You Don’t Have a Labor Problem. You Have a Knowledge Transfer Problem.

Corrugated manufacturers are not just losing workers. They are losing machine memory.

As experienced operators, maintenance technicians, and service leaders retire or leave their roles, the knowledge that keeps converting equipment running often leaves with them. Equipment is becoming more automated, more connected, and more dependent on controls, software, PLCs, and diagnostics.

The real risk is not only whether a plant can hire people. It is whether the plant has a system for turning individual experience into shared operational knowledge.

“It’s not about a lack of personnel. It’s about a shrinking pool of people who truly understand the machines,” said Will Garcia, Senior Service Coordinator at SUN Automation Group. “As automation advances and experienced workers retire or move on, plants feel that gap most in reliability, uptime, and troubleshooting confidence.”

The solution? A more intentional knowledge transfer.

Skilled Labor Depends on Role Fit

“Manuals explain how machines should work. Technician experience explains how they actually behave,” said Garcia.

That experience helps technicians know what to check first. It helps them separate symptoms from root causes and understand whether a problem is mechanical, electrical, process-related, or operator-driven.

If only one person knows the sound a machine makes before a failure, the workaround for a recurring issue, or the pattern that points to a control problem, the plant is exposed. When that person is unavailable, retires, or leaves, the next technician has to relearn the lesson under pressure.

That is not just a training gap. It is an uptime risk.

Knowledge Transfer Has to Be Built Into the Work

The best time to capture knowledge is during real work: service events, troubleshooting calls, installations, inspections, preventive maintenance, and OEM support visits. That’s when experienced technicians can explain what they are seeing, what they are ruling out, and why they are taking a specific next step.

Instead of treating each service event as a one-time fix, plants can capitalize on these moments of repeatable knowledge transfer. Notes from a service visit, photos of recurring issues, short videos of common adjustments, machine-specific troubleshooting records, or documented corrective actions can help the next technician respond faster.

OEM Support Should Transfer Capability, Not Just Fix Equipment

Though OEM support is often treated as an emergency backup, that’s not its only value. A strong OEM relationship should help customers build internal capability over time. OEM service teams understand the equipment design, controls logic, failure modes, historical issues, and service patterns behind the machine. When plant teams are present during service visits, they gain access to knowledge that can shorten future troubleshooting and reduce trial-and-error repairs.

For SUN Automation Group, service support includes helping customers understand their equipment, train their teams, follow safe practices, and maintain stronger continuity over time.

That requires customer participation, too. The plants that get the most value from OEM support are the ones that have the right people involved when the OEM is on site. Operators, maintenance technicians, supervisors, and safety coordinators should be part of the learning loop whenever possible. If the OEM fixes the issue and leaves without transferring knowledge, the same dependency remains.

Technology Can Support the Transfer

Experienced technicians often notice issues early because they know what normal looks, sounds, and feels like. They recognize patterns before others do. But as plants lose experienced people or rotate newer employees through key roles, that awareness becomes harder to maintain consistently.

Connected tools and predictive maintenance platforms, such as Helios, can help make machine performance more visible. They can help teams identify developing issues earlier, monitor equipment conditions, and support more proactive maintenance decisions.

That does not eliminate the need for skilled people. Automated equipment, controls, and connected systems still need maintenance. They still need software updates. They still need technicians who know how to respond to the information they receive.

The Shift: From Individual Memory to Operational Continuity

Corrugated manufacturers can’t wait for the skilled labor market to correct itself. That starts with:

1. Putting the right people in the right roles based on equipment complexity, controls experience, mechanical skill, and troubleshooting ability
2. Capturing knowledge during real service events, maintenance work, installations, and inspections
3. Making OEM service visits part of the training process, not just a fix-it moment
4. Using preventive maintenance and connected tools to identify issues earlier and reduce surprises
5. Building systems that help newer employees learn faster without putting the full training burden on senior technicians

The plants that manage the transition will be the ones using every service call, maintenance event, and equipment issue as an opportunity to build knowledge that the next person can use.

How SUN Helps Customers Protect Uptime

SUN helps customers strengthen the connection between equipment, people, and long-term performance.

Through equipment-specific training, service support, PERFORM+ preventive maintenance programs, and connected technologies like Helios, SUN helps teams move from reactive troubleshooting toward more consistent, informed, and proactive equipment support.

Ready to turn equipment knowledge into a stronger uptime strategy? Connect with SUN to learn how our service, PERFORM+, and Helios solutions can support your operation.