With engaging younger workers in manufacturing a continuing problem for the industry, software business solutions once more are at a point where they can prove their worth to companies and the managers that run them successfully.

In an Industry Market Barometer release from ThomasNet, the company used information culled from more than 1,200 companies and investigated why getting more involved with manufacturing is an important issue, and why it's especially necessary that those in the industry act now.

Even though more than 60 percent of the businesses that the survey profiled are predicting gains in their performance as the year progresses, 73 percent identify possible misconceptions about the industry as a deterrent to potential new hires. This is a problem when there are many that need to ensure there are enough new engineers and line workers around for the future.

Along with a lack of encouragement and education for young people who might be interested in this field with the right training, the authors behind this survey assert that companies are not effectively addressing the problem. 

"There's a disconnect with the upward trajectory of manufacturing and the lack of urgency to recruit the next generation of workers," they write. "And while 29 percent of respondents say they will increase employment of Generation Y workers in the next two years, almost one-half (49 percent) expect the numbers to stay the same."

When your company acquires software for manufacturing, you may be able to discover the age gaps in your own workforce and how imperative it is in your own sphere to start recruiting younger employees. While the study uses the scary term "biological clock" to drive the point home, this can be a painless process—if planned for correctly.