Did you know that the first Friday of October is Manufacturing Day? Me neither, until recently.
It may not be the most well-known holiday, and it’s certainly not a federal one, but it’s a fun reason to talk about manufacturing. (more…)
Many businesses have cut their growth expectations for 2013, though they are still hopeful they will enjoy at least some growth. When times get tough and you’re uncertain whether revenues will rise or fall from quarter to quarter, it’s important to be flexible and find ways to deal with all of this turmoil.
Here are five things you can do to restore some stability if your company faces uncertain times:
1. Set Realistic Goals
Sometimes huge growth isn’t the ideal strategy and you’ll need to accept more moderate gains while you prepare for bigger opportunities in the future. Try to set goals that are attainable so you won’t lose heart as month after month goes by without hitting them. Of course, your goals should be works in progress that are updated from time to time. Even the best goals can fail to incorporate some key factor that changes everything. (more…)
It seems like just yesterday that I talked about Utah being named the best place to do business by Forbes. Here we are again to celebrate Utah receiving this honor for the third year in a row! Since Fishbowl is headquartered in this state and doesn’t have any plans for moving, this reflects well on our company’s future.
How Utah Won
A Forbes article breaks down the factors that gave Utah an advantage over every other state:
Lately there has been a lot of talk about the American economy and specifically American manufacturing. While American manufacturing isn’t what it was in Henry Ford’s time, it is still a diverse and important part of our national economy.
We all hear the stories about how manufacturing jobs are leaving the U.S. in search of cheaper labor, better demand flexibility, and integrated supply chain communities in China and other countries. But what about the factories and jobs that are still here or the ones that are coming to America? In this post, we’ll give a quick rundown of 10 of the coolest products still manufactured right here in the USA. (more…)
A year ago, I asked the question “Is Utah the new California?” I have definitely found the answer: Yes! For two years in a row, Forbes has named Utah the best state in the United States to do business in. In addition, Utah was the only state to be in the top 15 across all of Forbes’ categories: costs, current economic climate, growth prospects, labor supply, quality of life, and regulatory environment. Plus, we have comparatively low unemployment and high job growth. (more…)
Fishbowl recently created the following infographic. It shares some impressive facts and figures about the U.S. manufacturing industry, such as its strong unemployment rate, job growth, productivity, and more. Check it out! (more…)
What’s in store for manufacturing in 2012? Quite a bit! It looks like we can expect even more manufacturing jobs to return the United States as Chinese wages keep rising and the cost of shipping materials to and from China gets more expensive.
In the article “Get Ready for Manufacturing’s Big Comeback,” it notes that 85 percent of the 3,000 manufacturing executives surveyed “expected at least some kinds of factory work to return to the U.S. from overseas.” However, many of the jobs that come back to this country will probably be much different than ones traditionally associated with manufacturing.
We could see a completely new manufacturing job market in just a few years. Over the past few decades, manufacturers have laid off a large number of workers and replaced them with automated machines, which are much more cost-efficient. This may have seemed like a negative thing at the time, but what it was really doing was making manufacturers more profitable and forcing them to hire more college-educated engineers to oversee their increasingly complex operations.
As manufacturing turns into a more educated profession, it will likely attract even more innovators and people with the skills to put radical ideas into practice. Instead of worrying about the number of jobs in their industry, manufacturers should focus their attention on the types of jobs available to them. By gaining high-tech skills, they’ll have a better chance of making it in the new manufacturing industry.
A retweet by @KnightGlobal inspired this blog post. I haven’t given enough credit to the tweeters who have inspired my posts in the past. I’ll do a better job of recognizing them from now on. That’s one of my New Year’s resolutions.
We’re back with the second half of our list of 10 things your company needs to do better. You can read the first half by clicking the link above. Let’s not waste any time and jump right into the rest of the list!
6. Responding to Critics
No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to please everyone all the time. Some customers might get upset and vent their frustration in a public forum, like your blog, Facebook page or even on another website. You can turn lemons into lemonade, though with a little patience and effort.
To respond to critics constructively: Don’t give in to the knee-jerk reaction to delete negative comments. If you welcome customer feedback (which you should!), don’t expect it to always be rosy compliments. Sometimes criticism can be extremely helpful because it helps you fix problems and build a better product. Thank people for their input, ask for more information to help them solve the problem, invite them to call or email you to work out a solution, and try to always be positive and understanding. Let them know that you’re working on a problem or that you’ve fixed it. It’s great when you can end a conversation that started on a negative note with a satisfying resolution.
7. Cutting Costs
With all the craziness surrounding the global economy, it’s hard to tell when prices will stabilize. The best thing you can do in response is to find ways to cut costs and run your business as lean as possible.
To start reining in costs: Tighten your inventory management. By this, I mean that you stock up on the right products at the right times. By doing this, you’ll cut down on slow-moving inventory and keep more working capital in your hands. There are also several other things you can do that play into this strategy of cutting costs. I’ll talk about them next.
8. Managing Supply Chains
Many vendors are offering special deals to companies they supply to get more money up front. For example, if you purchase a large number of products in a single order, you might receive a volume discount or save on shipping. It’s tempting to take advantage of these deals, but it’s usually smarter to only get what you need and not stockpile products.
To improve your supply chain management: Negotiate with your vendors to get better payment and shipping terms. In the current economy, they’ll probably be willing to compromise in order to keep you as their customer. If they’re unwilling to strike a deal, look at other options. It’s a good idea to have more than one option for your supply chains in case of bad weather or other unforeseen conditions.
9. Controlling Inventory
This goes along with the earlier points of cutting costs and managing supply chains. If you’re using an inadequate inventory control system, you could be losing a lot of money through lost sales, spoiled products and/or inefficiency.
To manage your inventory better: You should find advanced inventory control software that does everything you need it to while still fitting in your price range. With this software, you should be able to monitor inventory levels in real time, make sure products are delivered on time, manage multiple locations, and make inventory processes more efficient. Fishbowl Inventory is a great inventory solution because it offers all of these features, and it integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. This means your accounting and inventory records get updated at the same time. No more double data entry or concerns about data accuracy.
10. Collecting and Using Data
To make any of the improvements on this list, you need to have the right information. Everything I’ve talked about is based on you getting informed and then applying that knowledge to specific challenges.
To collect and use data prudently: Do all of the things I’ve already talked about. Keep using the Web tracking tools that give you insights into your customers’ behavior. Add inventory control software to your arsenal of data-gathering tools to help you organize information on your warehouses, stock levels and sales into simple charts. These will come in handy. For example, if you want to convince other people in your company that you need to change something, it really helps if you have concrete facts to back up your claims.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this list and that you’ve found some things you can start doing today to make your business stronger. Feel free to share your successes or suggestions of other things to improve in a comment below.
By the way, this is the third time I’ve split a top 10 list into two blog posts. My first two posts involved Mr. Miyagi and Homer Simpson giving inventory management tips. Be sure to check those out, too.
Many economists thought the manufacturing industry was going to shrink in September for the first time in two years. But manufacturers surprised them by beating expectations and actually increasing production, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index.
The manufacturing index is on a scale from 1-100. Any number below 50 means manufacturing fell in a given month, while anything above 50 means manufacturing rose. For the past 26 months, manufacturing has been above 50. In September, the index rose to 51.6 from August’s 50.6 rating.
There has been a lot of worry about Greece’s debt or other international troubles potentially leading to a global economic slowdown. So far these concerns haven’t been able to deter manufacturers from expanding their operations and even hiring new employees.
Manufacturing is one of the best indicators of where the economy is heading because if consumers are willing to buy more, of course manufacturing will have to increase to keep up with demand. The opposite is also true. Although it’s hovering near the breakeven point, manufacturing has managed to hold onto gains for more than two years, a feat few other industries can boast.
Smart manufacturers are turning to manufacturing inventory software to help them make informed decisions about how much to produce at different times. Consumer demand is never constant, which is why it’s important to always stay on top of your inventory management so you don’t wind up with too many or too few products.
It looks like the United States may not be heading into a recession after all, according to a new manufacturing report. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index in August was 50.6. That’s down from July’s 50.9, but any number above 50 means manufacturing increased that month, so this is still good news.
Manufacturing has been one of the biggest saving graces for the economy, staying strong while other industries struggled to recover. Despite natural disasters, fluctuating demand and rising commodity prices, manufacturers have been able to keep growing month after month for about two years.
Unfortunately, consumer confidence fell sharply in August. That could be a problem for manufacturing in the coming months, but we’ll have to wait and see until the September report comes out to see which way manufacturing goes.
Whether or not manufacturing stays strong, many companies in this industry are turning to QuickBooks manufacturing software to help them both cut costs and be more efficient. If demand recovers, manufacturers who use this software will be better prepared to fill all their new orders. If demand falls, they’ll have their costs under control and they’ll be in a better situation to survive in spite of declining sales.
Hopefully we’ll avoid falling into a double-dip recession. You should hope for the best but prepare for the worst by using QuickBooks manufacturing software in your business.
