Defense Industry Balancing Capacity Pressure and Skills Shortage: Digital Assistance Systems as the Key to the Solution

The defense industry is facing a dual challenge: while production demands are steadily increasing, the industry-wide shortage of skilled workers is intensifying the pressure on companies. In this tense situation, know-how is becoming the decisive bottleneck, not only hindering growth but also posing significant risks to quality and safety. DE software & control, a specialist in digital transformation on the shop floor, is addressing this problem with innovative solutions like the workstAItion 5.0 digital assistance system.

“The shortage of skilled workers is no longer just an HR issue; it is developing into a central risk for production capability,” explains Friedrich Steininger, Managing Director at DE software & control. When experiential knowledge is tied to individual experts and cannot be scaled quickly enough, companies reach their limits. Long training periods and complex, difficult-to-document processes further exacerbate the situation.

This is where digital assistance systems come in. workstAItion 5.0 guides employees step-by-step through complex work processes, seamlessly records work steps, and ensures that knowledge is standardized and available at all times. “We transfer the knowledge of experienced employees into structured, digital processes, making it independent of individuals,” explains Andreas Tobisch, COO at DE software & control. This not only drastically shortens the onboarding time for new employees but also increases process reliability and quality.

In a highly regulated sector like the defense industry, traceability and information security are crucial. workstAItion 5.0 is operated on-premise, ensuring that sensitive data does not leave the company. Every work step is documented and is auditable at any time.

The use of such systems shows measurable success: error rates decrease, process quality increases, and production capacities can be expanded more flexibly and quickly. This makes the investment in digital assistance systems a strategic lever to future-proof the defense industry.

You can read the article here (German): Rüstungsindustrie unter Druck: Wenn Wissen fehlt, steht die Produktion