In just a few months of the outbreak of the Coronavirus epidemic, various manufacturers, and even automakers, have turned to the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical devices, and their production changes have been astonishingly fast. This ability to survive turbulent times with agility and innovation may become the new normal for manufacturers.

During the epidemic, many industries were forced to shut down production, resulting in a sharp decline in manufacturing employment. In April 2020, overseas manufacturing employment hit an all-time low since 2010. Although the situation has improved, it has not returned to normal levels. At the same time, supply chain disruptions have created new challenges. According to a new report from Deloitte, as factors such as labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and global competition continue to intensify, manufacturers face the following 4 major challenges.

1. How to grasp the pulse of the market is very important to win in chaos

For manufacturers, the outbreak has sounded the horns of system upgrades to deal with the chaos. Visibility is expected to be a capability that manufacturers rely on most, and digital technology is the answer.

2. Digital twin technology could push manufacturing to new heights of resilience and flexibility

A digital twin is a representation of a physical thing. The physical thing can be either a product or component, or a production process or physical production environment. With digital twin technology, manufacturers can virtually recreate a product and its production process, and even simulate how it will perform in the real world without "bending sheet metal" or performing any other physical activity.

3. Manufacturers may be more aggressive in trying to reduce risks from trade and other disruptions

Manufacturers can leverage digital capabilities to increase visibility into their supply networks. In the early days of the epidemic, manufacturers called supply and demand planning experts to advise on the latest situation by setting up a "combat command room". Today, by digitizing supply networks, manufacturers can automate this process to gain real-time visibility into the activities of complex supply networks.

4. Disruption in manufacturing places greater demands on workforce agility

It is unlikely that the production supervisor will continue all the pre-pandemic work arrangements. Manufacturers are eager to restructure work content, workforce and workplace to manage chaos and uncertainty. More than 60 percent of executives surveyed plan to develop a hybrid model for their production and non-production processes within the next three years.