Why Should You Hire a Manufacturing Consultant?
Manufacturing consultants provide manufacturers with guidance and experience to boost product quality and overall business success. Operations, profitability, management, structure, and strategy all fall within their remit. That’s why businesses should consider selecting a manufacturing consultant to obtain the information and abilities needed to achieve their business goals.
Computer vision and data analytics are upending the whole industrial supply chain, impacting how manufacturers conduct their operations. Industrial organizations require more than just the newest technology to develop advanced digital capabilities—they need personnel who can use the tools and drive the transition.
The reality is that across almost every industry, companies don’t have a wealth of data scientists at their disposal. Fortune 500 companies may have this luxury, but SMBs have to consider consultants to step in and help them out.
A manufacturing consultant with a background in data can assist you sorting through the options and comprehending how each tool will function inside your present data architecture. This means addressing issues with scalability and flexibility, the integration of new sources, quicker time to insights, and democratization of access to data.
Let’s analyze in more detail what a manufacturing consultant can offer and why it’s a worthwhile investment for SMBs.
Transformative Knowledge
Most manufacturers aren’t blessed with pre-existing knowledge on the ins and outs of digital transformation. This is where having a consultant can speed up a factory’s digital transformation, but also leave sustainable infrastructure in place for after they have left.
At IndustrialML, we recently worked through specific constraints that were difficult to adopt with a client. We spent a lot of time trying to help them source proper sensors for their production floor through user and ethnographic research on the plant floor. Additionally, we gave headsets to operators on the production floor while enabling managers to monitor the completion of work through our monitoring product— solutions designed for these factories’ needs.
No Strings Attached
Each factory is unique in size, personnel, and traffic, and needs a different strategy. The ideal answer for your issue may be automation or outsourcing—but you need the data to back that up.
Manufacturing consulting does take some time—the experts must fully grasp the problems to make calculated recommendations. However, compared with alternative options like recruitment, it is a short-term solution helping factories balance the books in the long run.
Plus, you may not have the budget and resources necessary for a permanent appointment or to open up a new position full-time. Therefore, bringing in a consultant for a six to nine-month stint can allow you to start moving forward and discover new solutions without requiring a huge investment.
Enhance Your Team’s Young Talent
By 2025, it’s anticipated that over 25% of Americans will be 60 years of age or older. Manufacturers must start searching for the next generation of talent, especially since those with years of experience are getting ready to retire and leave the workforce. Unfortunately, the younger generation still perceives manufacturing as a potentially hazardous or tedious job.
Consultants can help to attract millennial and Gen-Z employees by showcasing their client’s industry. For example, they might highlight the benefits of Manufacturing Day (a national event where schools are invited to visit factories) or push forward the idea of offering apprenticeships as a recruitment technique. There were 23,899 registered apprentices in 2021, up 73% over the previous eight years—and we hope this continues into the future.
