How Connections Transform Frontline Operations

June 14, 2021

By David Wallace, DX Marketing Solutions Lead, Rockwell Automation

In a global business environment characterized by disruption, change and volatility, the digital transformation of industrial operations is much more than a well-established trend.

Industrial transformation (IX) is the strategic approach organizations increasingly rely on for competitive differentiation and sustainable, profitable growth.

Use cases in the initial wave of IX investment have focused on using asset-related data and advanced analytics to drive improvement in asset reliability, energy management and product quality.

Now, there is a strong trend towards an integrated approach that incorporates workforce considerations into IX initiatives and using people-related data to drive improvement in the overall operational management system.

The Rise of the Digitally Connected Worker

The digital technologies of IX have opened a new frontier: the digitally Connected Worker.

The rise of the digitally Connected Worker reflects the conventional wisdom that improvement, whether incremental or step-change, calls for holistic alignment of the right people, process and technology capabilities.

Demographic and Technology Shifts Driving Change

To be competitive, industrial organizations must address the resulting skills gap with a strategic approach that recognizes both the risks and opportunities presented by these workforce trends.

This includes rethinking how the frontline workforce is managed and the role of Connected Worker digital technologies in meeting unprecedented challenges in hiring, training and retaining a workforce with the right competencies and agility.

Is your goal to recruit, train and retain people to address skills gap? Enable organizational learning and knowledge transfer? Engage and empower frontline workforce, or driving productivity, safety and quality improvements? Maybe a combination of these.

Learn how to connect your people and systems to transform your frontline operations, and explore:

  •    –   Why Connected Worker initiatives are strategic as well as their role in IX programs
  •    –   Frameworks for conceptualizing and formulating Connected Worker solutions
  •    –   The selection and implementation of high potential Connected Worker use cases, and evidence of business value
  •    –   Actionable recommendations and resources


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