Okay, I have finally had it. I have been reading articles for months and finally reached a tipping point. I cannot sit quietly any longer.
So, I’ll start by saying I have been in this industry a very long time…..and on all sides of it. I have worked as a carpenter installing trusses, as a designer, as a plant manager, production manager and as a general manager at numerous plants. I have worked on the hanger side of the industry developing new products for the component industry and I have worked on the connector plate side of things. I visit customers all over the country. I get invited to examine operations and provide input. I evaluate pricing and labor costing and provide input. I have been around the block, been to the circus and seen the monkeys and a lot of other experiences that are not talked about in polite company; right Jack?
When I read articles from people claiming to know how to fix things with broad generalization and theory, it drives me crazy. This has been building up for 6 months or more. I read confusing information that contradicts itself from one month to the next. I guess some of these writers can’t remember what they wrote or when they wrote it.
My first head spinning moment happened a few months ago. I was reading an article by a self-proclaimed industry expert. It was stated that focusing on productivity doesn’t improve profitability. How does reducing labor costs and increasing output not help profitability? You can build the same or more product in less time therefore reducing costs and improving profitability. But, in a later article by the same expert he proclaimed that improved productivity increases sales. Wrong. Improved productivity does not increase sales. Improved productivity may increase capacity and allow for sales increases, but the two are only joined by capacity. If you increase capacity you MAY increase sales because you have additional capacity to sell. It is pretty simple. Stuff like this drives me crazy. I have managed plants and I am pretty sure the rules haven’t changed that much since then.
I went back to read a couple of more things and was appalled when I read that the author is trying to convince people, using broad generalizations, that vendors will never tell a customer they are making a bad decision or mistake because they are afraid of losing a future sale. That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a while! As suppliers, it is our job and duty to help customers become the best they can be. If we simply nodded our heads in approval every time a customer asked a question we would at some point lose all credibility and the customer along the way. Now, I am not saying that there aren’t guys out there pushing equipment on people who don’t need it. There are. I have written in the past about some of those guys and how that mentality eventually forced those customers out of business during the recent downturn. My point is that if you are with the right supplier and the people that work with the supplier have the experience built over years of working in the industry, they can be trusted to maintain the customer’s best interests. They will give you options and explain the pros and cons of each piece of equipment and offer an opinion of what is best for the customer’s shop based on need and the type of products to be built.
I am not a paid independent consultant. I work for a supplier and offer the benefit of my experience to every customer. Some take my advice and some don’t. It is their right as business owners to weigh advice given and act on it in a way they see fit. I’m not saying I have all the answers and don’t even pretend that I do. My piece of advice when you feel a paid outside consultant is needed would be to find someone who has been in the business or managed businesses. Find the guy who is going to provide knowledge and advice that fits your plant, the equipment you have and knows your product mix. In many cases more equipment is not the answer. Sometimes there are simple adjustments that can be made in production that will lead to improvements that increase capacity without more equipment. A number of years ago I wrote an article for another publication about automation. Automating for the sake of automation is not the right reason. Anyway, find the right guy. It may be your supplier’s representative or an outside consultant. Find someone you can trust. Find someone that isn’t just going to make recommendations based on something they read. Get the guy that will visit your plant and evaluate what you currently have and will maximize your current production capability before talking about new equipment.
In closing, I am not going to point anyone in a direction. Do your homework and talk to your suppliers. You should use those relationships to your advantage. Now that I have that off my chest I promise to move on to the more light hearted commentary people are used to hearing from me. I think next up is how to build a network of component manufacturers that will help each other. Stay tuned!