“Lack of available skilled talent a continuing drag on business performance”

Quoting a statement from the MccKinsey Global Institute’s report titled, Manufacturing the future: The next era of global growth and innovation 2012, Rissanen said, “Technological changes can lead to shortages in specific commodities…Across all major commodities demand is expected to increase driven by addition of 1.8bn new consumer to the global consuming class over the next 15 years. It is unlikely that the pattern of declining resource prices will return. Further, resource prices will almost certainly be more volatile.”

“Economic importance and supply risk of raw materials is another such factor affecting the liner business, and this needs to be kept in mind during product development stages, he continued. To explain it better he used a chart containing the supply risk and economic importance of 41 materials for the European Union, published by the European Commission. He asserted that economy fluctuations have also affected the brand owners. Therefore, he suggested that the industry should not just look at products with an outlook for the issues of current scenario but rather look far ahead.

Talking about sustainability, he took the help of the statement from the World Economic Forum: Future of manufacturing 2012. He said, “Growing materials resources competition and scarcity will fundamentally alter country and company resources strategies and competition, and serve as a catalyst to significant materials sciences breakthroughs.” He added, “A greater focus on long-term cost and resource sustainability are driving innovations— materials, product design, production processes, and business models.”

Moving on to the subject of global competition, Reardon said, “Skill in managing supply-chain risk will be increasingly important differentiator. The future of manufacturing belongs to the companies that can craft the strategies and build the capabilities to succeed in a new phase of global competition.” He added that internet shopping has changed the way packaging players used to design packages. He noted that it also adds the emphasis on importance of incorporating a tracking and coding technology for better logistic management.

Another critical factor he pointed out was the availability of skilled workers. Quoting from the 2012 Talent Shortage Survey conducted by Manpower Group, he said, “Substantial proportions of employers around the globe identify lack of available skilled talent as a continuing drag on business performance.” He also stated that rising volatility, uncertainty and business complexity has made the reaction to –and planning for – changing market conditions more difficult than ever. And finally, reading out a statement from the World Economic Forum, he said, “Competition between nations to attract foreign direct investment will increase dramatically, raising the stakes for companies.”

Rounding up his presentation, he touched briefly upon the discussion over the fiber based versus synthetic materials and proposed the usage of downguaged liner and chemical compatiblilising of liners.