Handling Global Competition

Author: Paul Henriques in: Business Solutions

Handling Global Competition

March 25, 2022

Competing in the globalized world of manufacturing has become increasingly difficult. With constant price pressure from nations with lower standards of pay, lower safety standards, and lower environmental regulations, developed nations have had to drastically improve their product quality and lead times. All while providing best-in-class customer service and looking for high tech solutions to the rest of their ongoing issues.

While many have thought that this would be the beginning of the end of manufacturing in North America, the truth is that there has been a resurgence of investment and productivity in the manufacturing sector. Some of the biggest reasons for developed nation manufacturing to return to its place as an economic driver for its local regions has been:

  • Endemic shipping and infrastructure issues in developing countries
  • Stronger institutions, including legal and intellectual property rights
  • Firms and staff are more adaptive to new information and education technologies

So, what can you do as a manufacturer to better compete on the global markets?

Local Manufacturing Beats Global Shipping

Developing countries may have a stranglehold on low-cost labor and resource intensive manufacturing. This may be a good thing for those developing nations, but it leaves manufacturers at the mercy of a global, and intricate, supply chain. This means that their contribution to developed economies starts and ends with their regional transport capabilities. These last two years (2020 and 2021) saw global disruptions that caused that supply chain to snap because of:

  • A lack of capacity-capable ports both at the exporting and importing locations
  • Manufacturing shortfalls that led to a lack of shipping containers
  • Shipping being dependent on access to cheap fuel
  • Insufficient staff to maintain the required logistics network

This has led many to start looking locally. From federal govts to family units, everyone is trying to find a way to buy local. To put it simply, your local factory strengthens your local region and your nation. This “return to home” has led to an unexpected windfall for local and regional firms that had been struggling before to meet cost demands: Your productivity increases over the past few decades to maintain competitiveness are in a prime situation to be rewarded with added attention and clientele.

By not needing intercontinental shipping, you can get orders delivered faster and often for the same cost or lower than your overseas competitors. Added to the faster delivery-time comes something that shops half a world away can’t provide: localized customer service.

With customizable orders quickly becoming the norm, your lower delivery costs, quicker delivery times, and local knowledge to help your partners are steps in the right direction. But you can clinch the competitive advantage by becoming adaptable and flexible with your part-making process. Some of the ways to improve your engineering team adaptability and productive flexibility is by switching to a central database with digital engineering records, relying on a pull-based production system, like Lean, and with a better ERP system that was designed on Lean principles.

Local Benefits to Global Competition

Local Benefits to Global Competition

Rule of Law is Better for Business

You can’t fight the law because the law will win. Or, at least, that’s what we are led to believe in developed economies. In other parts of the world, the law is something that can be skirted, avoided, blinded, laughed at, or bought. While this can make the region an interesting place to conduct business, it leaves you at the mercy of regional powers that have more influence than your firm and want to take over your market segment.

Perhaps, when setting up a factory in a foreign land, you get a partner that knows that local area. You keep your end of the bargain and supply your know-how, etc., but within a few months you are removed from operations as your partner becomes the sole proprietor, taking the knowledge and local rights to your intellectual property (IP) with them.

The truth is that information technology (IT) and IP have an impact on competitiveness in developed economies. In IT, the information networks add an exchange of ideas that leads to better manufacturing. This has only become even more noticeable with newer tech, like the Internet of Things (IoT) or blockchain, which can lead to better developments in sustainable manufacturing. And the legal protections of IP rights in developed countries bring their own type of competitive advantage.

These issues have many thinking twice about outsourcing. What this means for you as a manufacturer is that not only is your production safer at home, but also that many larger corporations prefer to ‘shop locally’ for vendors, thus strengthening their supply chain. As a supplier, you can add to your value as a partner by investing in new future-ready technologies such as: barcode scanners, EDI, shop monitoring, predictive maintenance, and other full-featured ERP systems. You should also invest in your IT systems and respect your client’s IP. The last point is to invest in your firm’s processes and outputs to ensure what you bring to the table is easy (for you) to make but difficult to copy.

Local Legal and IT Benefits to Global Competition

Better IP Rights and Better IT

Educated Staff

It is a time when staffing issues are the latest news of the day, or at least they are when the news isn’t telling us about disease or war. This may have you concerned. Perhaps a string of resignations has already hit your firm. The solution in many cases is more pay. But how can you stay competitive against economies where a lack of workers and pay raises aren’t a problem?

The truth is that the workforce in developed economies is a crucial part of what makes them able to compete against all comers. While you can’t match the low pay and low regulations that the developing economies of the world provide, you can be sure that you are getting more bang for your buck. Developed countries tend to have better education systems that are focused on:

  • Critical thinking and analysis: The process of asking “why are we doing it this way” leads many manufacturers that live by the Lean principles to increased productivity by eliminating excess process steps.
  • Melting-pot culture: Having the chance to discuss various matters at different levels with people of all classes and cultures leads to better sales and customer service professionals that can quickly connect and understand others regardless of creed or culture.
  • Technical and managerial skills: Schools in developed countries are so far ahead of the curb in these areas that the best and brightest students from developing countries are willing to pay a small fortune for the chance to study in our prestigious institutions. These are the graduates that are readily available to you.

What this means is that staff hired from developed countries can, on average, adapt to new environments and technologies faster while needing less oversight. Regardless of the experience on their resume, hiring happier people is a key starting point that will lead to better productivity. Once the staff are onboard, keeping your staff happy by helping them learn and grow within your company are crucial motivators that will ensure you are getting the most from your staff.

Local Staffing Benefits to Global Competition

Hiring Local to Win Global

Conclusion

To compete against global players, your firm should:

  • Provide better service, quality, and delivery-times than your international competitors
  • Have a more flexible product line
  • Invest in future-ready tech
  • Have difficult-to-copy processes that provide productivity benefits
  • Train and motivate your staff

Another thing that wasn’t discussed in this post is having a more value-based sales method, where you can become a more integrated partner for your clients.

Agree/ Disagree? Tell us what you think below!

References

https://velocityglobal.com/blog/get-ahead-international-competition/

https://www.edc.ca/en/blog/global-competitive-advantage-success-pillars.html

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:805039/FULLTEXT01.pdf

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031143

https://peer.asee.org/global-competition-and-its-effects-on-u-s-manufacturing-industry.pdf

 

 

Author

  • Paul Henriques

    Paul Henriques is the current Manager for the Documentation and Training team at OnRamp Solutions Inc. Paul has over 15 years of experience in writing training material and documentation for various software companies. Having had to learn OnRamp ERP to better document it’s features and write training material; Paul is constantly stunned by the amount of thought that goes into each feature and the capabilities that are within the program, with features for all the various business units of a manufactory. Paul spends most of his free time keeping up to date on all the latest news and best practices for the manufacturing sector. Paul’s favorite manufacturing quote: “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.” – Henry Ford

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