Qualification management:
From knowledge gaps to competitive edge
Use data-driven qualification management to reduce risk, improve planning, and build a future-ready.
Qualification data is more than a compliance requirement—it’s the key to smarter workforce deployment. Discover how structured, real-time insights can transform your shift planning and resource allocation.
Qualification as a competitive advantage
In the age of Industry 4.0 and increasing customization—right down to batch size one—manufacturing companies rely more than ever on highly qualified employees. Complex workflows and the growing digitalization of shopfloors and machines often require highly specialized professionals to operate production lines. On top of this comes a mounting shortage of skilled workers.
In our high-tech working world, employees in manufacturing are under increasing pressure to acquire new knowledge. But it's not only employees who must upskill; companies, too, must continually invest in employee know-how to stay competitive. Because this knowledge is critical to a company’s success, professional qualification management becomes essential.
So how well qualified are employees across departments? What challenges do production companies face, and what strategies are proving effective in boosting flexibility and competitiveness under the demands of Industry 4.0? ATOSS surveyed over 50 manufacturing companies to uncover the status quo, the key challenges, and the greatest areas for optimization moving forward.
It all comes down to qualification
For a production manager, one of the most pressing questions is: Do I have enough qualified staff to meet operational demands? The answer can be critical to ensuring production targets are met, delivery times are kept, and resource gaps don't trigger excessive overtime or reliance on temporary staff.
Flexibility depends on having clear visibility into employee qualifications and their current validity. Only then can you respond effectively to short-term absences and ensure seamless replacements. To meet the challenge of functional flexibility in the future, manufacturing companies must qualify their employees across multiple areas. This creates strategic room for maneuver and a clear competitive edge in volatile market conditions.
If companies don’t know how many qualified employees they actually have compared to what they need, operational flexibility suffers. Absences and demand fluctuations can’t be balanced across departments, and the company loses internal agility.
This challenge will intensify with the ongoing skills shortage. In fact, 90% of the companies we surveyed expect cross-functional flexibility to become even more important. Most manufacturing firms recognize the strategic value of multi-qualified employees—but many still lack the professional, automated systems needed to implement qualification management efficiently and cost-effectively.
While 49% of surveyed companies rate their qualification levels as “very good,” 29% say they don’t have enough qualified personnel. Internal training and upskilling remain underused, and one of the biggest issues is the lack of visibility: many organizations don’t have the systems in place to monitor qualifications across teams or departments.
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Qualification management: A blind spot in many companies
Manufacturing companies require a wide range of qualifications—often hundreds—that must be efficiently maintained and monitored. Some are employee-specific (e.g., first aid certification), others are task-specific (e.g., machine operation). Yet in many organizations, qualification management is far from optimal.
In 31% of cases, knowledge about task-specific qualifications exists only in the planner’s head. There's no consistent documentation process, and only a few individuals—such as foremen or shift supervisors—have any real overview of employee capabilities. Nearly half of all respondents (47%) still rely on Excel spreadsheets to manage qualifications.
Often, each department manages its own lists in different formats—there is no standardization. About 23% of companies use a database for qualifications management, but even these systems vary. In 16% of cases, each department accesses its own decentralized system, which makes cross-functional scheduling more difficult. Only 7% of companies have a centralized, digital qualification management system that is accessible company-wide.
This decentralized approach not only reduces transparency and efficiency—it also poses a risk in terms of data protection. Professional systems include robust permission and access control frameworks that ensure compliance and security.
The consequences of poor qualification management
When qualification knowledge resides only in the minds of a few planners, it becomes a single point of failure. If these individuals are absent or leave the company, critical know-how can be lost. This can lead to planning errors in machine staffing, higher error rates, longer production times, and reduced product quality—all of which impact business performance.
Without a professional qualification system, there is no transparency regarding who is qualified for what—or what training is needed. In the worst-case scenario, this can threaten compliance with certifications, exposing the business to penalties or even the loss of critical licenses.
Qualification gaps can also lead to production bottlenecks: machines remain idle because no one is qualified to operate them, resulting in delivery delays or downtime. Companies that rely on outdated systems expose themselves to compliance risks. Many tools can’t meet the standards of the GDPR, leaving sensitive employee data unprotected and the business non-compliant.
The right tool for full transparency
Any company aiming for agile workforce processes and fast, cross-functional staff deployment needs a system-supported qualification management solution. This doesn’t just simplify workflows—it makes them fully transparent.
If enough employees are qualified, absences and workload fluctuations can be absorbed more efficiently across departments.
Manual Excel files or institutional memory aren’t enough. A centralized, digital qualification matrix is far more effective. It allows managers to instantly view the skills required for each machine or workstation and compare them with the documented capabilities of employees. This makes it easy to see, for example, whether Employee A can operate Machine B.
If enough employees are qualified, they can be flexibly assigned across departments. The system also helps ensure legal requirements—such as the presence of enough first aiders or fire protection officers—are consistently met. In urgent cases, action can be taken immediately.
Supervisors are proactively notified when qualifications are about to expire, and they can trigger the necessary training in advance. This is a key element of strategic workforce development—and ensures companies aren’t left short of qualified staff for machines, areas, or critical safety roles.
More visibility, more possibilities
A large pool of cross-qualified employees gives companies far more flexibility in operations. If workers are trained in multiple areas, they can be assigned wherever they’re needed most. This avoids both over- and understaffing on shopfloors and helps production adapt quickly to changes in demand.
If demand in one area dips, qualified staff can be redeployed to areas with shortages—ensuring their time is used productively. In the opposite scenario, if staffing needs suddenly spike, employees can be reassigned across departments to absorb the pressure—without relying on expensive temporary staff.
This agile substitution capability gives companies a clear competitive edge and enables cost-optimized workforce deployment.
Integrating qualifications management into shift planning offers multiple advantages
- Transparency – A qualification matrix provides transparency on employees’ skill levels and enables optimized workforce planning. When assigning employees to machines and workstations, the system automatically checks whether they hold all required qualifications, thereby preventing scheduling errors
- Integration – An integrated system supports cross-departmental workforce deployment through software-based recommendations
- Automation – Qualifications are updated automatically, eliminating redundancies from manual processes
- Planning – In addition to optimal machine staffing, companies can ensure sufficient first responders are available and that enough employees are assigned to the onsite fire brigade. This ensures compliance with legal, operational, and audit requirements while keeping companies prepared for emergencies
- Compliance – Professional systems safeguard sensitive employee data in full compliance with GDPR
Conclusion
Talent shortages are one of the biggest challenges in today’s workforce. Skilled professionals are scarce—and this trend is expected to continue. That makes it more important than ever to plan and deploy staff based on current demand, manage qualifications proactively, and invest in targeted employee development.
When qualifications are managed centrally, digitally, and in real time, replacements for absent staff can be found quickly and cost-effectively. Cross-functional training is also a must-have for agile substitution strategies. This helps avoid staffing shortages, prevents unnecessary use of temp workers, and increases resilience.
The most important tool for effective qualification management is a system-based qualification matrix. It automatically identifies bottlenecks and flags required training in advance—enabling long-term workforce development despite labor shortages.
In daily operations, it’s critical that qualification management is directly integrated into shift planning. Only then can you ensure that every machine and workstation is staffed by someone with the right qualifications—safely, efficiently, and in full compliance.
With the right strategies in place, your company can build a demand-optimized and flexible workforce—and meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 with confidence.