In 2020, COVID-19 caused historic job losses. Employment in the United States declined by 9.4 million, marking the most significant calendar-year decline in the history of the CES employment series. It’s been two years and restrictions have eased in many areas, yet companies are still struggling to fill positions, with no end in sight.
Labor shortages have a detrimental effect on businesses, from business growth to production to customer service. But you can lighten a portion of the burden with technology. Integration of ERP software can help alleviate labor shortage issues while making your business more efficient and profitable.
Benefits of Technology During a Labor Shortage
There are many benefits of using technology during a labor shortage. Let’s take a look at just a few ways that technology can get you through these stressful times.
Improved Data Collection
When you introduce automated data collection to your business processes, you instantly free up time for your employees to work on other projects. But that’s not the only benefit. Automated data collection results in fewer errors and more efficient fulfillment of orders.
Data collection that is accurate and automated gives companies greater insight into inventory, parts availability, and machine performance, which helps them better manage operations in the shop.
Better Performance
Automated process data collection saves a tremendous amount of time over manually collecting this information. This time can be better focused on actual production and order fulfillment.
The data collected can also aid management in planning the need for workers in relation to anticipated workload and production demand. The entire work process becomes more efficient, performing better than when systems were reliant on human inspection and monitoring.
Faster Onboarding
When a company is dealing with a labor shortage, getting new hires out on the floor in a timely manner is imperative. Fortunately, many onboarding processes can be automated, speeding up the entire hiring and training process.
New hire paperwork can be automated easily, but you might be surprised to learn that training can also be automated. In light of the fact that a new employee needs to be trained for an average of three months and 65 hours, automating the process makes sense.
Technology Decreases Labor Requirements While Increasing Revenue
Implementation of new software such as Acumatica or Sage 100 when your company is struggling to find workers may seem counterintuitive. However, when you consider that automation can take on many tasks, freeing up your current employees for revenue-generating tasks, you can quickly see the ROI.
Add to that the benefit of faster onboarding of new employees, and it’s easy to see that the right technology can make your business run in the most efficient way possible. All of this translates into a better experience for your customers and an increase in revenue.
Once you calculate the cost, it’s an obvious win. Take a moment to contact the experts at ASI today for your free consultation. We’ll assess your needs and show you the best way to accelerate your business growth, even with labor shortages.