Changing the tires at 100 MPH

In 2023, the McLaren Formula 1 team set a world-record pit stop time of just 1.8 seconds. In less time than it took you to read that last sentence, 20 crew members completed 36 separate tasks in perfect synchronization. They changed four tires, refueled the car, and sent it back into the race.¹

Two seconds is a 97% improvement on the average pit stop time from when Formula 1 began in the 1950s. Back then, pit stops routinely took over a minute.

The objective between now and then hasn't changed and the tasks are largely the same. But the way the work is performed has evolved dramatically. Teams refined processes, improved training, standardized execution, and ensured every crew member had exactly the information and tools they needed at precisely the right moment.

Manufacturers and distributors face a similar challenge today.

Markets are changing faster. Customer expectations continue to rise. Labor shortages persist. New technologies are reshaping operations. And organizations are being asked to adapt while still hitting production targets, meeting service levels, and protecting margins.

You’re being asked to change the tires while the car is still moving. Are you equipping your frontline employees with the training and tools they need to make it happen?

The Race Has Changed

For years, operational excellence was largely about efficiency and consistency. Those remain important, but agility has become equally critical.

Manufacturers continue to face workforce challenges, with Deloitte projecting that nearly 1.9 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2033 if current labor challenges persist.²

Meanwhile, supply chain leaders are investing heavily in technology to improve resilience, visibility, and responsiveness while managing through those ongoing workforce shortages.³

The result is a difficult balancing act. Organizations are introducing new equipment, automation systems, workflows, and business processes. And understaffed supervisors are expected to deliver results with little room for error.

None of these challenges are entirely new. What's different is that they're all happening at once. The burden of adapting falls primarily on the people doing the work every day. Production operators. Technicians. Material handlers. Warehouse associates. Maintenance personnel. Distribution center teams. They're expected to manage more complexity, absorb more change, and make more decisions than ever before.

Yet many organizations still support them with methods that haven't evolved nearly as fast as the operation around them.

The Hidden Agility Problem

When leaders talk about agility, the conversation often centers on technology, automation, or process improvement. But in many organizations, the real constraint is workforce readiness. Consider this simple question:

If an employee encounters an unfamiliar situation, where do they go for help?

Do they search through multiple systems? Track down a supervisor? Ask the person working next to them? Or just wing it?

The answer matters because inconsistency creates friction, threatens quality, and puts pressure on already tight deadlines.

Employees who are uncertain take longer to complete tasks. They make more mistakes. They interrupt experienced workers for assistance. Supervisors spend more time answering questions and less time improving operations.

Over time, these seemingly small issues compound.

And the organization becomes slower to respond when change occurs.

This is why so many improvement initiatives struggle to deliver lasting results. The process changes are extreme, but support for employees is often limited to one and done solutions like stand-up meetings, LMS courses, and shoulder-to-shoulder training.

Employees only retain about 20% of what they learn in those settings. But they’re far more likely to retain and apply knowledge when learning occurs within their day-to-day activities. The most agile organizations understand this and treat workforce support as an operational capability.

What High-Performing Teams Do Differently

If we go back to the Formula 1 pit crew example, their success isn't driven by extraordinary individuals. It's driven by extraordinary preparation. There are three common characteristics shared by high-performing pit crews and operational teams alike.

They Remove Friction

The best organizations make it easy to do the right thing. Employees don't waste time searching for information or determining which version of a process they should follow.

Answers are available when and where the work is performed. Unnecessary obstacles are sought out and eliminated. Instead of urging employees to work harder, these organizations eliminate anything that might prevent them from working more effectively.

They Define the Standard

High-performing teams eliminate ambiguity. Processes are documented clearly. Best practices are captured from experienced workers. Everyone understands what to do and how to do it consistently.

When different employees encounter similar situations, they receive similar guidance. That consistency becomes the foundation for both quality and agility.

They Support Continuous Learning

Training is not treated as a one-time event. Employees receive ongoing reinforcement, guidance, and coaching. Knowledge remains accessible long after onboarding is complete. Skills are tracked and understood across the workforce.

As conditions change, employees can adapt more quickly because they're supported throughout the learning process. The outcome is a workforce that is confident, capable, and prepared to handle disruption.

What This Looks Like in Practice

The impact of these principles becomes clear when applied to real-world operational challenges.

Expanding Workforce Capacity Without Adding Headcount

An Acadia manufacturing customer faced a common challenge. Production complexity had increased as new equipment was introduced. At the same time, experienced workers were retiring, and recruiting qualified replacements had become increasingly difficult. Demand remained strong, but staffing constraints threatened throughput.

Rather than waiting for the labor market to improve, the company focused on the workforce it already had. Leaders launched a cross-training initiative designed to expand employee capabilities across multiple roles.

They reviewed existing processes, removed redundancies, captured operational knowledge, and provided structured support to employees as they learned new responsibilities.

The results were significant.

The facility increased throughput by 17% while improving employee productivity by 60%. Employees became more versatile, managers gained greater staffing flexibility, and the organization strengthened its ability to navigate labor shortages.

The solution was all about helping existing employees become more capable and confident.

Large-Scale Workforce Reskilling

Another customer, an auto parts distributor, needed to rapidly reskill hundreds of employees as the organization added new equipment and software to streamline operations in their distribution center.

They adopted a zoned picking process, driven by a new WES platform. They installed Vertical Lift Modules to further consolidate picking and to make better use of their space. They deployed a fleet of Autonomous Mobile Robots to transport orders to the central packing zone.

In turn, they eliminated an incredible amount of travel time. But they also introduced a tremendous amount of complexity. Employees had to relearn large portions of their jobs: operating and maintaining equipment, navigating software, and a completely new picking process.

By standardizing processes, delivering guidance within the flow of work, and reinforcing learning through continuous support, the company successfully reskilled more than 600 employees in just a few months. They did this with zero business disruptions and zero customer complaints.

More importantly, their employees felt engaged through the entire process. Training was positioned as an opportunity to learn new skills that would translate to other future jobs. They felt the changes were personally beneficial. An opportunity to simplify work and learn new skills.

Agility Starts With People

Manufacturers and distributors often invest heavily in equipment, systems, automation, and infrastructure. Those investments are important. But agility ultimately depends on people.

The organization that can adapt fastest is usually not the one with the newest technology. It's the one where employees know exactly what to do when conditions change. They know where to find answers. They know the standard. They have support when they need it. And they can apply new knowledge quickly and confidently.

That's what allows organizations to absorb disruption without losing momentum.

Just like a Formula 1 pit crew. The teams that win aren't necessarily working harder than everyone else. They've simply removed friction, perfected their processes, and equipped their people to perform under pressure.

In manufacturing and distribution organizations, the same principles apply. The race isn't slowing down. The organizations that thrive will be the ones that help their employees change the tires while the car is still moving.

Sources

1. WATCH: McLaren set new F1 pit stop record with spectacularly quick tyre change in Qatar
2. Taking charge: Manufacturers support growth with active workforce strategies
3. Rewiring the Future: The 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report
4. Build Learning into Your Employees' Workflow