F111: Workforce Reality Check: Bridging Labor Gaps with Strategic Development and Intelligent Technologies

Manufacturing output continues to grow, yet the skilled workforce needed to sustain production is shrinking. Labor shortages are no longer a temporary challenge; they are reshaping how manufacturers structure production, deploy automation, and develop workforce capability. As experienced workers retire and production complexity increases, many operations are being forced to rethink how work is organized, how skills are developed, and how technology supports the production stream.
This session examines how manufacturers are responding by redesigning production processes, investing in targeted skill development, and strategically integrating automation to stabilize output.
Attendees will gain practical insights into balancing technology, workforce capability, and operational strategy to sustain production performance in a constrained labor environment.

This session presents a practical AI strategy for manufacturers facing accelerating workforce loss and declining shop-floor judgment. Rather than focusing on digital twins or large-scale transformation, it outlines a dual-track approach: a 6–8 week initiative to extract veteran operator expertise, convert troubleshooting instincts into validated decision trees, and deploy secure on-premise decision-support tools aligned to OEE and downtime metrics, followed by a longer-term roadmap for layering intelligent automation. Real-world examples will demonstrate how manufacturers are stabilizing performance, reducing training ramp time, and protecting intellectual capital during workforce transitions. Attendees will leave with a tactical, operations-led framework to prevent performance erosion over the next 24 months without waiting for a full digital transformation.