During the 2024 Tampa Steel Conference, many leaders remarked on their struggles, highlighting how the working population in the U.S. has decreased significantly in recent years.
Currently, the U.S. labor force participation rate sits at 62.5% – down from 63.3% in February 2020. By 2032, the labor participation rate is projected to fall even further, down to 60.4%.
Given the declining percentages, one question on metals leaders’ minds is, “How can I increase production while maintaining my workforce?”
Many companies have turned to technology for answers.
One speaker at the conference shared how technology investments at his company have helped produce 5,000 tons of steel per employee per year – a 456% increase – compared to the industry average of 900 tons. Unlike this company, which began using technology from day one, adding technology into existing operations can still be an effective way to increase productivity.
Reaching a higher output rate per employee is possible, even in a labor shortage.
In 2024, metals leaders must be willing to explore and familiarize themselves with new technologies. When made in short sprints, strategic investments in metals technology can complement an existing workforce, increase productivity, and lead to higher output rates. Communicating commitment to future growth through these investments can also boost employee retention and broaden the available market for new talent.
Adopting new technology doesn’t have to take place as a single, multiyear project. Metals companies can help their employees explore metals technology in smaller ways right now to experience productivity benefits. Workers participating in these sprints gain vital experiences that can help them navigate the accelerating pace of technology innovation, setting the company up for better outcomes with future investments.
Following are four ways metals leaders can help their employees adopt technology in short sprints.
Computers master a growing list of repetitive, monotonous tasks each day. Companies can benefit by using this capability to free up team members to focus on higher-value tasks that require critical thinking and creativity.
For example, many metals workers regularly must manually extract data from one source and key it into another system. However, system integration and machine connectivity capabilities of the cloud can automate this flow of information between systems. Employees can then be freed from the least engaging part of their workday, which creates bandwidth for other activities. Organizations that want to take this approach should focus on automating a single dual-entry task with a flexible tool, such as Microsoft Power Platform™, and then expand use based on outcomes.
Workers on the shop floor are the most familiar with equipment and operational realities, which means they are often in a key position to know what changes could be made to increase efficiency. It is critical to give these employees the tools they need to make quick decisions.
For example, swapping two orders in sequence for a specific furnace can reduce downtime in between orders, for reasons that are invisible to employees who are not on the floor. Without the right tools, a shop floor worker cannot change the production schedule without contacting scheduling. Advanced metals technology can give real-time visibility into inventory availability and connected orders at any given moment.
Data analytics are critical for metals leaders who want to reduce the risk of error and gain confidence in their business decisions. As metals companies turn to data for increased insights, employees need advanced tools to avoid repetitive tasks.
For example, if organizational business analysts are equipped with outdated tools, their workday will likely be spent on repetitive tasks with existing reports rather than on new analytics requested by the business. As the demand for new insights increases, business analysts must build analytic backlogs, retreat from business users and become reactive instead of proactive. However, the latest analytics technology can automate complex report generation to help business analysts get ahead. Proactive analysts can get directly involved with operations, creating insights at the pace required to track continual improvement initiatives.
Beyond automating scheduled reports, analytics can notify teammates of issues as they are happening. Features like Microsoft Data Activator can notify supervisors of scrap discrepancies before they show up in a weekly report, giving existing resources the notice they need to prevent issues from cascading and wasting time across the business.
If metals companies want to use advanced technologies like machine learning for demand forecasting, for example, but aren’t quite ready to take a huge leap into new territory, a smart place to start is by having employees familiarize themselves with using today’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools and documenting the results.
For example, a credit and collections team might try using AI to identify accounts and draft communications to customers they should follow up with. Customer service teams might try using an AI copilot to autogenerate personalized emails to increase engagement. Marketing teams might try using a large language model such as ChatGPT to generate ideas for product descriptions. Planning teams might try an AI-assisted forecasting approach, comparing results to their current forecasting process.
AI offers an opportunity to increase productivity with the same number of workers, but much is uncertain about adoption timelines. To plan for the future, it’s important to pilot AI use, documenting time savings and areas for improvement. Pilots that uncover significant value can guide planned future investments, and unsuccessful pilots can educate companies about limitations that must be addressed before revisiting.
2024 is the right time to explore opportunities using metals technology in short sprints. Simple experiments might seem basic, but they can keep the risk low while team members familiarize themselves with how advanced technology works. When your team is more comfortable with using technology in small ways, they’ll likely be more confident and at ease when it’s time to use it for bigger projects.
Our team of specialists at Crowe has decades of combined experience helping metals companies navigate the digital transformation journey. If you have any questions about simple ways your metals business can take advantage of metals technology in 2024 to better prepare you for the future, or how Crowe can help companies organize and document these sprints, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Microsoft and Power Platform are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
