5 Keys to Ensuring Success in Manufacturing

January 25, 2022

This era is teaching us one thing above all: You need to automate your manufacturing business to meet your upcoming challenges.

Automating and innovating. Those are the driving forces that lead a successful manufacturer to increase their competitive edge. As a matter of fact, these forces are the building blocks of manufacturing since it first began. This means that the tools needed to keep up with the driving changes of this new century are built-in to the core of a good manufacturer.

Manufacturing Success in the 21^st Century

While previous technological changes could be met slowly by some companies, this new century carries with it a fundamental shift in the way manufacturing does business. Every aspect of your business will likely see a change. Disruptions can already be seen impacting business units such as: shipping, production, purchasing, sales, and even management. Things like:

• Shipping: The age of self-driving vehicles is upon us. This will be a logistical revolution.
• Production: With global concerns over the environment, more and more companies are looking for more ecological tools to have at their disposal.
• Purchasing: As supply chains continue to disrupt, companies are pushing to increase sustainability.
• Sales: With lower cost parts coming in from other markets, sales teams have had to evolve to offer a more complete product to their customers.
• Management: Better research and better access to good data means the dissolution of the traditional office and smarter decisions being taken.

And these are just some of the shifts to traditional manufacturing. Between the Great Recession and the Pandemic, manufacturing has had to learn to adapt quickly or fail.

Adapting is Succeeding

For your company to survive, you need to be adaptable. Here are 5 key ways that you can make your company future-ready in a way that can help you survive and thrive:

1. Innovate: Identify neglected areas of innovation in your industry to find a distinct advantage that leaves your competitors struggling to catch up for months or years.
2. Automate: Ease your labour shortage woes by automating more tasks, thus freeing up your staff.
3. Upskill: Improve your staff skill set and provide assistance for them to continue learning. Companies with a culture of continuous learning retain more staff and net better profits in the long term.
4. Future-ready culture: Change the culture at your workplace to embrace change and be ready to adopt newer technologies and work processes. An early adopter leadership and mindset can make you a leader with better digital tools and advanced manufacturing technology.
5. Improve your data: Look for simple and easy ways to improve the data available to your and your staff. The first step here is to look for an ERP system that can keep all your data in one place and share it between your business units.

Conclusion

These 5 keys are not sunk costs. All of them show positive returns with multiple benefits. Things like: Attracting talent, improving productivity, embracing change, improving decisions.

In challenging times like these, becoming a forward-looking manufacturer improves your chances of success and will ensure you are ready for the next problem.