Survey: Manufacturers lacking growth practices

Are America’s small manufacturers poised for a resurgence or vulnerable to new technological disruption?
According to a survey of more than 3,000 U.S. companies about their operational practices, many manufacturers do not have the practices in place to take advantage of growth opportunities a resurgent industry might bring.
In a seminar at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick in Warwick on Sept. 30, John Brandt, founder of manufacturing consulting firm The MPI Group, will discuss highlights and takeaways from Ohio-based MPI’s Next Generation Management Study.
Brandt’s findings, ominously, are that most American manufacturing firms do not meet world-class best practices in what he has identified as six key categories:
• Customer-focused innovation.
• Human-capital management.
• Process improvement.
• Supply-chain management.
• Sustainability.
• Global engagement.
“Although most manufacturers recognize the importance of [next-generation manufacturing] strategies, few have made progress toward world-class status in implementing them,” Brandt writes in the report.
One area of particular concern in the survey is recruiting, training and maintaining manufacturing talent, which the study says will become more crucial as the labor market tightens and baby boomers begin to retire.
In 2013, 33 percent of executives surveyed said they expect a leadership succession in the next five years, up from 25 percent in 2009.
Despite that, and the frequent complaint about a shortage of talent, the survey found only 28 percent of companies had a talent-development program in supply-chain management. “This means that U.S. manufacturing is at an inflection point, with a new generation about to take the helm at companies across the country,” the survey report said. “Making sure that this generation of leadership is well-versed in the [next-generation manufacturing] strategies will be critical to the long-term success of their firms – and the manufacturing sector.”
The report also identifies “global engagement,” reaching out to international markets, as a key for future manufacturing success, but raises questions about whether current firms are doing enough.
The survey found 39 percent of manufacturers reported having sufficient talent for “world-class global engagement,” and only 18 percent with talent- development programs.
To help executives move toward those world-class standards, Brandt will compare responses in the survey to prior years and outline benchmarking tools to help companies track their improvement in these six key areas.
The Sept. 30 event, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., is sponsored by accounting firm DiSanto, Priest & Co. and the Rhode Island Manufacturing Renaissance Collaborative. Information and registration is available at www.mfgday.com.
Brandt’s discussion of the management study is part of Rhode Island Manufacturing Week, which corresponds with the national Manufacturing Week and features events across the state.
Organized by the Rhode Island Manufacturing Association, this is the first full weeklong Manufacturing Week. Last year featured a single-day event at Community College of Rhode Island. •

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