It’s well known that manufacturing faces a workforce crisis as young people forsake it for other industries. Thus, it’s incumbent upon manufacturers to find new ways to attract young talent. But there’s a corollary: Manufacturers must make better use of their existing, senior workforce.

BMW has risen to the challenge. A Harvard Business Review article co-authored by BMW executives and INSEAD professors describes a concerted effort by the German automaker to sharpen the skills of a group of workers with an average age of 47. The company shifted them to a gearbox assembly line in Lower Bavaria and supported them with skills training and change management, at a cost of €20,000. The effort paid off. The “pensioners’ line,” as the gearboxers were affectionately called, increased productivity by 7% in one year.