Defense manufacturing - the unexpected challenges ahead

If you’re part of the defense manufacturing industry, are you confident you understand what challenges your business is likely to face throughout 2023? Looking into both the UK and US defense budgets, governments and industries, our team has compiled the important information you’ll need to successfully navigate these new and unexpected challenges. Erica Worzalla, Experienced Manager at Baker Tilly, takes us through the challenges the defense manufacturing industry needs to prepare for throughout 2023 and beyond.

The expected and unexpected challenges

While challenges like global competition, changing regulation and digital transformation journeys are common and organizations become accustomed to navigating these throughout day-to-day business, Erica Worzalla takes us through some of the challenges that might not necessarily have a straightforward business response. As the market comes increasingly competitive, Erica dives into the four key areas that businesses are seeing as the top challenges.

Global manufacturers need to make their value known within the industry and diversify their offerings. Physical goods or products are no longer enough to compete within the market and manufacturers must look into additional ways to offer services and solutions to their customers. Offering a complete product lifecycle is a lot more attractive to customers who require assistance throughout their products use and manufacturers maintain more customers through enhancing their offerings.

Changing regulations pushes manufacturers to stay informed and stay compliant. With a focus on core competencies, there’s opportunity for businesses to gain a competitive advantage. Investing in modern manufacturing methods and adopting digital transformation helps organizations stay ahead when technology is so quickly advancing. As technologies continue to progress, a lot of manufacturers are struggling to keep up. Adopting digital transformation through ERPs enables businesses to adopt new technologies and optimize processes.

Key takeaways from our session:

• Which technologies will more CIOs increase funding for in 2023 compared to 2022
• Deep dive into which manufacturing industries have the largest major labor force shortage and how this labor skills gap is going to affect businesses
• How many vacancies are unfulfilled in both the UK and the US
• The expected extended use of defense equipment and how to prepare
• How the defense budget is assigned and which business areas can expect to see the highest increases
• What budget amounts can we expect in 2024 and how you can prepare your business for this within 2023