Productivity growth, the key to increase prosperity.
For a significant period of time, the focus in production for many European countries has been on outsourcing parts of, or even transferring the entire production to low wage countries. A lot of production and product development expertise has been lost in the process.
Financially this may have been fine for the short term, but more and more we are facing the negative aspects. Some of them very well described by Catherine Colebrook in an article in “Politics home”.
Reshoring is becoming a subject of importance in both Europe and the US. Also Obama emphasized its need.
To re-strengthen our production and our product creation capabilities in Europe, we will have to put a lot of effort in picking up with the new technology introduced in the market during the last decade. Recent technologies like Additive manufacturing; Internet of things; Application of flexible programmable robot systems; etc. will be able, to boost productivity beyond any level that can be achieved by optimization of existing techniques.
The challenge will not only be to learn to use these tools, but even more to organize work as such, that we can make the new tools effective. I am also convinced that the new technologies will bring al complete different kind of production worker to the production work floor.
Interim management can help to open the eyes for the new possibilities, rather than to keep stuck in old ways of thinking. It can also help to implement them effectively. Thus it can be an effective tool to open new routes to prosperity.
Peter Pubben (+31 4786546276)