Workforce optimisation 'easing the challenges of the tire sector'
6 Apr 2023
Contributed article by Andy Graham, solutions manager at UK-based industrial software company SolutionsPT
London - The tire manufacturing sector has been facing its fair share of challenges recently, starting with the global pandemic and quickly followed up by the Russia Ukraine conflict. These unforeseen world-changing events have had a huge impact on the supply chain.
Just one glance at European Rubber Journal’s Ukraine crisis tracker proves how much the industry has been forever changed, but also the steps that resilient manufacturers are taking to adapt.
More so than many other sectors, tire manufacturing has been forced to adapt rapidly to these pressures, increasing the need for efficiency and optimisation without breaking the bank.
The cost of producing tires is increasing, and not just due to increased raw materials and energy costs, but every element surrounding it all the way to fuel prices adding freight & distribution charges.
To address this step-up in operating cost expenditure, tire manufacturers can turn to their most important asset, the human operator.
Workforce optimisation
For tire manufacturers seeking to become more efficient, the purchase of brand-new assets will offer a quick boost to overall efficiency. But with purse strings tightening, this just isn’t an option in many cases.
Workforce optimisation offers a different route to achieving that efficiency boost, while becoming as prepared as possible for an uncertain future.
Digital transformation is a term that many will associate with technology and physical assets, but the same process is hugely relevant to human assets.
The right software deployment will allow tire manufacturers to start collecting valuable skills and plant floor knowledge and start putting that data to work improving the entire enterprise.
In fact, the right system will connect all employees, whether experienced or brand-new on the job, to enable knowledge-sharing between people working in the same facility or even remotely.
This goes far beyond just enhanced real-time communications and extended reality.
Employers, for example, can provide training videos specific to their own tire facility that will rapidly enable new employees to reach the high standards of the sector.
Perhaps the most important benefit, though, is the use of digitalisation to retain knowledge from experienced people in the workforce, who will soon be retiring.
By turning ‘on-the-job’ best practices into digital information, those best practices can be replicated across multiple facilities without a huge time investment.
Reasearch shows that those best practices can then become standard practices that lead to an improvement of up to 18% in worker-productivity.
Sharing of digital information always flows both ways: employees on the plant floor are able to collaborate in real-time, solving problems and capturing ideas for continuous improvement.
Likewise, supervisors gain greater real-time visibility across all activities with clear tracking of training and upskilling.
Moreover, stakeholders from corporate can more effectively adhere to health & safety, quality, and HR standards to create a better working environment.
All-in-all, the digitalisation of worker skills means that tire manufacturers can best prepare against an uncertain future.
This applies no matter what issues hit the supply-chain or how many workers must operate remotely, new employees join the business or high-level operators retire
With these digital capabilities, the foundation is in place for a resilient tire manufacturer with a workforce that is ready for anything.
*AVEVA Select Member UK & Ireland SolutionsPT defines itselfs as: 'A partner working with system integrators and end users to deliver digital transformation to every industrial enterprise.'