Business Challenge
Modernising the client's industrial automation stack meant hiring specialists across RPA, MES, IIoT and Industrial Analytics, a niche combination of skills that sits well outside typical enterprise IT hiring pipelines, and outside where most generalist technology recruiters look.
Our Solution
We stood up a dedicated automation hiring practice with rapid technical screening built specifically for these tool sets, so candidates were qualified against real automation-floor experience rather than generic IT credentials. That floor-specific screening is what kept the position fill rate at 97% on a genuinely hard-to-source skill combination.
Our Approach
Sourcing looked specifically for RPA, MES, IIoT and Industrial Analytics experience gained on real automation floors, not adjacent enterprise-IT backgrounds.
A screening process built for these specific tool sets meant candidates were qualified on real automation experience, not a generic IT skills checklist.
Each hire was matched against the Digital Manufacturing programme's actual modernization roadmap, not a generic automation-specialist template.
A 4% offer dropout ratio on a niche skill set with real market competition reflected how well-matched the offers were before they went out.
Client Voice
“These are people who've actually stood on a plant floor, not just read about MES systems, that distinction mattered a lot to us.”
— Director – Digital Manufacturing
The Outcome
A 12-day average hiring time on a specialist skill combination this narrow is well ahead of what the client had experienced sourcing automation talent independently.
