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Lisa Lister

Challenges and Technology Solutions for Manufacturing in 2023 & Beyond

January 30, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

The manufacturing sector is in a precarious position after being impacted by a “Perfect Storm” of the pandemic, labor shortages, inflation, higher interest rates and supply chain disruptions.

Positive signs of recovery in 2022 have been seen. A recent Manufacturing Industry Outlook by Deloitte shows industrial production and capacity have both surpassed pre-pandemic levels as of midyear 2022. This apparent rebound is good news, but concerns remain for the manufacturing industry.

The supply chain had been healthy and efficient prior to the pandemic, but the supply chain is vulnerable today, and ongoing stop-starts are creating overall volatility. The workforce is another “wild card” and is behaving in entirely different ways with varying demands by workers related to expanded remote-work flexibility, and defined opportunities for professional development.

A look to the second half of 2022, and the years beyond indicates that the manufacturing industry is likely to experience even more turbulence. Manufacturers will be required to stay nimble, and adopt new strategies and technologies to stay competitive in the “New Abnormal.”

Five Key Manufacturing Industry Trends

Deloitte has indicated that there are five key trends that are impacting the current and near-future global outlook for manufacturing companies.

1.Workforce Shortages Continue

A record number of unfilled jobs has been reached in 2022. Manufacturers must immediately acknowledge and respond to this challenge by rethinking their employment offerings. This includes everything from rebranding their company through a more employee-friendly lens that can attract talent, to developing internal programs that support professional development and other opportunities for advancement among current employees.

Some degree of flexibility is being demanded by the workforce. Remote work in manufacturing may not be as feasible compared to more traditional “desk jobs” that permit a more flexible schedule. It is time to be creative to produce the “both-and” model rather than the “either-or” option.

2. Supply Chain Has Continued Volatility

Today, savvy manufacturers know they cannot rely on a single approach because of the almost constant disruptions to the supply chain. Demand continues to outpace supply; raw material costs are rising; low inventory levels are creating confusion in order fulfilment; and the current truck driver shortage is creating transportation and delivery challenges at every step of the supply chain. Adoption of technology that improves accuracy and transparency along the entire supply chain is required.

3. Smart Factories Are Growing

Smart factories are primarily composed of digital capabilities and artificial intelligence and their numbers are increasing. Predictive analytics to robots and other AI on the factory floor are deployed to offer a more reliable and connected manufacturing process from start to finish. Emerging technologies also can help operations of any size to scale to meet increasing demand. Manufacturers must upgrade capabilities across the full manufacturing process.

4. Cybersecurity Threats Are Surging

Cybercrime is surging today with no sign of slowing down. The vulnerability of attacks to internal and external networks extends from operational networks to marketing and CRM tools, and from accounting and payroll to general corporate IT. Manufacturing must renew emphasis and investment on anticipating, preventing and responding to various cyber threats. And employees must be trained to spot potential cybercrimes and to be equipped and empowered, from the top-down, to react to threats.

5. ESG Investments Are Growing

Manufacturing is experiencing a rise of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and this will mean a material impact on everything from operational standards to hard manufacturing costs. More consumers are demanding carbon-neutral or other sustainable end products and more employees are seeking to work for companies that prioritize ESG goals and guiding principles. Manufacturers need to take proactive steps to meet new regulations and to adopt sustainable practices throughout their operations.

Technology Solutions Required To Meet The Challenges
The complexity of these five overlapping trends means there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach that manufacturers can deploy to completely safeguard their operations. However, adopting and properly implementing technology is essential to ensure long-term success amid ongoing volatility.

Increased Internal Communications
Creating and disseminating regular internal communications will produce benefits, including developing a regular cadence for communicating important information to a dispersed workforce and fostering a sense of corporate culture. This helps everyone stay “in the loop,” and reinforces the company’s brand to employees who may otherwise have only limited interactions with leadership, or those outside of their own teams.

Secure Digital Storage
Many technology solutions provide employees with a digital secure space, which enables them to store important work-related documents. Easy, on-the-go access to files, such as pay slips, training certificates and benefits information essentially provides everything an employee needs, at the touch of a button.

Stored and Maintained Safety Standards
The ability to store and maintain critical information like compliance and safety standards is critical. A company can use an app to easily keep these standards up to date and ensure that employees always have access to the most recent standards they need to know. And employees benefit from having one simple and streamlined place to look for workplace information, no matter the subject, and no matter the time or place they may need it.

Multilingual Support
The manufacturing workforce is increasingly diverse and technology can play a significant part in simplifying two-way communication across various languages. Leadership can distribute important information in a worker’s language and store the information digitally so employees can read and respond as needed, without anything being lost in translation.

Employee Recognition
The ability to foster a stronger, deeper culture by aligning core values with employee performance is another solution. Some apps enable managers to recognize their top-performing workers, and also empower workers to recognize each other. Enhanced employee engagement from casual “virtual high-fives” to recognizing someone who is performing above and beyond expectations are more important now than ever before.

Closing Thought
“With technology, we can achieve the unimaginable.” Anonymous

-Glenn Ebersole, Director of Business Development

Filed Under: Commercial, Industrial

The Future of Commercial Architecture

January 23, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As 2022 comes to an end, it is important to reflect on the past year and anticipate what the future of architecture may look like. Twenty twenty-two was truly a year for post-pandemic rebuilding. Many companies halted construction of their new projects in 2020 and into 2021. It was important, during this time, to evaluate how architecture would adapt to new and lasting restrictions and requirements set in place worldwide. 2022 became the year where these adaptations began to emerge. AEC professionals worldwide learned what was needed and how to make it happen. Looking forward to 2023 and beyond, buildings such as offices and restaurants will look different from the pre-Covid understanding of them.

As we mentioned in a previous article, 2021: Predicting Trends in Restaurant Design, customers are looking for less contact with restaurant and business employees. This year, many food establishments have a contactless ordering system, whether it be a self-ordering/ checkout kiosk or a contactless pay option. In 2023 and beyond, we will see more of this along with more delivery options. We may even experience an abundance of food services that are strictly virtual without a brick-and-mortar storefront. In the article, we also mentioned how social media is coming into play in terms of marketing. Every Tik-Tok and Facebook user has seen such ads come across their screen. This will only help promote online-only restaurants in the future.

In 2023 and beyond, office buildings may experience similar virtual alternatives. During the pandemic, remote work had become an option and a requirement for some employees. Many companies that can operate online have already made the switch and may never go back. This poses the idea that office buildings may come far and few between unless they adapt to their employees’ needs. Some companies that require an in-person presence have started to redesign their office buildings to promote easier communication between hybrid employees and clients. An abundance of communal areas with virtual communication technologies helps teams collaborate in a comfortable and effortless way. For more in person collaboration, technologies in conference rooms allow meetings to take place more easily with technologies built into the space’s server, eliminating technical difficulties between communication devices. Comfortable, multi-modal spaces can be created to enhance productivity in the office. Designing areas within office buildings that allow neurodiverse employees to work in spaces like their personal home environment can increase productivity and keep employees in-person.

Though restaurants and office buildings are changing, they will not become obsolete. People rely on such establishments daily and both are important to society. Companies must be aware of the quick-changing society we live in and adapt to the issues and trends that are present. Virtual technology has always been popular but is essential in today’s world and in its future.

-Sydney Hitchens, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Commercial, Corporate, Retail, Food & Beverage Tagged With: AEC professionals, architects, architecture, building design, commercial architecture, restaurant design, virtual technology

Maneuvering Through Design

January 16, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As architects our greatest contribution to society is the built environment. Ethically, it is our responsibility to design environments that all can use. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was created, requiring a new standard of access to facilities that provide service to the public.

Accessibility is an important part of building design. Today we are going to look at who depends on daily accessibility, common issues found on existing properties, and how all of us have found accessibility issues very near to us.

Accessibility for All:
• When accessibility comes to mind, many of us think of individuals in wheelchairs. This is understandable since a person in a wheelchair is the symbol for handicap parking and seating. However, these are not the only individuals depending on accessible design.
• Anyone with a vision or hearing impairment also depends on accessibility design. Some features that come to mind are visual and audible sensors at pedestrian crossings. Braille on wayfinding signs throughout a building, especially for exit and restroom signs.
• The elderly often utilizes accessible design to maneuver through society. Enabling the elderly to access public spaces empowers them to continue being an active member of society.
• Obese Individuals along with pregnant women depend on proper doorway clearances at entrances and walking ramps to enter buildings, and aisle widths to move throughout a building.

Common Accessibility Issues to Resolve:
• Accessible path of travel through a developed site is often not code compliant. Often the slope of ground exceeds the maximum pitch, and abrupt level changes exceed the allowable dimension.
• Clearances at doors can make functionality extremely difficult for some. The required clearances depend on the door hardware type and user’s approach angle.
• Accessible toilet stalls are required to have 3 grab bars installed at specific locations and extending to specific dimensions. Often the length of the bars installed is incorrect, and only 2 of the 3 bars are installed.
• Curb ramps are often constructed to incorrect slopes that make them unusable, or are installed improperly, not allowing for the flat surface needed to maneuver out of the way of a vehicle.

Conscious from Covid:
• During the pandemic many of us were stuck in our homes waiting for the pandemic to end. Some gained a greater awareness of accessible issues within their residence.
• Some were living with elderly family members during this time to be closer to them. Having the elderly in your home for an extended period can show you accessible obstacles rather quickly.
• These findings caused a surge of accessible renovation work to occur on individual residences.

Since 1990, many clients have hired JL Architects to eliminate accessibility problems to properties nationwide. Often, we are hired by property owners because of an ADA lawsuit, and we are happy our professional knowledge can resolve their ADA needs. We also welcome the opportunity to consciously design for those in need of greater physical accessibly and have recently joined volunteer organizations to provide this service. If you are aware of any accessible issues, we would be happy to help you in any way we can!

-Nathan Houser, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Commercial Tagged With: accessibility, architects, architectural design, commercial architect

The Importance of Submittals During the Construction Phase of a Project

January 9, 2023 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Submittals are shop drawings, product data, samples and mock-ups delivered to the design professional for review. Submittals allow the design professional to review the items going into the building and allow for changes due to lead times. Managing construction submittals determines the success of the proposed timeline, the line items in the budget, and the accuracy of a completed project.

Submittals should have a large degree of clarity in what they are showing. If they are not clear, then there are potential issues that could come up during construction. If a millwork submittal was submitted and approved with incorrect information, then there could be possible issues later such as ADA compliance leading to a lawsuit.

Submittals affect the timeline of a project. When the specified equipment has a long lead time there could be delays in the project or added expense to switch to an alternative solution.

Submittals prevent change orders due to various concerns and challenges getting addressed earlier in the project.

In summary, submittals are an important part of the construction management, allowing for clarity in design, timelines met, and cost changes minimal.

-Alex Schleicher, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Commercial Tagged With: architects, architectural design, construction, construction management, construction submittals, design, submittals

Succeeding in Architecture

December 29, 2022 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As a recent architecture graduate and aspiring architect, I have learned that one never truly walks away from the classroom, and that to succeed in architecture, one must continually pursue learning and growth.

Here are my insights as I finish my first 6 months as a full-time designer just out of college:

1. Technology is one of the most continually expanding and changing aspects within the profession of architecture. Our primary drafting software, Revit, has meaningful updates every year, allowing us to create adaptive and accurate models and drawing in real time.

2. Understanding building codes is crucial for the success of a project. Designing for various clients in various municipalities and geographic regions, we must be well educated and understand that each project may have different codes that apply to it.

3. Building relationships is just as important as creating beautiful architecture/designs. Our clients need to know they are being heard, and that we are designing for them, not us. The integrity and accuracy of our work is of utmost importance.

Committing to your continued learning as an architect is what will ensure your client’s project success, your firm’s success, and your success as a professional.

-Franklin Rodriguez, Architectural Designer

Filed Under: Informational Tagged With: architects, architecture, continuing education, nationally licensed architect, technology

We Are Hiring!

December 20, 2022 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Licensed Architect, West Chester, PA

JL Architects is an award-winning national architectural firm with an opening for a licensed architect to take a senior leadership role in our growing company. The position offers unlimited growth and opportunity. JL is an intimate, collaborative, and professional work atmosphere. Our diverse portfolio includes new construction and adaptive re-use projects. Areas of practice include commercial, retail, health care, hospitality, self-storage, office, warehouse, and green building certifications.

Responsibilities:
• Serve as a leader, mentor and director within the studio
• Manage internal staff and consultants
• Coordinate resources and maintain project schedules
• Work with project team to develop design and implementation.
• Manage pursuit of entitlements and permits
• Implement quality control measures
• Periodic travel is required

Qualifications:
• Professional degree in architecture from a NAAB accredited university, and an architecture license in the United States is required.
• Proven communication and relationship management skills, with a desire to grow as a leader and manager
• Competency in Revit
• Competency in AutoCAD, Enscape, Matterport and Adobe Suite is a plus

JL Architects offers a competitive salary and a full benefit package that includes vacation, health, dental, disability, and retirement savings.

Please provide resume along with salary requirements and pdf portfolio to resume@jlarchs.com

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: architect, architects, licensed architect

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