of focus, are the following.
Factories of the future
- Migration paths towards Manufacturing 4.0, from current production models to future state
- End-to-end digitization of manufacturing processes
- Agile and sustainable production models for Manufacturing 4.0
Transformative technologies in manufacturing
- New developments in intelligent machines, the Internet of Things, Big Data, plant floor analytics, modeling and simulation, mobile, cloud and 3D printing technologies
- Transitional models for transformative new technologies
- The impact of transformative technologies on performance and the creation of new business models
The innovative manufacturing enterprise
- Using design for manufacturing and product lifecycle management approaches to help drive innovation
- Managing collaborative innovation with employees, suppliers, external partners, customers and “the crowd”
- Integrating the role of manufacturing in business model innovations to deliver a successful customer experience
Cybersecurity in manufacturing
- Cyber vulnerabilities, detection methodologies and security technologies in manufacturing operations
- Bridging the gap between IT and operations to improve manufacturing cybersecurity
- Cybersecurity best practice policies, training, behaviors and education in manufacturing
Next-generation manufacturing leadership
- Future-focused leadership behaviors and mind sets
- Leadership planning and development at all levels
- Pioneering leadership role models for Manufacturing 4.0
The changing manufacturing workforce
- Attracting tomorrow’s workforce through advocacy and promoting manufacturing’s image
- Developing employee engagement strategies for a multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-national workforce
- Reducing the skills gap, and identifying new skills for the future of manufacturing through education, apprenticeships and industry partnerships
For more details of the new Critical Issues Agenda, visit the MLC’s Web site.
