The lack of workers is one manufacturing’s most dire situations. The U.S. manufacturing industry has experienced significant growth over the past few decades, and according to research conducted by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, over the next 10 years, manufacturers will need to add 4.6 million manufacturing jobs, 2.4 million of which may go unfilled (Bolt, 2018). Skilled, engaged workers are critical to the success of manufacturing operations. Kahn (1990) referenced personal engagement and personal disengagement as “behaviors by which people bring in or leave out their personal selves during work role performances.” According to Gallup’s 2016 State of the American Workplace report, engaged employees are more present and productive, attuned to customer needs, and more observant to processes, standards, and systems. Combined, the behaviors of highly engaged employees lead to an average of 21% increased profitability (Gallup, 2016).

The quality and timing of information technology-enabled manufacturing systems has the potential to magnify the effects of individual efforts to achieve greater output. Conversely, poorly implemented information technology (IT) in manufacturing may create a negative effect and place pressure on shop floor team members, thus impacting manufacturing performance and employee engagement (Wall et al. 1990). This research seeks to study the impact that the relationship between IT and employee engagement (EE) has on individual employee performance (IEP) with the goal of prescribing how manufacturers may leverage their current workforce and the proper adoption of IT. This research will prescribe a study in a manufacturing environment to compare IEP measurements of safety, quality, and productivity in a control plant and in an experimental plant undergoing the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. There are implications of this study for scholarly and practical application with suggestions for future research.