Scaling AI in HR: The Heico Companies' Story
The HR team at The Heico Companies — a diversified industrial holding company operating across 80+ companies and five continents — was stuck extracting insight from siloed systems, leaving HR staff buried in manual data prep instead of strategic work. Leadership needed a way to scale AI adoption responsibly across roughly 10,000 employees without introducing unnecessary risk.
Through SHRM's AI Enablement for HR program, Heico moved from exploratory AI conversations to practical application in just eight weeks — reducing manual data entry, freeing HR teams for higher-value work, and reporting 20% to 40% improvements in preparedness, confidence, and process efficiency. Want the full story? Download the case study to see how Heico built a repeatable, governed model for scaling AI across a complex, multi-entity organization.
Insights to Drive HR Innovation in Manufacturing
New Scheduling Models for Manufacturing Recruitment and Retention
New shift models are helping manufacturers compete for talent without sacrificing productivity.
Manufacturing Has a Gen Z Problem — Here's How to Fix It
Manufacturers are rebranding careers to match what Gen Z actually wants from work.
Why The Future of Manufacturing Hinges on Rethinking L&D
Manufacturers are redesigning training to close talent gaps and win over younger workers.
HR Strategies to Keep Productivity Strong During Manufacturing's AI Shift
HR change leadership can flatten the productivity dip that often comes with AI adoption on the floor.
Solutions For Manufacturing HR Leaders
The manufacturing talent shortage isn't coming — it's here. 75% of employers already can't fill open roles, roughly 420,000 manufacturing jobs currently sit unfilled in the U.S., and the industry could need 3.8 million new workers by 2033, with up to 1.9 million of those roles going unfilled if skills gaps aren't addressed. As automation raises the skills bar and institutional knowledge retires out the door, the organizations that treat L&D as a strategic, leadership-owned priority — not an HR function — will be the ones staffed and ready to compete.
Solution 1: Corporate Membership
Equip your HR team with SHRM's best resources.
Give your HR team enterprise-wide access to compliance tools, workforce planning resources, and strategic support built to help manufacturers close skills gaps before they constrain growth.
- Build internal talent pipelines to offset a shrinking external labor pool
- Strengthen compliance and risk management across plants and locations
- Build a culture of continuous learning on the shop floor and in the office
- Access exclusive training, toolkits, and workforce analytics
Solution 2: Certification
Give your HR function the credibility to lead on workforce strategy.
SHRM Certification validates the skills your HR team needs to be treated as a strategic partner in decisions about production capacity, not just compliance.
- Standardize HR competency across plants and business units
- Strengthen HR's seat at the table in workforce and growth planning
- Support succession planning as institutional knowledge retires
- Build a credentialed, credible HR function at scale
Solution 3: Team Training & Development
Build the internal talent pipeline you can't afford to compete for.
With skilled labor scarce and competition on pay alone unsustainable, Team Training & Development helps manufacturers build technical and leadership talent from within — the same approach that helped one manufacturer improve retention by 100% over a decade through embedded, peer-led learning.
- Close skill gaps created by automation and retiring talent
- Develop frontline supervisors into effective people leaders and coaches
- Build repeatable, bite-sized training programs that fit production schedules
- Protect production capacity by reducing reliance on external hiring
Solution 4: AI Enablement Products
Responsibly scaling AI across a complex organization.
AI adoption in manufacturing often triggers a short-term productivity dip before gains materialize — but organizations that proactively train and upskill their workforce for AI are 2.6 times more likely to report successful outcomes.
- Assess AI readiness across plants and business units
- Prioritize high-impact use cases like performance management and workforce planning
- Reduce manual data prep so HR can focus on strategic workforce decisions
- Build governance and change-management practices that support scaling AI responsibly, not isolated pilots
Advance Your Manufacturing Organization with SHRM
Discover how SHRM for Business can help your manufacturing organization strengthen HR strategy, close critical skills gaps, and navigate a fast-changing workforce landscape. Start the conversation today.