Industry 4.0 opens door to ‘work from home’ manufacturing | Automotive World

Intelligent, digital technology on the factory floor promises to dramatically reshape the automotive manufacturing ecosystem. Today, software platforms are helping automakers adjust to the challenges around new technology trends, greater manufacturing complexity, demand volatility, and growing calls for customised vehicles. These smart systems provide a wide range of insights into what’s happening within the factory and in the supply chain. Increasingly, they could even help with workforce shortages and working conditions.

Between 2019 and 2021 the number of people in the US who primarily work from home tripled from about nine million to 27.6 million, according to 2021 American Community Survey estimates released by the US Census Bureau. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use and development of all sorts of remote-working technologies, including systems that could provide greater insight into what’s happening on the shop floor. At the height of COVID lockdowns, many facilities were forced to send the majority of their employees home. Those with the right systems in place could carry on almost as usual.