ERA Group Manufacturing Solutions

Gain a Competitive Advantage for your business with our Manufacturing Cost Optimization Solutions

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic hit manufacturers in an unexpected and unprecedented way. For the first time in modern manufacturing history, demand, supply and workforce availability are affected globally at the same time.

Companies are experiencing dramatic drops in demand and extreme pressure to cut operational costs. Every major manufacturer is now experiencing disruptions across their supply chains of parts and raw materials, driven by what may now become recurring volatility of supply from South Asia.

Social distancing and employee safety measures put an additional level of pressure on manufacturers, as 40%-50% of their workforce will be unavailable to perform their functions on-site. While office employees and knowledge workers are able to shift to remote work as the default operating mode, most factories are simply not designed to be managed remotely and lack the digital tools and infrastructure needed to support such activities.

We hope the insights we can deliver here will get you thinking about strategy, and how adding expertise can bring resilience in a challenging industry.

Learn more about our Manufacturing Cost Optimization Solutions

Insights
Case Studies

Manufacturing Industry Insights

Technological Disruptions

It’s no coincidence we are starting with technological disruptions when we investigate the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector. Technology has noticeably advanced over the last couple of years, creating ripples in many industries alongside manufacturing. Technology is facilitating innovations within industry practices, better organisational structure and more strategic decision-making through realtime data collection. But many reviews indicate the sector, more than any other, is not ready to adopt technological innovations or prepared for their risks.

Demand Levels

Demand levels will always vary due to influences from external pressures, such as the impacts of geopolitical issues on businesses and consumers. It, therefore, makes it particularly challenging for manufacturing firms to predict the right supply capacity to meet both the current demand levels and corporate goals, even with the assistance of predictive analytics. Standing in the marketplace can be heavily influenced by a manufacturers ability to respond to the shifting demand levels.

Evolving Models & Supply Chains

The viewpoint that manufacturing and services are separate and contrasting entities is now becoming an out-dated idea; “manufacturing-as-a-service” is now changing the face of the value chain and indicating a significant evolutionary step in the manufacturing game. For example, in the United States, half of the staff within manufacturing firms are employed in service job roles only.

Geopolitical & Regulatory Changes

Over the last couple of years, the world has moved into an unnerving state, with friction in international relations. Geopolitical issues are rising in several parts of the world, with debates regarding trading agreement conditions (particularly free-trade ones).

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