When paper becomes a hindrance – and how digitalisation is bringing skilled workers back to the machine.

Let's start with the crucial question that has become an unwelcome permanent fixture in so many German boardrooms: What are we going to do about the shortage of skilled workers? The common opinion is that this is a kind of plague, a stroke of fate that cannot be remedied. You search, you place job ads, you complain, and in the end you have to resort to improvisation again because the machines are standing still. But is that really the case?

I say no. And here comes the spoiler you love so much: the shortage of skilled workers is not the end of the world. It is the loud wake-up call we needed to free ourselves from the ‘We've always done it this way!’ dogma. Because let's be honest: if you want something done right, you do it yourself. But when the people who do it right no longer feel like doing it, it's time for a new rule.

That's where Bernd comes in. Bernd is the prototype machine operator. He's been standing in front of his injection moulding machine for 25 years and knows it like the back of his hand. He knows when it's having a good day and when it's acting up. His hands are full of experience, his eyes recognise even the smallest deviation, and his gut feeling has prevented many a reject before it could even happen. Bernd is the reason why production runs smoothly. He is the reason why customers are satisfied and why the company makes money.

But something has changed in recent years. When you ask Bernd what frustrates him, he doesn't answer, ‘The machine!’ It's the DESK next to the machine. It's the forms he has to fill out. The manual documentation of partial quantities and their calculation, maintenance work, quality controls, and so on and so forth. Half an afternoon is spent putting the data on paper and, at the end of the shift, entering it into the system (or having someone else enter it), which he already has in his head. His love for the machine gives way to frustration with bureaucracy. And the bosses? 

They only see that Bernd is spending less time at the machine and that efficiency is declining. They think he has become tired. But he is being held back by paperwork that is slowly but surely forcing him to fly blind.

This is precisely where our opportunity lies, in this Achilles heel of modern production. We don't need a new rule. We need a new tool. The question is: what does Bernd want? He wants to get back to the machine. He wants to feel what the machine needs again. He wants his work to be fun again. He wants his experience to count, not the pile of paperwork.

And that is exactly what digitisation in production, as offered by tetys, makes possible. Instead of hiring more staff to deal with the bureaucracy, you can get BDE software that takes the work off Bernd's hands. Data is no longer entered manually, but comes directly from the machine or is recorded with just a few clicks. Quality assurance is no longer a mountain of paperwork, but a few clicks on a tablet. Bernd suddenly has time again. Time to optimise the machine, time to improve processes and time to pass on his knowledge to the next generation.

The paperwork is over. The company can now even plan based on facts, identify bottlenecks and keep track of production at all times – so much for flying blind, which I wrote about in another blog post. 

But that's only half the battle. The other half is much more important: Bernd is enjoying himself again. He feels valued again because his actual expertise is back in the foreground. He is no longer the data entry clerk, but the machine operator who keeps production running.

This is how the shortage of skilled workers becomes an opportunity. It forces us to rethink, question and act. It ‘forces’ us to invest in technologies that do not replace staff, but relieve them and restore their enjoyment of work. Because the best skilled workers are the ones you already have – and who are happy to be at work. Digitalisation is not the enemy here, but rather the skilled worker's best friend.

What do you think? Do you also see the opportunity in the shortage of skilled workers?