An important question for both seasoned industry professionals and those starting those careers, Made in Group enlisted the advice of some experts within the industry to help get a better understanding of what the future of manufacturing looks like.
As part of this 1 hour event, industry leaders offered expert advice on what manufacturing jobs will look like in the future, with the age of industry 4.0 upon us. On the third day of the Made Futures Virtual Careers Week, these selected speakers provided their expertise into what jobs may look like in manufacturing and what skills will be required to get up to speed with these.
Members of the panel included: Iain Cole (Senior Employer Engagement Manager for Engineering and Manufacturing at Dudley College of Technology), Dr Daniela Sawyer (Technical Lead - Robotic Machining at The University of Sheffield AMRC), Colin Bancroft (Strategic Development Manager at MTC) and Alan Pickering (Managing Director at Unison).
Following on from the speakers giving an introduction into their respective companies and backgrounds, Made in Group’s Yasmin Banner posted the question of “How will Industry 4.0 impact manufacturing?”.
Dr Daniela Sawyer suggested that this could have an environmentally friendly impact, perhaps through the emergence of more commonly seen paperless floors, and also greater flexibility through robotics replacing “traditional machining”.
Alan Pickering emphasised that, with things moving at such great pace, it is important to spend time understanding analytics tools that exist now. Ultimately, jobseekers and those looking to further their skillset within the industry could benefit greatly from ensuring they’re competent in the tools that analyse data - even the likes of Microsoft Excel.
Iain Cole suggested that now is an exciting time to be starting your career or entering the sector, as many businesses are still learning when it comes to “digital”, and therefore thrtr are lots of opportunities to help companies through implementing new technologies into their business.
In terms of what jobseekers and manufacturing professionals can do now to “get ahead of the curve”, Colin Bancroft highlighted that the skills employers are currently looking for are often slightly “softer” or more attitude-based, such as enthusiasm, commitment and a willingness to learn. Then, one this is demonstrated, that that is when companies will be looking to invest in them as employees and upskill them with more technical skills within the manufacturing sector.
Ultimately, the takeaway message offered by Dr Daniela Sawyer was that, perhaps the best way to keep yourself ahead of the curve within this industry is through constantly wanting to learn.vFollowing on from the panelists' short presentations, there were a lot of questions which were asked through Zoom by Made Futures attendees.
If you missed the event or you simply want to watch back any of the content, then you can access this video on the Made in Group YouTube channel now.
