Manufacturers Plan to Hire, But Need Technology to Get More out of New Employees

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Manufacturers plan to hire and will need to use a new type of enterprise software to get the most out of new employees as the economy improves, according to a study conducted for IFS North America, Itasca, Ill., USA, scheduled for release this month. One third of respondents said they planned to hire additional staff, a third said they planned to invest in enterprise software like enterprise resources planning (ERP) to get more out of current employees, and another third said they planned to do both.

The survey of 341 manufacturing executives also suggested that there is an unmet need for a new type of ERP called project-based solutions (PBS). PBS is designed to help manufacturers gain real-time visibility and control of projects they are running, and allows manufacturers of all types to manage their entire business more like a project, making it easier to adjust rapidly to change. In the survey, 95% of respondents said they expected their reliance on projects to increase or stay the same in the next five years. The majority of manufacturers said they understood the value of PBS for managing capital improvement projects and launching new products. But fewer understood the significant value of PBS for current business processes, including the ramp-up process for newly-hired employees or to manage supply and demand shocks due to the economy.

The study, conducted by a third-party research firm, will be released later this month.