Read the full article: bit.ly/smart_manufacturing_trends_2021 Strategic innovations, consolidation of manufacturing processes, and adaptation of operating models and processes to the new post-COVID-19 standard are the key priorities for 2021. The year 2020 was marked by the COVID-19 global pandemic that significantly affected not only the economic sector, but also reshaped the way manufacturing enterprises and factories operate. The whole manufacturing sector and supply chains had to respond immediately to the unexpected challenges of the pandemic. However, the crisis caused by COVID-19 did not fundamentally alter the manufacturing industry trends begun in 2019 of digital transformation and intelligent automation. In fact, the radical changes imposed on the workforce, including the massive migration of employees to remote work and the greater share of services shifting towards the cloud, have contributed to a global acceleration of the digital transformation across industries and enterprises. Prior to the pandemic, digital enterprise initiatives and innovations already proved to be essential tools for the sustainability of operational processes. Trends from the previous period remain relevant. However, the priorities of their roll-out are changing. The pace of implementation of advanced digital technologies is gradually increasing. The same goes for the scaling up of previously implemented digital and smart solutions. Manufacturing and processing organizations, as well as a variety of other industries, will progress to the smart factory (digital enterprise) concept faster. Some surveys have found that the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated digitalization by 3-5 years, and advanced digital products by up to 7 years. Manufacturing businesses had to resort to temporary solutions and emergency measures to ensure the sustainability of their operational processes during the pandemic. An important insight for many businesses and organizations during the crisis was that innovation of their processes and procedures can happen more rapidly than they originally thought possible. This knowledge has led to strategic changes in the short- and medium-term plans for the investment into innovation and deployment of digitalization projects. Development plans focused on digital technologies have now been integrated as an organic part of the business strategy. Keeping up with the trends through planning and re-prioritizing is key, not only to overcome the crisis, but also to successfully function in the new post-COVID-19 world. It is already clear that manufacturing businesses and processing industries will become more digital than before the pandemic outbreak. Read the full article: bit.ly/smart_manufacturing_trends_2021 #techtrends2021 #smartmanufacturing #digitaltransformation

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