Tuesday, May 20, 2025
I put a post on LinkedIn recently, principally with the purpose of thanking people for the loyalty and support they have shown me over nearly two decades since my acquisition of the company. Perhaps I was feeling nostalgic. I turn 50 years old within days of writing this blog, which means I’ve been in the lifting industry for over 30 years.
I pointed to the ‘support and commitment’ that has been given to me and called ‘loyalty and trust’ the ‘bedrock’ of a culture that has stood the test of time. I referenced adversity and wrote that ‘spirit and togetherness’ have seen us through some difficult moments. Of course, I also reiterated the importance of enjoying the journey and always seeing the funny side of life. As I’ve said before, it’s important not to take yourself too seriously — it’s bad for business and your personal brand.
My day continued, and I didn’t think much more about my post, until I logged back into LinkedIn to find my notifications button flashing red, alerting me to engagement from my followers. These days, people can press Like, Celebrate, Support, Love, Insightful, and Funny buttons on the business networking platform — and so they did, over and over again. Honestly, I was overwhelmed by the reaction and comments, some of which came from connections I forged decades ago, and others from more recently formed acquaintances. I appreciated them all.
It reminded me how technology and good old-fashioned human interaction can combine. My honest note of thanks was written from the heart, but the magic of modern-day social media meant that it could be instantly read by my friends and contacts all over the world. I didn’t use artificial intelligence (AI) to create one of those long messages full of bullet points, emojis, and meaningless hashtags. It was as if I were to say the words to the team at a trade show, or in passing at a conference. That doesn’t mean AI hasn’t got a role to play, because it inescapably has, albeit in moderation.
The wider point is that there’s a lot of noise out there in industry at the moment, whether it be about the Internet of Things (IoT), Software as a Service (SaaS), Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), AI, or something else. Conversations often focus too narrowly; people are either in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ camp, and they look at the technology in isolation to support their position. We need to do a better job of understanding technologies and exploring how they can support a workforce.
My LinkedIn post example simplifies that argument but it’s a subject that needs airing.
Digital scales
Truth is that technology and digitalisation don’t work without people; and the present-day worker can’t function without supporting tech. One isn’t ever going to replace the other, and we shouldn’t view it as a battle between the two. I’m uncertain as to why this isn’t more widely accepted. My point was proven again in recent weeks, as my company concluded a 10-week nationwide training programme covering our live365 digitalisation and compliance project.
While we’re very much in favour of the lifting industry’s increasing adoption of digital safety systems — in fact, we’re driving it — we see it as a tool to support human beings. We are challenging all of our suppliers to embed RFID chips in lifting and rigging gear, so all equipment can be provided at the point of use with digital passports. It’s not about removing people from the process; it’s about supporting them by harnessing the safety benefits of digitalised inspection records, to ensure site personnel have access to live data regarding the status of equipment.
live365, importantly, offers a comprehensive data analysis software option to look at trends across sites, allowing customers increased visibility of best practices as they strive towards total accident prevention. live365 isn’t a robot that carries out rigging inspections while people sit at home; it’s a tool upheld by an unwavering, human commitment to compliance within the lifting industry.
As Leanne Whitehurst-Maiden, our national digitalisation manager, says, digitalisation is the key to a safer lifting industry for all. That’s why completion of the aforementioned training programme represented such a significant milestone for the company. At every step of the journey, our staff were at the centre of the endeavour. Leanne did a great job of engaging our workforce up and down the country — and they brought their own energy and enthusiasm to the process.
Integral to meaningful roll-out of live365 to industry will be the standardisation and harmonisation of our messaging from one depot to the next. Technology gives us a great opportunity to do that successfully. live365 will be crucial in standardising and synchronising systems, while striving to continuously improve internal compliance processes. Another essential element, is supporting regional teams with marketing and sales materials, and presentations.
Tomorrow’s world
When I cast my mind back to my early days in the industry, nobody knew what digitalisation meant. And compliance meant something totally different. While materials and steel grades represent the more physical changes in our industry, digital technology has been creeping up on us in the background at the same time. It makes me think about what the future of the industry will look like, which is one of the themes of this year’s Global Lifting Awareness Day — #GLAD2025 — powered by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA).
It’ll be interesting to hear the findings of the association’s ‘State of the Lifting Industry’ survey in a webinar that goes live on 12 June. As LEEA says, the lifting industry is at a crossroads. As experienced professionals retire and fewer young people enter the trade, companies are facing an urgent recruitment crisis. A shortage of skilled labour is placing increasing pressure on operations, productivity, and safety standards. Coupled with growing demands for technical compliance and innovation, the industry must act fast to secure a sustainable future. If left unaddressed, these challenges could have serious consequences for business continuity and sector-wide growth.
Getting the balance between technology and people right will go a long way to solving this problem. We’re certainly finding that systems like live365 can help raise the profile of our industry to younger audiences. It’s a myth that lifting is a dated sector and, if a young engineer wants to work with technology, they need to look elsewhere. There’s no better way to future-proof your workforce and attract dynamic young people, than by harnessing state-of-the-art safety technologies and combining them with the training, products, and expertise that we have built our careers upon to date.
Steve Hutin
Managing Director
Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd
