AI is Upskilling Packaging’s Frontline Workforce

November 27, 2024|Exclusive Features, Machinery, Robotics/Automation

AI assistants and AI-driven skills management solutions can provide personalized, on-demand training powered by operational data. © Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com

AI assistants and AI-driven skills management solutions can provide personalized, on-demand training powered by operational data.

By Chris Kuntz, VP of Strategic Operations at Augmentir

As the packaging industry battles intensifying consumer demands and an acute labor shortage, a cutting-edge solution is emerging — artificial intelligence-guided worker training. Manufacturers across the U.S. are leaning into AI as a pivotal aspect of business growth, with a recent Deloitte survey citing 87% either having adopted or planning to adopt AI-driven solutions in the next two years.

Packaging companies facing evolving market forces must ensure AI solutions like skills development platforms solve real-world issues frontline workers face daily. With veteran employees retiring en masse, packaging manufacturers are desperate to upskill their frontline workforce and preserve decades of institutional knowledge before it walks out the door. Simultaneously, they need teams capable of rapidly learning new processes and technologies to accommodate shorter product runs, intense demand and constant innovation.

The old training playbook of paper binders and years of repetitive task experience simply cannot keep up. AI offers a means to establish continuous learning environments that accelerate workforce development aligned to applicable operational needs.

Accelerating Skills with AI Training and Intelligent Assistance

AI offers manufacturers a powerful new tool for rapidly building workforce capabilities across industrial workforces. Rather than relying solely on tribal knowledge shared by experienced veterans, AI-powered connected worker platforms act as virtual mentors, tutors and instantly accessible knowledge bases for frontline workers. They provide individualized, real-time guidance tailored to each frontline employee’s role, prior training, learning style and performance – whether a brand new hire or a seasoned veteran.

AI software analyzes areas where employees struggle, automatically prescribes additional practice content, refers them to relevant subject matter experts, manual references or even creates simulations and scenarios to build specific skills. Using data collected about each specific worker, AI-driven solutions can engage in interactive dialogues to provide step-by-step guidance, answering questions on the factory floor in real-time.

Beyond one-on-one tutoring, AI enables rapid dissemination of new skills and knowledge across an entire frontline workforce from a central source. HR managers and training teams create master training content, which the AI platform then strategically tailors and delivers to thousands of workers based on their roles, responsibilities, and proficiency levels. Policy updates, process changes, equipment rollouts – all can be rapidly sourced from one unified platform.

For frontline leaders, the AI acts as an intelligent assistant to guide daily routines and workflows like managing huddles, tracking KPIs and metrics, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. It can even conduct remote 5S audits of workstations, providing scoring and recommendations to improve organization and efficiency.

Building a Perpetual Upskilling Cycle

Implementing an AI-powered skills coaching platform isn’t just a one-time training investment for packaging manufacturers. It establishes an ongoing, perpetual learning cycle that continuously elevates workforce capabilities over time, future-proofing operations.

AI skills management systems begin by swiftly benchmarking each frontline worker’s existing knowledge and skill gaps through personalized assessments. Then, it provides an optimized upskilling plan from day one – guiding new employees through critical onboarding while simultaneously prescribing development areas for tenured staff. But, the system doesn’t stop there. AI-powered connected worker platforms continuously analyze performance data, employee feedback, operational shifts, and more to refresh learning paths as needs change. As new technologies, equipment updates, and operational procedures roll out, manufacturers can rapidly reskill frontline workforces. This mitigates future skills gaps and reduces reliance on temporary contractors for new rollouts or shifts in demand.

AI systems rely heavily on organizational datastreams from equipment sensors, quality systems, production schedules, and more, integrating this information across previously siloed sources. This unified data view, or single pane of glass, enables the AI to identify optimization opportunities and future training needs that the average person might miss looking at each data stream individually.

Another advantage that AI-powered solutions offer the workplace, and perhaps the most powerful, is the ability to enhance overall workplace engagement and retention amidst the ever-worsening manufacturing labor shortage. Frontline workers supported through continual coaching and personalized development paths feel invested in the organizations they are a part of and motivated by employers supporting their long-term career growth. Through data generated by frontline workers, AI-powered connected worker platforms guide employees using actual performance data, ensuring efficiency, safety and support in the flow of work.

The stakes are huge, and investments in these supportive technologies are critical to manufacturing success. Deloitte projects that manufacturers will face as many as 3.8 million unfilled skilled jobs by 2033, potentially costing trillions in economic losses. Packaging companies must find ways to quickly reskill and pivot frontline workers to accommodate more product customization, shorter production runs and new processes.

Simply hiring more people is not enough — manufacturers need integrated workforce development solutions that enable continuous upskilling and knowledge preservation. This is where AI-powered skills coaching platforms emerge as a future-proof solution to augment and enhance operational agility and frontline workforce capabilities.

Through intelligent AI assistants and AI-driven skills management solutions that provide personalized, on-demand training powered by operational data, packaging companies can rapidly cultivate a highly skilled, adaptable workforce prepared for long-term competitiveness. Rather than fragmented courses, frontline staff get immersive digital coaching journeys tailored to their unique roles and learning needs. Managers gain visibility into their workforce capabilities to strategically reskill teams ahead of emerging market shifts. Organizations that embrace AI to upskill frontline workers gain the human capital responsiveness and agility to outmaneuver disruptions and position themselves for sustained innovation and resilience amidst relentless change.