An enduring business must offer more than today’s product and serve more than today’s industries. Products come and go, as do industries. Just ask the buggy whip manufacturers. Outside of a few religious sects, the product and the industry are dead. If they had seen themselves as “guidance and speed control” experts, demand would be sky high today for their expertise. They wouldn’t be working with leather and they likely wouldn’t be relying on local sales. You may think a mission of grand propor...
Mar 16, 2022•6 min
Today’s operational crises often interfere with the strategic thinking of leaders. We can’t let that happen, except in the most unusual of circumstances. Expediting orders is not the job of the C-level executive, nor of the VP-level. Nor even of the site manager. If the orders are late due to a systemic problem within the organization, of course those roles must be aware, and must allocate resources to identify the problem and eliminate it for the future. The urgent is easy to see; the important...
Mar 09, 2022•4 min
Do your operations folk trust the sales team to provide a high quality forecast, one that can and should be used for operational planning? Does the sales team generate a sales forecast for which it wants to be held accountable? Or does one side second guess the second with finance left to pick up the pieces? Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a supply chain tool that has been around for decades, but too few manufacturers use it well even today. If your business wants to increase alignme...
Mar 02, 2022•5 min
A recent LA times article shared survey results that found the vast majority of CEOs are in fear of losing their jobs in 2022. In public companies CEOs get replaced every few years. Most are paid enough to not worry about it, but most also want a new CEO role to prove their worth. Over 90% of those same survey respondents also shared that they must overhaul their corporate model within 3 years. As an example, GE is splitting into three different businesses under the leadership of a new CEO. In t...
Feb 23, 2022•5 min
If your costs are higher than you want, speed is no where near where it should be, and you all too frequently live in a world of déjà vu lack of discipline is likely a significant self -induced obstacle to success for you. You can’t blame anyone else for this; it reflects leadership. Trying to avoid micromanagement? Follow up, confirmation of priorities and expectations, and asking if help is needed are three actions that reflect discipline, not micromanagement. Given, that is, that they are don...
Feb 09, 2022•5 min
Is there a business anywhere that has not been impacted by the changes of the last few years? I can’t think of one. Is there any business anywhere that will return to its 2019 “normal?” I can’t think of one. Regardless of industry, business models are changing. Many were hit over ten years ago; most in the past 3-5. If the primary business model in your industry has not yet changed, it will soon. In this podcast Rebecca Morgan explains what a business model is, provides examples of several from ...
Feb 02, 2022•8 min
We’re surrounded and buffeted by all types of disruption. Until recently, customers bullied suppliers, employers bullied employees, and companies made few exceptions to the rules long established. But then the world changed. And the reactions of human beings — people — to those changes, and especially to what those changes made possible, has disrupted every business. While that has happened, the pace of technological change has quickened as the pace of discovery in both tech and application has ...
Jan 26, 2022•4 min
Boring. Entry level. But rarely done well. Quit looking for silver bullets, at least until your organization has mastered executing the basics every single day. Don’t look for Big Data until you’ve got your small data under control. That means data governance fully defined and executed such that your internal data is timely and accurate. Don’t look for mapping plug-ins to show if any of your supplier or customer facilities are in the path of that storm until your internal data is complete and ac...
Jan 19, 2022•4 min
Manufacturing in early 2022 faces a number of challenges, varying by location and industry. But the one most of you share is the inability to attract and retain high potential employees. Recruiting is not a perfect process, and don’t assume that yours is even well-designed. Hiring is an equally imperfect process. Why do I say that? Look at the hiring mistakes you’ve made. Short-lived honeymoons are the obvious ones, but sometimes it takes a few years to realize that the person you once believed ...
Jan 12, 2022•4 min
While 2020 and 2021 tossed us all around with unexpected changes, 2022 may well offer much the same. But none of us can afford to be victims. It’s time to identify that one thing contributing the most to holding you back. Every company has unspoken assumptions. You know, those ideas that are so obvious to people that there is no need to speak them. But, frequently those are NOT true, and in many cases do not need to be true. Here are a few examples: -“our market grows by 3%/year no matter what” ...
Jan 05, 2022•6 min
This week between Christmas and New Year is commonly wasted by US manufacturers. I get the holiday spirit, and that people need to relax and have personal time. But can your business afford to lose 2-3% productivity every year-end? Heijunka is a part of the Toyota Production System thinking system; most of us think of it as a tool. But that important concept of level-loading to eliminate less visible wastes is a critical thought process. Most consider Muda the form of waste to be eliminated, but...
Dec 29, 2021•5 min
The end of the calendar year is just that. Nothing more, nothing less. We behave as if the turning of the calendar page marks a huge turning point for our organizations. Is January 1, 2022 really a critical day in the future of your company? Is December 31 less critical? For public companies, the end of the month, the quarter, and the year are false demarcations of results that have entirely too much impact on behaviors. For non-public companies, those same calendar pages are used in similar way...
Dec 15, 2021•5 min
No one wants to be micromanaged, and no leader wants to be called a micromanager. But if leaders are not following up with their teams regularly, misalignment and ineffective prioritization are predictable. Casual conversations in the hallway, a comment in a meeting, or a sentence in an email may be understood as an order by the subordinate, and as just-a-thought by the leader. Or those same comments may be considered just the leader’s thought at the time by the subordinate, and a high priority ...
Dec 08, 2021•4 min
Is the time you sell to your employer time well spent? If it puts food on the table, shelter over your head, and clothes on your children, then it is. But could it be, and should it be, spent very differently? Most companies have mission statements; the majority of those look inward and inspire little. We may not be able to change that, but we can ensure that’s not true for our own lives. We’ve all heard that no one ever on their death bed said they wished they had worked more, but perhaps that ...
Dec 01, 2021•6 min
If ambiguity is a major problem within your manufacturing organization your leadership likely demonstrates cognitive dissonance with regularity. Hypocrisy at its most obvious, cognitive dissonance is the discomfort that arises from holding two opposing views at the same time. If your leadership team doesn’t suffer that discomfort but your people can feel that you should, you likely say one thing and do another. People are your most important resource yet they are not treated with respect for the...
Nov 24, 2021•5 min
You face numerous external obstacles to success, and those you identify and address. But your internally generated obstacles are often overlooked entirely. Surprising to many of you is the fact that low expectations is one of the most common. When John F. Kennedy established the goal of sending a man to the moon and returning him safely home, no one knew how. But the expectation was set. And importantly, resources required to accomplish this seemingly far-fetched goal were supplied. Working with...
Nov 10, 2021•4 min
No manufacturing organization can become successful, much less enduring, without a leadership team and culture that is disciplined. We all know that variability negatively impacts quality, and that’s true not only for products, but for communication, decision-making, processes, and more. As a leader it is your responsibility to ensure that employees understand organizational priorities and how day-to-day actions must mesh with them. Just because you give an order doesn’t mean it is implemented, ...
Nov 03, 2021•5 min
Entirely too many leaders refuse to lead. The evidence? They refuse to sequence priorities and share the reasoning of that sequence with all employees to use in making decisions. If leaders don’t make the hard decisions, they abdicate them to those with less information and vision. Afraid if you sequence them the lower ones won’t get done? Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve just identified too many priorities for the organization’s capacity. Wouldn’t a good leadership team rather see ...
Oct 27, 2021•6 min
Most everyone is declaring the importance of innovation and an innovative culture to future success. And many claim to offer both now. Not true in most cases. Yes, there have been significant innovations in technology and materials. But can your business honestly claim that its market now receives new and innovative value from doing business with you that it didn’t get last year? Most, emphasizing the word ‘honestly,’ cannot. Most all can claim iterative changes. Sadly many of our engineers grad...
Oct 20, 2021•5 min
Energy around the world is now expensive and in many places unavailable. The transition from carbon-based to renewables is coming, and brings with it complexities that many of cannot even imagine. Storage and transmission, the current state of our grid, changes to the grid that are required, and more stand between us and smoothly available power that we need. We’ll get there but it will be ugly in the interim. Every manufacturer requires energy; every one of us must gain an understanding of the ...
Oct 13, 2021•5 min
Full transparency is coming to your manufacturing business. People are demanding it. Technology is enabling it. The 2021 supply chain disruptions demonstrated the need for it. So what does that mean for your manufacturing business? If you’ve always been open and trustworthy, it becomes a competitive advantage. If not, either change your behaviors or pay the price. You have 5 constituencies that are gaining better insights into the actual core values and mission of your company. Will employees be...
Oct 06, 2021•5 min
To endure a manufacturing business must continually metamorphose into an organization delivering increasing value to all of its constituents. Why? Because the competition is not only not sitting still; new forms of competition are sprouting up where it is difficult to envision them. Your value must evolve as the wants and needs of your constituents evolve. While manufacturing will not die, individual manufacturing companies will if they do not learn to thrive in our evolving world. If your organ...
Sep 29, 2021•4 min
Snow storms and federal government shutdowns introduced the concept of “essential workers” decades ago. COVID-19 not only brought it front and center; the pandemic completely redefined the term. Consumers have choices on what, when, and how to buy. In 2020 and 2021 they have demonstrated considerable flexibility in those choices that surprised many. Those changing decisions have impacted virtually all manufacturers, either directly or indirectly. Have you given thought not just to traditional co...
Sep 22, 2021•3 min
“May you live in interesting times.” We certainly do. Supply chain shortages like we’ve never seen, an international pandemic that continues to mutate, and strong consumer demand. Oh, and a labor shortage faced by most every manufacturer. Resist the temptation to hire warm bodies. They are never what you need. What you do need is reliable people who want to learn and grow and who share your mission. As you continue to look externally for them, don’t overlook those currently in your employ. It is...
Sep 15, 2021•4 min
Organizational structure is a strategic choice and should not simply default to “what we’ve always done.” Companies are often organized by skill set or primary tasks, not by authority or decision-making responsibilities. Structures rarely are designed to instill core values or magnify human potential. Does your current structure develop personnel, align decision-making authority with expertise, and facilitate the culture important to business success? Understanding why you have your current orga...
Sep 08, 2021•5 min
It wasn’t difficult to see this coming. This podcast from 2013 explained how chasing cheap labor was very short sighted and doomed to fail. The addendum, just added, explains how companies that recognize the value of talent and their responsibility in investing in it can endure, while others cannot. Don’t let a line item on your P&L fool you into silly decisions. Don’t let the IRS determine when you will invest in people, equipment, or the future. It’s your business. If you think it matters,...
Sep 01, 2021•5 min
I want to discuss with you disruptive technologies and specifically additive manufacturing. I have been a volunteer with the association for manufacturing excellence for about 15 years. AME puts on an annual international conference and we have done that for 25 or 30 years. Attendance is typically between 1000 and 1500 people, representing about 20 nations, although certainly this year and last year were virtual. I’m on the committee for the fall of 2022 AME International conference which will b...
Aug 18, 2021•5 min
Fear can paralyze; risk can be managed. The Delta variant of Covid-19 is spreading primarily among the unvaccinated. We are currently facing supply and demand uncertainties that have crippled many manufacturers, but it’s time to turn our eyes to managing specific risks. You know how to deal with many of the uncertainties — like how to produce safely in your facilities and how to schedule workers as schools change schedules. In most cases we know what we don’t know, which should remove fear and e...
Aug 11, 2021•5 min
My book Manufacturing Mastery: The Path to Building Successful and Enduring Manufacturing Businesses will be available September 1, 2021. For pre-orders, I am offering benefits that will help you build your enduring business. The benefits offered differ for quantities from ≧ 3, 7, or 25. Check it out at www.mfgmastery.com and choose which works best for you. The post PreOrder Benefits: Manufacturing Mastery first appeared on Fulcrum ConsultingWorks Inc. ....
Aug 04, 2021•3 min
With labor, plastics, chips, cans and many other global shortages, demand is far greater than supply for many manufacturers. The question is: How best do we handle that? Allocation is the term for allocating your limited supply. It should always start with a strategy — 100% to top customers, or split among markets or customers, or something else. Once the market-facing strategy is in place, execution must be flawless. Truth and honesty are crucial, as your customers need that to plan their own b...
Jul 28, 2021•3 min
