Manufacturers plan to hire, but need technology to get more out of new employees

Manufacturers plan to hire and will need to use a new type of enterprise software to get the most out of new employees as the economy improves, according to a study conducted for IFS North America and scheduled for release in May.

One-third of respondents said they planned to hire additional staff, a third said they planned to invest in enterprise software like enterprise resources planning (ERP) to get more out of current employees and another third said they planned to do both. The survey of 341 manufacturing executives also suggested that there is an unmet need for a new type of ERP called project-based solutions (PBS).

PBS is designed to help manufacturers gain real-time visibility and control of projects they are running, and allows manufacturers of all types to manage their entire business more like a project, making it easier to adjust rapidly to change. In the survey, 95 percent of respondents said they expected their reliance on projects to increase or stay the same in the next five years. The majority of manufacturers said they understood the value of PBS for managing capital improvement projects and launching new products. But fewer understood the significant value of PBS for current business processes, including the ramp-up process for newly hired employees or to manage supply and demand shocks due to the economy.

“This survey data is encouraging because it tells us that our product direction of recent years towards PBS is the correct one for our customers and prospective customers,” IFS North America president and chief executive officer Cindy Jaudon said. “It also tells us that we have some consciousness-raising to do about how C-level executives can use PBS to run a more economically sustainable, resilient business. Using PBS, these executives can avoid over-reacting and laying off too many employees as the economy slows down, and can give them confidence to hire employees and return to full or increased productivity as the economy recovers.”

The study, conducted by a third-party research firm, will be released and made available at www.ifsworld.com/uslater this month. For more information, or to request a copy in advance, contact Chuck Rathmann at 262-317-7419.

About IFS
IFS is a public company founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications, a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. IFS focuses on agile businesses where any of four core processes are strategic: service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects. The company has 2,000 customers and is present in more than 50 countries with 2,700 employees in total.