“When it comes to the trends of the manufacturing industry, market leaders have a responsibility to be perceptive and forward thinking. We are a knowledge company and competence and R&D are part of our main corner stones. That is why it is imperative to us that there is a dialogue in the industry on how to meet future demands on competence and skills”, says Klas Forsström President, Sandvik Coromant.
The talent mismatch
With the baby boom generation going into retirement and taking their knowledge with them we are faced with a number of new challenges. This also means that knowledge and skills will become a much more scarce resource in the future. Despite the fact that we are facing the largest new generation group ever, there is a problem. Their profile is not very well matched with the competence needs of the industry. This will force companies to change the way they construct their work. It will also change the way we think about education.
The age of hyper specialization
In the future manufacturers will not be able to have all competencies in house. This opens up for new ways of working and cooperating. For example, previously outsourcing was a matter of cost. In the future it will be a means to access required skills. Work as such will be constructed differently by distributing it to specialists around the world and then bringing it back together again for delivery.
“It is very much an orchestrated network where specific project managers will coordinate a set of experts just like a conductor leads the way in a philharmonic orchestra. This way of working opens up for new partnerships and cooperation between manufacturers, tool makers, machine makers, universities and research centers,” Klas Forsström explains.
Learning on demand
In order to meet the needs of skilled specialists, universities and education institutions as we know them need to change their way of working. In the future there is a much greater need of learning on demand in terms of providing the right training, to the right people, at the right place and at the right time. We are moving from linear learning to modular learning.
Continued dialogue
The current trends present threats as well as opportunities. Companies who figure out how to take advantage of new ways of working enabled by new technologies will have a significant advantage in the future.
“We will continue the dialogue about the future of the manufacturing industry and share important knowledge on new trends and challenges”, Klas Forström concludes.
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