JANUARY 2017MANUFACTURINGTECHNOLOGYINSIGHTS.COM8The Age of Average is OverBy John McGee, Director, North America Operational Excellence, BASFIN MY OPINIONOne of the biggest threats to manufacturing prosperity U.S.companies face today is talent. As the global economy grows and manufacturing evolves into Industry 4.0, the American workforce must have the skills and capabilities to thrive, not just survive. At BASF, solutions and best practices have been implemented to address several industry trends challenging retention of a skilled and qualified workforce including: automation, Baby Boomer retirement and change agility.As an industry in the midst of the fourth manufacturing evolution known as Industry 4.0, cost effective solutions are being sought that couple increased manufacturing with unique workforce development demands. Historically, the first industrial revolution leveraged mechanization through water and steam power. The second scaled up production through the assembly line and electricity. The third introduced computers and automation. Now, the fourth is driving further automation by interconnecting computers and robotics with more computers and robotics to form the "smart factory."According to the International Federation of Robotics, between the years 2010 and 2014, the average sales of robots increased 17 percent per year (CAGR), the largest robot installations increase in history. Between 2005 and 2008, the average annual number of robots sold was about 115,000 units. Between 2010 and 2014, the number rose to about 171,000 units. This is an increase of about 48 percent and a clear indicator of the significant rise in demand for industrial robots worldwide. So where does the growth in robotics leave the human worker? Companies, like BASF, are radically shifting staffing methods. Industry 4.0 introduces concepts like the Internet of things (IoT), big data and augmented reality. There will be more demand by manufacturing companies to hire people with a combination of IT and mechanical skills to accommodate the need for automation. Also, the Industry 4.0 workers will need to be able to efficiently analyze large amounts of data to provide customer-based solutions for these factories. In an automated world, the human worker still plays an important role, but training, workforce development and the John McGee
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