4 MIN. READ
The past year has seen historic changes to manufacturing trends and how companies do business and interact. Long global supply chains, face-to-face meetings, minimum inventory and legacy marketing were some of the more well-known practices that have fallen out of favor.
Advancing technology and the effects of COVID-19 responses have caused this to happen. As a result, the following manufacturing trends will arise in 2021.
Pandemic Changes Plans
COVID-19 was a real-world example of how external forces can completely change how business is conducted virtually overnight. In consequence, there has been an accelerated phaseout of business models and practices that were of marginal benefit prior to the pandemic. The companies that can continue to adapt and overcome will emerge on the other side leaner, more focused and better built for the 21st century, rather than the 20th.
Shorter Supply Chains
The pandemic forced manufacturers to re-examine their supply chains and production methods. Experts had warned the industry for years about such a scenario causing havoc to operations that depend on perfect timing for maximum benefit. A lack of local inventory due to the adoption of just-in-time practices placed some manufacturers and their customers in a difficult position. After seeing the negative side of a globalized market, even more manufacturers have decided to source, produce and stockpile much closer to home.
Luckily, the process of reshoring was already in progress when COVID-19 severely disrupted manufacturing in China, India and other overseas nations. Reshoring has helped create tens of thousands of new jobs in America while mitigating the effects of natural disasters, shipping disruptions such as strikes, diplomatic tensions between nations and, of course, pandemics. This practice of reshoring will continue to be one of the prominent manufacturing trends in 2021.
Data-Driven Future
Big data will continue being used to help increase efficiency in manufacturing. Small sensors can now be fitted to any piece of equipment, in any manufacturing plant and at any place along the supply chain. These sensors deliver real-time data about operations, productivity, maintenance status, inventory levels and anomaly reporting.
This information, when filtered through customized data processing programs, will allow manufacturers to remotely view and control every aspect of a production line. The data collected will help refine the programs and algorithms that create new industry best practices. This data can also be used for other activities, such as enhancing digital marketing strategies, making this one of the most useful manufacturing trends of 2021.
Consolidating Data for Marketing
When utilizing digital marketing, a company needs to know at a moment's notice what platforms are working the best. However, when they're using multiple platforms, it can sometimes be challenging to sift through and analyze all of the data. Integrated marketing platforms can centralize all of this and distill it down to useful highlights that help guide marketing decisions.
In addition to providing rapid guidance on which strategies are the most effective, integrated platforms also help companies coordinate their marketing efforts. Rather than going to each separate platform or methodology, all marketing can be activated and edited from one location, with the system distributing it to the platform of choice.
Another advantage of integrated platforms is that they can be programmed to automate marketing campaigns. Rather than using rule-based marketing, manufacturers can optimize their campaigns through data-based marketing. Responding to customer needs through both predictive algorithms and real-time data puts manufacturers in a unique position to provide solutions they did not even know they needed.
Manufacturing trends like this emphasis on digital marketing data will only grow stronger in 2021.
Automation Gives Way to AI
Automation goes beyond digital marketing. It is also becoming increasingly dominant in production and shipping operations. There is a tendency to refer to all automation as artificial intelligence (AI). However, AI entails a specific type of automation that learns and becomes better over time rather than following a pre-written program.
Currently, there is far more automation than AI in manufacturing, but this is an artifact of the state of the technology. 2021 will see more complex machine learning algorithms being used and the gradual phaseout of binary-style automation.
If 2020 taught us one thing, it is that the future is never certain. All businesses will have to be prepared to deal with whatever is thrown their way. The technologies and manufacturing trends mentioned here are flexible enough to help companies survive potential downturns and disasters. It is up to people to use them creatively.
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