Productivity in production: addressing energy, digital transformation and skilled labour together

Why is productivity back on the agenda?

In periods of rising costs and fluctuating external demand, the most lasting way for manufacturers to maintain their competitiveness is to produce more, and higher-quality, output with the same resources. Productivity is therefore one of the core topics not only of business management but also of economic policy. The Medium-Term Programme (2027-2029), published on 6 September 2026, expects total factor productivity to contribute 1.2 percentage points to the growth of 3.3% forecast for 2026, and aims to raise the potential growth rate by around 0.5 percentage points over the programme period through productivity-focused policies.

Indicators at business level point to a similar need. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the energy group in domestic producer prices rose by 6.99% month on month in August, recording the highest increase among the main industrial groupings. In the September Business Tendency Survey of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), the capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was 74.1%, and the balance in favour of respondents expecting unit costs to rise strengthened. In an environment where part of capacity is unused and input costs are rising, productivity gains are one of the main means of easing cost pressure.

Energy: no improvement without measurement

In many businesses, energy is tracked as a bill that arrives at the end of the month. This approach shows the total cost, but it does not show how much energy each line, machine or product consumes. Energy efficiency work begins by making consumption visible by process and product. Indicators such as energy consumption per unit of product, machine idle time, and compressed air and heat losses provide far more guidance in setting improvement priorities than the total on the bill.

Measuring energy consumption also changes the order of investment decisions. More efficient equipment can deliver significant gains; however, addressing lower-cost steps first, such as maintenance, adjustment, rescheduling of operating hours and the elimination of losses, often produces faster results. The Medium-Term Programme envisages closely monitoring the effects of electricity, natural gas and logistics costs on competitiveness in industry, and expanding support mechanisms that will accelerate efficiency investments in energy-intensive sectors. For businesses wishing to benefit from such support, a measured baseline is the strongest basis for an application.

Digital transformation: from data to decisions

Digital tools contribute to productivity in two ways: they enable work to be done with fewer errors and in less time, and they deliver the information management needs on time. In production, the precondition for this contribution is the regular and consistent collection of machine, line and process data. When the causes of downtime, scrap and rework rates, cycle times and energy consumption are tracked on the same timeline, it becomes clear where productivity losses occur.

AI-supported applications are the next link in this chain. The Medium-Term Programme lists the wider adoption of AI-supported and autonomous production systems that monitor and improve businesses' use of energy, raw materials, labour and machinery in real time among the means of using resources more effectively in industry. However, an AI investment made before the data infrastructure is in place may not deliver the expected benefit. At SME scale, the realistic path is first to create digital records of core processes, and then to proceed with limited applications focused on a specific problem.

Skilled labour: the driver of transformation

Energy measurement and digital tools deliver lasting results only with employees who can use, interpret and sustain them. When improvement depends on a single person or on an external service, gains can erode over time. The ability of employees in different roles, from maintenance technicians to line supervisors, to read data, solve problems and improve processes determines whether productivity gains are sustained.

The Medium-Term Programme envisages implementing matching programmes for critical occupations in organised industrial zones and industrial clusters, and supporting the training of intermediate-level qualified technical staff by expanding apprenticeship, mastership and on-the-job training programmes. At business level, a skills map is a good starting point: which skills each role requires, the extent to which current employees have those skills, and which training will close the gaps can all be seen in a single table.

A productivity plan that manages all three areas together

When energy, digital transformation and skills are handled as separate projects, they can limit each other's impact. A facility where metering devices have been installed but their data is not monitored, or a business that has moved to new software while its employees keep their old record-keeping habits, are typical examples of this disconnect. The productivity plan should therefore be prepared within a single framework that links all three areas to the same goal:

• Baseline measurement: Establishing the current values of key indicators such as energy per unit of product, downtime, scrap rate and processing time
• Choice of priorities: Selecting one or two areas for improvement according to benefit, cost and ease of implementation
• Limited pilot: A short implementation in the selected area that combines measurement, digital recording and employee training
• Comparison: Comparing indicators after the pilot with the baseline values
• Scale-up: Assigning an owner to the successful implementation and extending it to other lines and processes

Assigning a person responsible and a date to each step of the plan prevents the productivity work from being lost amid the pressure of daily tasks. Sharing the results with the business's management at regular intervals makes the gains visible and makes it easier to choose the next area for improvement.

TÜBİAD's approach

Within the Digital Transformation and Productivity Programme, the Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence Directorate addresses this approach through the work packages on assessment of the current situation and priorities, a limited-scope pilot, and impact and scale-up. Alongside processes, data and skills, the assessment also places importance on making energy and raw material use visible at process level. Businesses that need basic software support to organise their day-to-day work can be linked to the Free Software and Digital Services Programme for SMEs, and institutions wishing to address shared productivity problems at sector level to the Applied Research and Workshop Programme.

Sources

• Presidency of Strategy and Budget — Medium-Term Programme (2027-2029) (6 September 2026) — sbb.gov.tr
• Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) — Domestic Producer Price Index, August 2026 (3 September 2026) — veriportali.tuik.gov.tr
• Presidency of Strategy and Budget — Consumer and Producer Price Developments in August 2026 (4 September 2026) — sbb.gov.tr
• Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) — Manufacturing Industry Capacity Utilisation Rate, September 2026 (21 September 2026) — tcmb.gov.tr
• Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) — Business Tendency Statistics and Real Sector Confidence Index, September 2026 (21 September 2026) — tcmb.gov.tr