Buffeted by slow growth and competitive markets, businesses across the globe desperately need to change the productivity equation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that average annual manufacturing productivity growth during the post-crisis period is half the rate of the 1990s and pre-crisis 2000s. The multifactor component of productivity growth that captures changes not accounted for by labor and capital such as technological innovation and changes in the organization of production actually declined outright during the post-crisis period. Absent the ability to get more out of their production and human assets, companies cannot free up the resources they need to bring innovative products and services to new markets and customers.
Strategy & Operations (S&O) consultants are attacking this challenge in two new ways. One, they are helping their clients deploy new production technologies such as additive manufacturing, advanced materials, and Internet-of-Things connectivity. Two, they are developing advanced analytics tools to help their clients to harness and derive insights from the increasing volume of data thrown off by their manufacturing operations. But the playbook used by most consultants for adapting the organization of production, the manufacturing system, is an old one: lean waste reduction and continuous improvement.
