Summary
The industrial landscape is undergoing a major shift that requires new thinking, flexibility and a focus on sustainability. Neoindustrialism values training along with technological innovation and encourages the creative union between people and machines.
With new behaviors, disruptive technologies, the rapid pace of information and action, new generations are entering the job market together – or not! – High experience, with constant and globalized changes, with a global concern for sustainability – planet and business. The industry scenario is going through a moment of change, which requires a new way of thinking on the part of the market and professionals, out of the ordinary, with flexibility and availability.
The economy is still driven by industrialization, but is now in a society 5.0. We are talking about a distortion of concepts that may be painful at first, but that in the long run will be responsible for digital, humanized, innovative and significant changes in the so-called new industry. A clean industry.
This paradigm shift will lead to collective, sustainable and lasting improvements in the long term. Until then, it is necessary to find solutions that facilitate and integrate digitalization and artificial intelligence into industrial processes, on the one hand, and create people to operate them, on the other. Today what we see, especially in Brazil, is a generation that devalues technological and functional levels. It is true that with technology the number of people in industrial operations has decreased significantly, however, we still need specialists who know how to operate new intelligent equipment.
Research carried out by the Confederation of National Industry (CNI) in this first half showed that the main investment objectives planned by the industry for this year increased from 68% in 2023 to 73% in 2024. The focus was on expanding or improve technological capacity and production processes, options that were chosen by 42% of the 381 large companies consulted. In other words, the machine does not overlap with the human, but its operation depends on the evolution of human intelligence.
This is a task that must be assumed by people management, which, with the old HR, home office and remote work, faces difficulties in finding professionals and, subsequently, retaining them. Instead of paying support or benefits to employees, people management should be a strategic part of knowledge management. It is clear that it is necessary to prioritize investments in technological development, but not only with the objective of industrial development, but also digital transformation and the improvement of social well-being and working conditions. Humanity is the foundation between people and machines, promoting a constructive union between technology, people and industry.
This is where the industry's role converges with the expanded concept of sustainability, which not only considers environmental responsibility, but also social and governance. Training combined with technological innovation contributes greatly to energy efficiency as an objective of the strategic operations of globalized companies. Until 2023, 78% of Brazilian companies will invest in technological advances, 58% in human development and 34% will link these investments with concern for environmental impact.
The figures reveal the movement towards industrial disruption and the evolution of its global impact with it. Although the sector is used to making combinations in transformative scenarios, currently it is difficult to consider all aspects: energy shortages, increase in population income, invasion of computer systems. The speed at which innovations develop and global communication allow an idea to be developed in Paris, developed in Beijing, and presented for testing in Los Angeles, making the market more transparent and faster, with no room for the so-called “secrets”. “. “The industry” lost its prestige and became almost folklore. So, think differently, act differently, and expect different results.
The new industry should not only focus on manufacturing products, but also start supporting their use by customers. Today, flexibility and availability to help customers improve their processes through product development is a key factor in the industry. This requires speed and the ability to build testable prototypes in days or even hours. It involves the interactions of internal employees with the customer and the market. You need to know how to grow and grow.
Finally, accepting this rupture and thinking differently does not depend on age or generation, but rather on accepting the risk of being right or wrong. Half of the ideas will work, the other half not so much, and the difficult thing is knowing which ones to bet on.
Andreas Göhringer is the director of the German multinational Gemu Brasil.
