“Technology is a catalyst that can help accelerate innovation across this value chain, and Microsoft is working to make technology easy to adopt and deploy by partnering across the manufacturing technology ecosystem. At the factory level its critical to empower frontline workers with communication and collaboration tools to help unlock innovation. “The challenge and the opportunity ahead of us are so enormous that to accelerate progress, the only way forward is to collaborate on innovations to enable societal conditions that will support a sustainable future.” The concept of supply chains has always been familiar to customers, and they were consistently disrupted, even prior to the pandemic. According to Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Report: Shaping Supply Chain Disruption in a Volatile Risk Environment, 70 per cent of supply chain leaders reported that they have been constantly responding to disruptions since the beginning of 2019. “The pandemic only exacerbated the underlying challenges that manufacturers faced and exposed the fragility of global supply chains,” says Ladha, noting that one of these challenges was the industry’s persistent struggle to attract skilled workers. “This can be attributed to a blend of factors such as an ageing workforce and a disparity between the skills needed and those available in the labour market.” For example, Microsoft’s IoT Signals: Manufacturing Spotlight report, which was published in 2022 and surveyed 500 manufacturers working on smart factory and smart product projects, showed that skill shortages in data science, artificial intelligence and IT cybersecurity were the top inhibitors for scaling the projects beyond the proof-ofconcept phase. “Manufacturers are also grappling with stringent energy and environmental regulations as governments strive to mitigate climate change and deal with the fallout of geopolitical developments,” says Ladha. “This has led manufacturers to shift their digital transformation strategies to focus on resilience and cost optimisation. They need to INDUSTRIALS & MANUFACTURING 121 Image: iStock/petovarga
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