Technology increasingly plays an important part in productivity as labor challenges continue. A recent Ivanti Wavelink survey indicates it’s difficult—and critical—to get and keep the right people in the right roles, and survey respondents are looking to intuitive technology to help workers do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
“With the current shortage of available labor, many industries are better equipping their teams with technologies that help them optimize workflow. By embracing technology to help streamline operational efficiency, organizations can increase productivity, reduce costs, save time, and improve customer satisfaction,” says Brandon Black, SVP and general manager for Ivanti Wavelink. “Additionally, by implementing technology and automation that uses real-time data, companies can gain end-to-end visibility that allows them to evaluate information more efficiently and be more agile in mitigating issues.”
From Ivanti Wavelink:
- Respondents’ concerns over labor shortages and enabling worker productivity were consistent—and significant – throughout the study. Time to train the workforce (52%) and high turnover (50%) were the most-noted workforce challenges. Additionally, 41% also cited the need for digital upskilling.
- Around 85% of respondents plan to invest in new technology and/or build upon existing technology in the next year, with more than half (53%) indicating they intend to increase automation by up to 30%.
- The most-used tools were handheld mobile computers with barcode scanners (58%) and tablets (50%). Wearable computers and automated picking tools are currently less utilized but trending upwards, with respondents indicating that these tools are the top items they plan to invest in throughout the next year.
- Reliability/uptime is the biggest consideration when evaluating new tech (69%), but other concerns are close behind: ease of deployment (67%), ease of learning (63%), and adaptability—characterized as a system that can quickly react to needed changes (63%).
