additive manufacturing and the workforce of the future · 3d opportunity for the talent gap:...

A Deloitte series on additive manufacturing

3D opportunity for the talent gapAdditive manufacturing and the workforce of the future

3D opportunity for the talent gap: Additive manufacturing and the workforce of the future

Eric Vazquez

Eric Vazquez is a specialist leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP and serves as a subject matter expert in the Federal Human Capital practice, focusing on talent management, strategic recruiting, succession planning, and organizational analysis and design. He has over 16 years of experience leading complex workforce planning and analysis projects for federal and military clients.

Michael Passaretti

Michael Passaretti is a senior consultant in Deloitte Consulting LLP, within the Strategy & Operations practice. He focuses on solving complex challenges for federal civilian and military customers, improving business processes, realizing supply chain efficiencies, and integrating new technologies, such as additive manufacturing and advanced data analytics.

Paul Valenzuela

Paul Valenzuela is a specialist master in Deloitte Consulting LLP, within the Federal Human Capital practice. He provides subject expertise in federal and Department of Defense (DoD) work-force analysis and planning, talent strategy management, and organizational analysis and design. Paul brings 24 years of experience working with federal and DoD organizations building teams, leading projects to align the workforce, and leading talent programs to strategic and financial goals and objectives.

About the authors

Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations practice helps companies understand and address opportunities to apply advanced manufacturing technologies to impact their businesses’ performance, innovation, and growth. Our insights into additive manufacturing allow us to help organizations reassess their people, process, technology, and innovation strategies in light of this emerging set of technologies. Contact the authors for more information, or read more about our alliance with 3D Systems and our 3D Printing Discovery Center on www.deloitte.com.


ContactsMark J. CotteleerResearch director Center for Integrated Research Deloitte Services, LP+1 414 977 2359 [email protected]

Kelly Marchese Principal Supply Chain & Manufacturing Operations Deloitte Consulting LLP Mobile: +1 404 915 2346 [email protected]

John ForsytheDirectorOrganizational TransformationDeloitte Consulting LLP+1 571 882 [email protected]

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kelly Marchese, John Forsythe, Jim Lauricia, Asumini Kamulegeya, Caroline Anderson, Samuel Huebner, Ryan Counihan, Sarah Moses, Caitlyn Dipierro, Amanda Fitzgerald, Cary Harr, Hogan Medlin, Aaron Marx, Allison Lands, and Cristina Ahn from Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Brenna Sniderman and Sonya Vasilieff of Deloitte Services LP for their contributions to this article.


ADDITIVE manufacturing (AM)—also known as 3D printing—has transformed

innovation in the engineering and manufactur-ing industry, with applications ranging from jet engines;1 medical devices and implants such as custom hearing aids that can be produced rap-idly and cheaply,2 and supply chain advantages in remote loca-tions with the US Navy’s Print the Fleet initiative.3

Because AM represents a paradigm shift in design and production, well-trained talent—engineers and technicians—are critical to maximizing this technology.4 From the use of resins in vat polymerization to complex 3D laser cladding in directed energy deposition, AM innovations in materials and technologies demand new skills and capabili-ties, both technical and managerial. Yet many of these innovations have outpaced the ability of the broader manufacturing workforce to adapt:5 9 out of 10 manufacturers are strug-gling to find the skilled workers needed—a shortage that is impacting production, quality, innovation, and growth.6

Further, just as its technologies impact the supply chain and product design, AM also rev-olutionizes how manufacturers structure and manage their technical workforce and changes the very design process itself, upending the way engineers collaborate.7 Thus, the demands on—and expectations for—AM talent are high:

Technical and engineering skills required for successful AM deployment range widely, from equipment design to material technology to data management.8 At the same time, success-ful engineers must be creative, resourceful, and ready to “figure things out” in an industry that continues to develop and evolve, according to

Taylor Landry, director of print solutions at MatterHackers, a California-based AM company.9

To realize the full potential of AM, manufac-turing organiza-tions must focus on developing a capable and skilled AM workforce. To

close these skills gaps, universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology are preparing engineers for AM, including launching 3D printing labs to deliver hands-on training.10 Similarly, some manufacturing companies are starting to focus more on AM, offering on-the-job training to incoming and seasoned engineers. However, the challenges are real and significant: an aging population of seasoned manufacturing talent, a lack of interest in manufacturing among the younger workforce, reluctance to adapt to new design paradigms, and skills gaps around leveraging AM technologies.

Addressing these issues is crucial to imple-menting and scaling AM. Without a well-trained workforce capable of adapting to—and

Introduction

To realize the full potential of AM, manufacturing organizations must focus on developing a capable and skilled AM workforce.

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AM’s roots go back nearly three decades. Its importance is derived from its ability to break existing performance trade-offs in two fundamental ways. First, AM reduces the capital required to achieve economies of scale. Second, it increases flexibility and reduces the capital required to achieve scope.11

Capital versus scale: Considerations of minimum efficient scale can shape supply chains. AM has the potential to reduce the capital required to reach minimum efficient scale for production, thus lowering the manufacturing barriers to entry for a given location.

Capital versus scope: Economies of scope influence how and what products can be made. The flexibility of AM facilitates an increase in the variety of products a unit of capital can produce, reducing the costs associated with production changeovers and customization and, thus, the overall amount of required capital.

Changing the capital versus scale relationship has the potential to impact how supply chains are configured, and changing the capital versus scope relationship has the potential to impact product designs. These impacts present companies with choices on how to deploy AM across their businesses.

Companies pursuing AM capabilities choose between divergent paths (figure 1):

Path I: Companies do not seek radical alterations in either supply chains or products, but they may explore AM technologies to improve value delivery for current products within existing supply chains.

Path II: Companies take advantage of scale economics offered by AM as a potential enabler of supply chain transformation for the products they offer.

Path III: Companies take advantage of the scope economics offered by AM technologies to achieve new levels of performance or innovation in the products they offer.

Path IV: Companies alter both supply chains and products in pursuit of new business models.

Graphic: Deloitte University Press | DUPress.com

Figure 1. Framework for understanding AM paths and value

Path III: Product evolution• Strategic imperative: Balance of

growth, innovation, and performance

• Value driver: Balance of profit, risk, and time

• Key enabling AM capabilities:– Customization to customer

requirements– Increased product functionality– Market responsiveness– Zero cost of increased complexity

Path IV: Business model evolution• Strategic imperative: Growth and

innovation• Value driver: Profit with revenue

focus, and risk• Key enabling AM capabilities:

– Mass customization– Manufacturing at point of use– Supply chain disintermediation– Customer empowerment

Path I: Stasis • Strategic imperative: Performance• Value driver: Profit with a cost

focus• Key enabling AM capabilities:

– Design and rapid prototyping– Production and custom tooling– Supplementary or “insurance”

capability– Low rate production/no

changeover

Path II: Supply chain evolution• Strategic imperative: Performance• Value driver: Profit with a cost

focus, and time• Key enabling AM capabilities:

– Manufacturing closer to point of use

– Responsiveness and flexibility– Management of demand

uncertainty– Reduction in required inventory

High product change

No

supp

ly c

hain

cha

nge

High supply chain change

No product change

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adopting—the applications and uses of AM, organizations may fail in their ability to inte-grate and implement AM processes effectively. These new design, development, and produc-tion processes require agile workforce alloca-tion and management practices.

In this paper, we examine the challenges organizations face as they seek to hire, train,

and retain engineers and technicians skilled in AM. We also explore the importance of a collaborative and iterative workforce planning process—an approach well suited to helping organizations identify and bridge the skills and organizational gaps they may encounter as they scale AM throughout their operations.

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The real and present AM talent gap

AM has shortened the design and produc-tion process by enabling companies to

streamline prototyping activities, alter supply chains, and evolve end-product manufac-turing.12 The global 3D printing industry is expected to grow from $4.1 billion in revenue in 2014 to $12.8 billion by 2018, and its world-wide revenue to exceed $21 billion by 2020.13

This projected growth for AM, while posi-tive, also raises a significant challenge: height-ened competition for a finite talent pool with

the skills to use this technology. This challenge is expected to affect businesses of all sizes, from start-up to enterprise-level.14 Indeed, according to some reports, the number of job advertisements calling for 3D printing skills increased 1,834 percent between August 2010 and August 2014, with industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, software developers, and industrial designers among the most sought-after professionals.15

To be sure, this soaring demand for skilled labor is not exclusive to AM. In fact, the talent shortages facing AM mirror a widely rec-ognized skills gap across the manufacturing industry as a whole.16 According to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 9 out of 10 manufacturers are struggling to find the skilled workers needed, and 54 percent of manufac-turers do not have a plan in place to address the skilled labor shortage—impacting produc-tion, quality, innovation, and growth.17

The constricted supply of skilled AM labor is the result of several factors, which can be broadly categorized into the three key talent areas: recruitment and hiring, training, and retention.

Recruitment and hiring challenges

Developing a skilled bench of engineers and technicians often begins with finding, recruiting, and hiring talent. Even in the best of times, this process can be difficult. Compounding the challenge further is the fact that

manufacturers are not only seeking to identify the already-limited pool of engineers and tech-nicians with AM expertise but also to replace the seasoned engineers who are aging out of the workforce. Below are some of the chal-lenges companies face as they look to identify and hire engineers and technicians.

Accelerating retirement of skilled work-ers. The current manufacturing workforce is aging fast and retiring faster. The median age

To be sure, this soaring demand for skilled labor is not exclusive to AM. In fact, the talent shortages facing AM mirror a widely recognized skills gap across the manufacturing industry as a whole.

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of the manufacturing workforce rose from 40.5 years in 2000 to 44.9 years in 2013,18 and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers expects that the aging manufacturing workforce and the resulting retirements of older workers will leave a skilled-employee vacuum totaling in the millions in the years ahead.19

Millennials’ negative perception of the manufacturing industry. The challenge of aging talent is just one side of the coin: Just as skilled workers are aging out of the workforce, younger talent is not rising up to take their place. Indeed, Americans still think of factory jobs as “dirty, dangerous, and offering little job security.”20 Declining wages in manufac-turing—real wages for manufacturing workers declined 4.4 percent from 2003 to 201321—have further hurt the industry’s image, particularly among Millennials.22 Indeed, Millennials are also motivated by different professional drivers than previous generations, includ-ing being empowered to innovate, making an impact both within their company and beyond, feeling control over their career paths, hav-ing opportunities to lead, and solving com-plex, challenging problems;23 in their minds, manufacturing does not address these priori-ties. American manufacturers could thus face a deficit of as many as 2 million workers over the next decade, fueled as much by a dearth of rising young talent as the looming retirement of the Baby Boomers.24

A lack of science, technology, engineer-ing, and mathematics (STEM) skills in the manufacturing market. While demand for both those in skilled trade (technicians) and undergraduate/post-graduate skills (engineers) remains high within manufacturing, an influx of those with the requisite skills is closer to a trickle. A study conducted by the Brookings

Institute found that manufacturing companies compete for the limited pool of STEM tal-ent with other industries and find it relatively more difficult to fill STEM job vacancies.25 As many as 600,000 technical manufacturing jobs—in roles such as technicians, machinists, and operators—remained unfilled in 2011, with manufacturers expecting to fill fewer than half of the 3.4 million manufacturing jobs in the coming decade due to lack of viable, skilled candidates.26

Yet the problem with finding skilled STEM workers starts even earlier, in school: Retention rates for students in STEM programs

are falling, while the number of US students enrolled in engineering gradu-ate programs is also on the decline.27 The gap between demand for STEM talent and supply of skilled engineers is not a small one, either: Estimates suggest that undergraduates

with STEM majors would need to increase by 34 percent to meet demand.28 Compounding the problem, those with degrees in engineering often do not gravitate toward manufacturing: Organizations are experiencing difficulties finding candidates with advanced degrees in materials sciences,29 for example, while soft-ware and biomedical skills are seeing a surge. This constricted pipeline of technicians and STEM graduates interested in manufactur-ing can, in turn, lead to stiff competition for limited talent.

Training challenges

Building a strong AM workforce goes beyond simply identifying and hiring talent, however. Indeed, as technologies change and evolve, employees must be trained to stay cur-rent and maintain necessary skills. Employee

Building a strong AM workforce goes beyond simply identifying and hiring talent, however.

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training is a widely accepted and successful approach; 94 percent of manufacturing execu-tives rate internal training as “extremely, very, or moderately important to mitigate[ing] the effects of existing skills shortages for a skilled production workforce” such as technicians, while 68 percent say the same for engineers.30 With AM specifically, training needs may be more complex than other manufacturing methods; in many cases, engineers and techni-cians must learn AM processes on the job, rather than enter the company with those skills already in hand. Training challenges include:

Shortage of AM-specific training pro-grams. One of the major challenges of recruit-ing and hiring newly minted engineers is the fact that they will likely need on-the-job training in AM techniques, even with their STEM-focused education. Indeed, many engineering programs at academic institutions offer little in the way of AM-specific educa-tion, and thus many graduates may not have the AM skills that companies desire. This is due to several factors: Many instructors in

IN PRACTICE: SOLVING VIRGINIA’S ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE GAPThe Virginia Tobacco region has historically been focused on the tobacco farming, textiles, and furniture manufacturing industries. Today, however, those are quickly being replaced by more modern AM industries (such as aerospace, automotive, and heavy machinery), and employers are experiencing a high demand for skilled workers alongside a shortage of supply.

In response to the shortage of skilled AM workers, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), a public-private partnership dedicated to research and innovation, in collaboration with the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and nine community colleges, established a network of AM training centers of excellence (CoEs) across the region, including:

• The New College Center of Excellence

• The Southwest Virginia Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence

• The Southern Virginia Center of Manufacturing Excellence

In addition to the CoEs, the CCAM plans to develop an Advanced Manufacturing Apprentice Academy (AMAA) to serve as the hub for the network. This academy, along with the CoEs, will provide hands-on, industry-relevant training on modern AM equipment, professional certifications, and pathways to employment. Led by an industry-designed training curriculum and modeled after an “earn-while-you-learn” apprenticeship, the AMAA will work to grow the workforce pipeline for AM business, close the unemployment gap, and further generate an industry-ready workforce across the Commonwealth.32

the academic setting may not possess much hands-on experience with AM technologies or express reluctance to teach a technology that is as yet unproven at the industrial level.31 While programs focused on additive manufactur-ing are growing (including Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson Center for Product Innovation, and the Pennsylvania State University Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition), and public-private partnerships have developed (see the side-bar “In practice: Solving Virginia’s advanced manufacturing workforce gap”), adequate education still remains a challenge.

AM-specific skills gaps. The rise of AM will likely drive heightened demand for cross-functional technical and managerial compe-tencies. Engineers must learn and implement new design processes and technologies, adapt to new design programs, and gain familiarity with new materials beyond their traditional

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training and professional experience. Moreover, design engineers will have to work side by side with manufacturing engineers on the factory floor, and both will need to think about fabrication and modeling more imagina-tively than they have historically.

For their part, technicians must adapt to new techniques—such as part finishing and machine calibrating—and become expert in the workings of new machines. Additionally, recording, maintaining, and updating 3D data within increasingly complex systems may require the technician to adopt new IT and software skills. Further, increased compression of the design and engineering process may blur the lines between the engineering process and technicians. Continual managerial training is thus necessary: Without intimate knowledge of the competencies and capabilities of their technical workforce, managers may be unable to identify the team’s internal strengths and weaknesses, let alone understand how to close these gaps and improve workforce perfor-mance and output.

At the same time, it is important to note that AM is not a singular discipline but encompasses a range of techniques, materials, and machine types. Engineers and technicians may not be trained in the design principles and machinery of AM, but even if they are, exper-tise in one approach or one printer type does not necessarily extend across the full range of AM processes. Engineers with knowledge of polymer material capabilities, for example, may have little expertise with metals.33 Technicians skilled in operating prototype-level “office machines” may not be certified to operate and maintain “shop floor machines,” which may require special environmental considerations and higher maintenance.34 Thus, manufac-turers must adapt their talent search to their own specific AM needs and pursue novel, hands-on approaches to training. (See the sidebar “Immersive learning and advanced manufacturing.”)

Nascent AM culture. While engineer-ing and technical skills can be taught,

IMMERSIVE LEARNING AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURINGStudies have shown that immersive learning enables the learner to understand the different facets of a tool or capability in varying situations, and to apply these learnings in a real-world context.35 Interacting with new technologies through simulated development exercises can accelerate learning and promote creative thinking.36

This approach may be ideal for AM, enabling organizations to provide high-quality training experiences in a low-impact digital environment. John Deere, manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, has implemented a range of immersive experiences across its business processes, including virtual painter training, factory workstations, and process design. The company’s virtual reality training for painters accelerated the process, reduced costs, and increased efficiency of instruction.37

manufacturers must also focus on shaping their employees’ mind-set. Creating a culture of change and innovation can make manag-ers, engineers, and technicians more willing to adapt to changing technologies and rei-magine established processes.38 On the other hand, managers who are reluctant to embrace change and who stick to the status quo may overlook the gains of AM adoption, and they will be unable to create an employee culture that encourages development and growth.39 Without a plan to instill a culture of creativity and change at the management level, capability and skill development may stall.

Retention challenges

Finding and training skilled workers is costly and time consuming. Once an engi-neer or technician has become adept at the technology, manufacturers must take care to keep that talent. In order to do so, they should consider approaches to retention and organizational changes that take into account the ways in which AM alters the design and production process.

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Retaining existing engineers and techni-cians. With the limited pool of available talent, investment in technical training is central to keeping employees’ AM skills current and keeping them engaged and satisfied. As employee skills strengthen, the organization as a whole will also be better positioned to oversee quality suppliers and meet the techni-cal demands of customers.40 Moreover, losing talented workers in the tight AM labor market can be a major issue for businesses, with the cost of replacing an employee estimated to be approximately 150 percent what the employee would earn annually—which, of course, adds to costs and decreases production.41

Moreover, many potential AM employees are likely to be Millennials, who change jobs more frequently and might be less loyal to employers. Fully 44 percent say they expect to leave their current jobs and go elsewhere within the next two years if given the chance to do something new; two-thirds expect to do so by 2020.42 Retaining these employees will require a better understanding of their unique career expectations and priorities to foster greater engagement and retention.43

Outdated organizational structures. Commercial-scale 3D printing tests a manu-facturer’s ability to adapt its program manage-ment protocols, network of suppliers,44 and collaborate between project teams globally.45 It also changes the design and production

process in ways that upend typical manu-facturing structures, taking processes from “extended and specialized” to “condensed and collaborative” and forcing engineers to adjust the way they work.46 Organizational charts focused on specialization may need to become more cross-functional. Moreover, companies may have to develop the flexibility to toggle between conventional manufacturing and AM to optimize for design and manufacturability—at times, perhaps even blending the two into a hybrid approach.47

Talent is crucial throughout the AM design and manufacturing process, from design to final-part inspection, from planning to shipping, from machine maintenance on the plant floor to aftermarket support. Beyond the production process, roles focused on identifying, training, and retaining talent and managing the tremendous amounts of data and critical IT infrastructure that go along with a scalable AM operation are also critical to successfully implementing and using AM processes.48 Beyond simply examining why these challenges are present, however, manag-ers must have tools and techniques to identify where the most pressing skills gaps exist, as well as tactical approaches to closing them. Thus, workforce planning approaches suited to AM’s rapid development can provide a useful framework for identifying talent needs and addressing them.

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Closing the AM talent gapCollaborative workforce planning

WHILE the challenges facing AM work-force development are numerous,

manufacturers can use strategic workforce planning approaches to shape a robust AM workforce and build an AM talent pipeline. Strategic workforce planning involves proactively forecasting an organization’s specific talent needs and devising a range of tailored strategies to address them.49 Taking a collaborative, iterative approach to workforce planning may be the meth-odology best suited to the rapidly evolving and varied technical requirements of AM. This can allow human resources (HR) experts to team with managers, build upon a shared business vision, and quickly identify—and prioritize—critical skills gaps, enabling manufacturers to focus on workforce segments identified as high pri-ority, and helping to ensure that resources and efforts are not wasted.

Taking an iterative design approach to workforce planning with short stages—typically lasting one to four weeks each—can enable developers and managers to com-municate often, identify challenges promptly, respond to constantly evolving stakeholder needs, and deliver results in quick cycles. Applying this approach—also known as agile—in AM workforce planning allows HR planners, managers, engineers, and technicians to collaborate more frequently and generate insights concerning the most pressing needs of the organization, rapid analysis, and faster organizational responsiveness to changes (fig-ure 2). Indeed, the term “collaborative” is key: Due to the challenges associated with adopt-ing AM technologies, AM-focused workforce

planning relies on a steady stream of input from the engineers and technicians whose roles will be most affected. Whether a manu-facturing organization is continuing to build upon existing AM capabilities or just begin-

ning to implement AM, a rapidly iterative, collaborative workforce planning approach can help to address recruitment, training, and retention challenges associated with AM.

Identify the most critical workforce segments of the organization

The most critical workforce segments—such as machinists or production technologists—demand high levels of skill and deliver a disproportion-ately high amount of value. Initially, planners may prioritize the critical workforce segments

Taking a collaborative, iterative approach to workforce planning may be the methodology best suited to the rapidly evolving and varied technical requirements of AM.

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Figure 2. Planning the agile workforce

Strategic workforce planning will help determine when, where, and how to invest in AM talent.

the most critical workforce segments

of the organization

IDENTIFYASSESS

EVALUATE

ANALYZE

organizational workforce needs

the talent supply and identify talent risks

the gaps between talent demand and supply

IMPLEMENTThe workforce plan

Prioritize workforce segments and limit scope

Identify AM skills in highest demand

Identify patterns, trends, and risks

Develop solutions to address shortfalls

HR plannersTechnicians

ManagersEngineers

Shared vision of business trends and

impacts

DEVELOP AND PRIORITIZE TALENT SOLUTIONS

Planning groups have frequent and continuous

engagement —the core to making the process agile

(speed, accuracy, and responsiveness).

SHARE INNOVATION AND PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS

AND ISSUES

Planning improves responsiviness to workforce

and business changes through interative engagement.Insights gained from

process are shared for the next iteration of the plan.

Graphic: Deloitte University Press | DUPress.com

with the highest numbers of vacancies or the roles that are most difficult to fill. As workforce planning processes mature, however, planners can forecast workforce skills and capability requirements in light of observed workforce trends—higher-than-normal attrition in key functions, difficulty in recruiting, or skewed supervisor-to-staff ratios, for example—and changing business priorities. Focusing the process on critical segments narrows the scope of the planning process, allowing for greater speed and more targeted planning.

To identify these critical workforce seg-ments, planners in HR may engage managers who have direct insight into day-to-day opera-tions and knowledge of the lines of business (LOBs) that are in high demand. Given the rapidly evolving technical requirements of AM adoption, this LOB identification and

prioritization should recur frequently to more accurately forecast, and identify any changes in, workforce needs.

In addition to collaborating with manag-ers, HR can ideally gather qualitative data from engineers, technicians, and other criti-cal manufacturing segments (see the sidebar “Building partnerships between HR and the business”). Together with the manager-level discussions, these conversations allow HR to gain firsthand insight into talent challenges facing AM adoption and implementation, and potentially identify them earlier than would be possible with a noncollaborative, noninclusive approach. With focus and concentration of effort, planners will have a shortlist of work-force segments, complete with skills required for each.

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Assess organizational workforce needs

Once critical AM workforce segments have

been identified, it is important to under-stand the organization’s needs in those areas. Assessing the workforce demand—includ-ing staff distribution, experience, and level of expertise—provides AM manufacturers insight into exactly whom they need to hire, and where within the organization they need to do so. To accurately assess demand, HR can work with managers to hone in on specific AM technology needs, products fabricated, produc-tivity targets, forecasted demand shifts, and the competitive landscape—as well as any strategic goals that may signal a shift toward a new AM process or approach.

By identifying these drivers, planners can identify the types of skills their workers will need to develop—and those they may already possess. Indeed, planners can work to identify critical skills that engineers and technicians have already cultivated in house, including process- or equipment-specific techniques or protocols. They can then develop plans for reinforcing and building upon them through training, preserving them through knowledge transfer from experienced workers to new hires, or beginning a training or recruitment/hiring process to develop capabilities where gaps have been identified. By taking this assessment, demand will reflect actual, current AM business requirements and potentially shed light on those that may arise in the future.

Evaluate the talent supply and identify talent risks

Once planners identify the greatest talent needs, it is important to under-stand whether adequate supply exists within their workforce to fulfill this demand. Diverse

and rapidly evolving technical requirements of AM adoption mean that the organization may consider preparing to train, develop, recruit, and reallocate teams of engineers and technicians to keep pace. Critical workforce supply analysis will help HR and managers stay informed of these changes, identify the capabilities of the incumbent workforce, and pinpoint the gaps in supply that may pre-vent a company from meeting current and future demand.

Workforce supply analysis can begin with an initial audit of headcount, staff distribu-tion, demographic distribution, accession and attrition trends, junior-to-senior staff ratios, experience levels, and retirement eligibil-ity projections of staff in critical workforce segments. Workforce supply analysis allows planners to conduct near- and long-term forecasts using available workforce data; deter-mine future skill requirements of critical roles; identify trends, patterns, and anomalies in workforce composition; and identify workforce risks, such as a retirement spikes among key personnel or atypical attrition within par-ticular workforce segments. To augment this analysis, planners may identify the less tangible attributes of a high-performing workforce through staff surveys. Specifically, a survey of engineers, technicians, and other staff representative of critical workforce segments can help planners gain insight into employee engagement, motivators, and job satisfaction—each of which contributes to performance and productivity. Taken together, qualitative and quantitative workforce supply data analysis, which produces a snapshot of in-house supply of talent, is a critical first step toward a work-force analytics capability.

Analyze the gaps between talent demand and supply

With the demand and supply assessments in hand, HR can conduct focused planning sessions with managers to quantify the gaps where current

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in-house talent may not be sufficient, and iden-tify and prioritize within those gaps the most crucial areas for short- and long-term talent investments. Solutions here may range from recruiting and outreach to technical training, leadership development, employee engage-ment, partnership with academic institutions, and succession planning. Approaches deliber-ated here can ideally be measurable and trace-able, to pinpoint where and when progress is made in closing gaps.

HR planners and managers can consider cost-benefit calculations for each solution over both the short and long term, and priori-tize talent investments that will address the most significant operational risks and critical workforce segments. This can ultimately feed the workforce plan, which identifies actions for addressing specific gaps, the steps associ-ated with each, a timeline for execution, and metrics for tracking success.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN HR AND THE BUSINESSPlanning for the right AM workforce requires a close working relationship between HR experts and managers, engineers, and technicians. This enables HR to gain an understanding of the business environment and critical workforce segments from those in the field—where they may often have no direct, first-hand knowledge—so they can create effective workforce solutions that address the right challenges. The collaborative nature of the partnership also allows the workforce planning process to respond more quickly to changing needs—and also, perhaps most importantly, foster greater buy-in of AM adoption, as more segments are invested in the process.

For manufacturers looking to recruit, train, retain, and deploy an AM workforce, forecasting the optimal mix and allocation of engineering and technical skills helps to reduce risk and ensure resources are invested appropriately.50 And the sooner the better: Early and consistent collaboration has been shown to ensure that the workforce plan focuses on the correct areas.51

Implement the workforce plan

Launching the workforce plan—and measuring its outcomes—requires an inte-grated effort between HR and

managers across the AM organization. The collaboration enables rapid feedback, a discus-sion of results for each initiative underway, and an analysis of results that will inform the next iteration.

Depending on the talent solutions and their impact on the workforce, planners may design a communications plan to inform, prepare, and lead the organization through changes in staff structure, training, and allocation for incumbent staff to internalize and accept. Additionally, as AM capability requirements change quickly, preparing for the next plan-ning iteration may be part of the conversation; while this marks the end of a planning cycle, it also marks the beginning of the next iteration.

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Turning the plan into actionAddressing AM talent gaps

A COLLABORATIVE and iterative approach to workforce planning can enable an

organization to develop and implement a tailored approach to building AM-related tal-ent—one with clear priorities related to talent recruitment, retraining already-existing talent, and retaining AM-trained employees. Indeed, by collaborating with engineers, technicians, and managers, an organization can develop a fuller picture of its own needs and the chal-lenges it may encounter as it seeks to develop its AM capabilities. The resulting action plan should map back to and address the organi-zation’s AM-related challenges, needs, and gaps identified during the planning process. Depending on a company’s identified needs, actions can include:

• Deploy strategic outreach and recruiting processes to find and develop STEM tal-ent. Manufacturers can develop a recruit-ing plan that identifies vocational schools, universities, and institutions producing engineers and technicians trained in AM technologies and applications they have

identified as critical. With an understanding of both industry trends and the strongest sources of AM talent, managers must pri-oritize between attending college engineer-ing fairs, conducting web-based sourcing for candidates, or even partnering with academic institutions on targeted programs. A holistic recruiting and outreach plan across advertising, campus events, mid-career recruiting, and media spots can help to build an enduring talent pipeline.52

• Assess which recruit-ing practices need to change to appeal to a limited pool of AM talent. Effective outreach to strong talent requires that an organization be perceived as forward-

thinking and innovative. Conduct market-sensing activities to under-stand AM talent trends by regions and by function: What industries and markets are drawing the strongest engineering talent? What vocational schools, universities, and institutions are producing engineers and techni-cians trained in AM technologies, systems, and applications? Where are your top competitors recruiting, and why?

The resulting action plan should map back to and address the organization’s AM-related challenges, needs, and gaps identified during the planning process.

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• Deliver targeted training that addresses demands identified during workforce planning. Investment in technical train-ing is central to keeping employees’ skills current—and demonstrating a commit-ment to ongoing organizational improve-ment. Training delivery can occur in many ways in a manufacturing organization. A blend of experiential training and mentor-ing combined with external training may be an optimal combination for developing hands-on experience with AM technolo-gies.53 Further, immersive learning can help technicians and engineers interact with and test equipment, learn to use instruments, and even understand new manufacturing workflows without the operational risks otherwise present in the physical world.

• Retain your staff by re-recruiting them. Top talent that represents your critical workforce segments is indispensable to the organization. Managers must work to empower all staff members to bring their innovative ideas, creativity, and thirst for

knowledge to work, and open opportuni-ties for these engineers and technicians to collaborate and stretch their limits together. By protecting and promoting the creative freedom of their staff and building an environment to innovate while removing obstacles that stifle this freedom, manag-ers can effectively re-recruit top talent that expects to work for an organization that shares their values and nurtures and respects their intellect.

• Establish an AM innovation center. An AM innovation center that enables engi-neers and technicians to collaborate and learn from one another in a skunkworks-style program can be an effective way to facilitate innovation.54 Skunkworks projects enable small teams of employees to work on specific projects, innovate aggressively, and test ideas, free from the interference of typical day-to-day operations.55

• Retain both newly acquired and legacy institutional knowledge. As senior-level managers, engineers, and technicians prepare to retire and take vital knowledge with them, it is crucial to capture institu-tional knowledge. This can be done through shadowing activities, experiential learning programs, technical working groups, and the creation of knowledge-capture portals to collect and retain technical expertise. For their part, retaining the new generation of talent beyond 12–24 months will require employee engagement strategies such as job rotations, team-based problem-solving programs, and ongoing, hands-on training in new technologies.

• Appeal to Millennials with AM’s benefits in both recruitment and retention. AM allows for a more collaborative approach to design, enabling engineers and design-ers to think about projects from a broader, problem-solving perspective rather than concentrating on discrete tasks. It also flat-tens an organization, removing bureaucracy

Workforce planning helps AM organizations determine when, where, and why to invest in a spectrum of talent management initiatives, including recruiting, training, and retention initiatives targeted toward addressing the challenges specific to AM.

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and fostering innovation, as designers can explore previously impossible shapes and configurations. Focusing on these facets of the technology can help appeal to a younger workforce, which values collaboration, solv-ing complex problems, and freedom to cre-ate56—and which is ready to take on more of a leadership role in a flatter environment.

• Rethink the organization. AM technology adoption will not only demand a shift in the skills of the technical workforce but will also drive changes to supply chains, busi-ness networks, and other support functions in the organization.57 To integrate old and new business processes, rethinking orga-nizational structures and program man-agement processes is a sound first step.58 Beyond lines and boxes on an organiza-tional chart, rigorous organizational design can enable engineers and technicians to communicate and make decisions across organizational boundaries, work with multidisciplinary project teams, and build

a governance network to help eliminate the organizational inertia that slows growth and technology adoption.59

Workforce planning helps AM organiza-tions determine when, where, and why to invest in a spectrum of talent management initiatives, including recruiting, training, and retention initiatives targeted toward address-ing the challenges specific to AM. By taking an honest and clear inventory of their specific needs, comparing this inventory against the available supply of talent within the workforce, and understanding the cultural challenges at play impacting the talent pipeline for AM, organizations can identify ways to address any gaps. By encouraging a collaborative partner-ship between HR, managers, engineers, and technicians, an organization can develop a clearer picture of real-world needs and plan actions accordingly. In this way, manufacturers can identify specific plans for action as they seek to bridge the AM skills gap and scale AM within their organizations.

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Endnotes1. For more examples, see John Coykendall

et al., 3D opportunity for aerospace and defense: Additive manufacturing takes flight, Deloitte University Press, June 2, 2014, http://dupress.com/articles/additive-manufacturing-3d-opportunity-in-aerospace/.

2. For more examples, see Glenn H. Snyder, Mark J. Cotteleer, and Ben Kotek, 3D opportunity in medical technology: Additive manufacturing comes to life, Deloitte University Press, April 28, 2014, http://dupress.com/articles/additive-manufacturing-3d-opportunity-in-medtech/.

3. For more examples, see Matthew J. Louis, Tom Seymour, and Jim Joyce, 3D opportunity in the Department of Defense: Additive manufacturing fires up, Deloitte University Press, November 20, 2014, http://dupress.com/articles/additive-manufacturing-defense-3d-printing/.

4. For more information on the growth and use of additive manufacturing, see Mark Cotteleer and Jim Joyce, “3D opportunity: Additive manufacturing paths to performance, innovation, and growth,” Deloitte Review 14, Deloitte University Press, January 17, 2014.

5. Brenna Sniderman, Kelly Monahan, and John Forsythe, “3D opportunity for engineers: Using behavioral insights to build a new mind-set,” Deloitte Review 18, Deloitte University Press, January 26, 2016.

6. SME, in partnership with Brandon Hall and Training magazine, “The great skills gap concern—manufacturing,” 2013, cited in http://additivemanufacturing.com/2015/04/27/eastec-skilled-labor-facts-and-trends/.

7. For more information about the ways ad-ditive manufacturing changes the design process, see Sniderman, Monahan, and Forsythe, “3D opportunity for engineers.”

8. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, “A diamond in the rough: The challenge of finding great talent in AM,” August 2015, https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/manufacturing-processing/diamond-rough-challenge-finding-great-talent-am.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. For a full discussion of these dynamics, see Cotteleer and Joyce, “3D opportu-nity: Additive manufacturing paths to performance, innovation, and growth.”

12. For more information about the ways ad-ditive manufacturing changes the design process, see Mark Cotteleer, “3D opportu-nity for production: Additive manufacturing makes its (business) case,” Deloitte Review 15, Deloitte University Press, 2014.

13. Terry Wohlers, Wohlers report 2015: Additive manufacturing and 3D print-ing state of the industry, 2015.

14. Ibid.

15. Louis Columbus, “Demand for 3D print-ing skills is accelerating globally,” Forbes, September 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2014/09/15/demand-for-3d-printing-skills-is-accelerating-globally/#f40db594cf7e674153264cf7.

16. Craig A. Giffi et al., “Help wanted: American manufacturing competitiveness and the looming skills gap,” Deloitte Review 16, Deloitte University Press, January 26, 2015.

17. SME, Brandon Hall, and Training magazine, “The great skills gap concern–manufacturing.”

18. US Department of Labor, “Labor force statistics from the current population survey,” http://www.bls.gov/cps/indus-try_age.htm, accessed March 11, 2016.

19. Thomas A. Hemphill, Waheeda Lillevik, and Mark J. Perry, “Confronting the US advanced manufacturing skills gap,” American, January 23, 2013, https://www.aei.org/publication/confronting-the-u-s-advanced-manufacturing-skills-gap/.

20. Anne Kim, “Not your grandfather’s factories: Attracting millennials to manu-facturing,” Republic 3.0, June 2015, http://republic3-0.com/not-your-grandfathers-factories-manufacturing-jobs/.

21. Ibid.

22. Michael Collins, “Why America has a shortage of skilled workers,” Indus-tryWeek, April 16, 2015, http://www.industryweek.com/skilled-workers.

23. Deloitte, The 2016 Deloitte Millen-nial Survey: Winning over the next generation of leaders, 2016.

24. Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, Overwhelming support: US public opinions on the manufacturing industry, 2015.

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38. Sniderman, Monahan, and Forsythe, “3D opportunity for engineers.”

39. Giffi et al., The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing, 2015 and beyond.

40. Paul Bates, “Why does the additive manufacturing industry need training?” 3DPrint.com, April 17, 2015, http://3dprint.com/58452/additive-manufacture-training/.

41. Stacey Wagner, “Retention: Finders, keepers,” Training & Development, August 2000, p. 64.

42. Deloitte, The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey.

43. Eddy SW Ng, Linda Schweitzer, and Sean T. Lyons. “New generation, great expectations: A field study of the millen-nial generation,” Journal of Business and Psychology 25, no. 2 (2010): pp. 281–92.

44. Kelly Marchese, Jeff Crane, and Charlie Haley, 3D opportunity for the supply chain: Additive manufacturing delivers, Deloitte University Press, September 2, 2015.

45. Joann Michalik et al., 3D opportunity for prod-uct design: Additive manufacturing and the early stage, Deloitte University Press, July 17, 2015.


47. Ibid.

48. Mark J. Cotteleer, Stuart Trouton, and Ed Dobner, 3D opportunity for the digital thread: Additive manufacturing ties it all together, Deloitte University Press, March 3, 2016, http://dupress.com/articles/3d-printing-digital-thread-in-manufacturing/.

49. Silvia Vorhauser-Smith, “Workforce plan-ning: The war room of HR,” Forbes, May 25, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/sylviavorhausersmith/2015/05/25/workforce-planning-the-war-room-of-hr/#150a08e67373.


51. Peter Louch, Workforce planning is essential to high-performing organizations, Society for Human Resources Management, October 3, 2014, http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/louch-workforce-planning.aspx#sthash.iCmArAg4.dpuf.

52. Joe Budzienski, “3 ways to be constantly recruiting star talent through social media,” Entrepreneur, April 23, 2015, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245295.

25. Jonathan Rothwell, Still searching: Job vacancies and STEM skills, Brookings Institute, July 1, 2014, http://www.brook-ings.edu/research/interactives/2014/job-vacancies-and-stem-skills#/M10420.

26. Giffi et al., “Help wanted.”

27. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2007), pp. 1–591.

28. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2012.

29. Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and yes, US Department of Labor, May 2015, http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/stem-crisis-or-stem-surplus-yes-and-yes.htm#_edn32.

30. Craig Giffi et al., The skills gap in US manufacturing, 2015 and beyond, Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute, 2015.

31. Frank W. Liou, Ming C. Leu, and Robert G. Landers, “Interactions of an additive manufac-turing program with society,” Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, 2012, http://sffsympo-sium.engr.utexas.edu/Manuscripts/2012/2012-03-Liou.pdf, accessed February 17, 2016.

32. Based on client work.

33. Christopher B. Williams and Carolyn Conner Seepersad, “Design for additive manufacturing curriculum: A problem-and project-based approach,” International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, Austin, TX, 2012.

34. Andreas Gebhardt, “Rapid prototyp-ing–rapid tooling-rapid manufactur-ing,” Carl Hanser, München, 2007.

35. Chris Dede, “Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning,” Science 323, no. 5910 (2009): pp. 66–69.

36. Adam Gamlin, “Immersive vir-tual reality simulation deployment in a lean manufacturing environment,” October 2014, http://www.slideshare.net/iTAG_conf/ref22-adamgamlin171014.

37. Jerry R. Duncan, Evolution of digital tools used in complex product design, James Watt Institute for High Value Manufacturing, Edinburgh, UK, 2010.

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53. David Claborn, “Closing the gap between manufacturing employers’ needs and workers’ skills,” Area Development, May 2014, http://www.areadevelopment.com/skilled-workforce-STEM/Workforce-2014/21st-century-STEM-workforce-development-282827612.shtml.


55. “Idea: Skunkworks,” Economist, August 25, 2008, http://www.econo-mist.com/node/11993055.

56. Deloitte, The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey.

57. Mervi Hämäläinen and Arto Ojala, “Additive manufacturing technology: Identifying value potential in additive manufacturing stakehold-er groups and business networks,” End-User Information Systems, Innovation, and Organiza-tional Change, June 2015, http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2015/EndUser/GeneralPresentations/1/.

58. Richard D’Aveni, “The 3-D printing revolution,” Harvard Business Review, May 2015, https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-3-d-printing-revolution.


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