If you work in the manufacturing sector, there are a lot of different ways that you can boost growth. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Start off by reducing your manufacturing expenses
All businesses want to lower their costs, enabling them to free up cash that can be spent on growing their firm. However, this is often a lot easier said than done. Luckily, we have some great suggestions to help you out. If you work in the manufacturing sector, read on to discover some of the best ways to lower your expenditure so that you can gain a competitive edge.
- Focus on transportation and freight management – Did you know that transportation costs amount to roughly 10 per cent of overall revenue? This is a considerable amount of money, which is why it is wise to consider investing in a transportation management system. By doing this, you can ensure that you are employing the best transportation practices at your business.
- Reassess your suppliers – Are you really getting the best deals on your supplies? Now would be a good time to assess whether you are spending too much on the likes of lubricants and fuel. Places give you the ability to get a free quote, so you can easily find out whether there are savings to be made. Whether you work with a powder coating company or you source machinery supplies, it is a balancing act. Do not simply go for the cheapest, but always make sure you are driving value.
- Evaluate your inventory carrying costs – Are you storing inventory for extended periods of time? If so, this can get very costly, very quickly. Consider the cost of storage, maintenance, insurance, and disposal, if applicable. You can optimize the production process to ensure that you do not overproduce, as this is one of the main causes of excess storage. It may be time to make changes to your operations so that you are able to respond better to customer demand.
- Reduce the cost of regulatory compliance – You can decrease the cost of regulatory compliance if you implement an optimized and improved system that features real-time monitoring of how your production processes are operating. By doing this, production errors will happen less, which means that you won’t be spending as much money on correcting these mistakes.
- Manage and monitor your energy consumption – There are plenty of different ways that you can boost the energy efficiency of your manufacturing business. This will, in turn, lead to financial benefits. Examples include conducting an energy assessment, implementing a continuous improvement strategy, rescheduling the use of high powered electric machinery, creating an energy management team, replacing or overhauling ageing HVAC systems, optimizing air compressors and fixing leaks, and finally, installing energy-efficient lighting.
- Optimize your workforce – Take a demand-calibrated approach, instead of a capacity-utilization approach, in order to lower labor costs and balance your labor requirements. Through workforce optimization, you will be able to cut costs, as you will no longer need to spend as much on overtime.
Through the likes of managing your energy consumption better, reassessing your supplier deals, and implementing better freight and transportation management, you will be able to reduce costs so that you can gain a competitive edge in the industry.
Achieve more with effective marketing of your manufacturing company
Once you have looked for different ways to reduce your expenses and free up more funds, it makes sense to think about how you are going to attract more clients to your business. This is where marketing comes in. There are so many different ways that you can go about marketing and advertising today. This includes social media marketing, search engine optimisation, distributing flyers, attending relevant events, and much more. Of course, you cannot embrace each and every marketing method available to you, so you need to figure out what is going to be right for you.
Online marketing provides an effective way for people to reach clients online today. You should think about using social media to your advantage. LinkedIn is typically a good place for manufacturing businesses. You may also want to consider establishing yourself on Facebook too.
No matter the marketing approaches you decide to use, consistency is very much the key when it comes to building a strong and effective brand image for your manufacturing firm, so do keep this in mind! From consistency in terms of posting schedule to brand colors, it is vital.
Unlock more by training your employees
A lot of business owners overlook the importance of ongoing staff development and training because they see it as an unnecessary expense. After all, your workers currently do their jobs well, so why is there any need for change? Well, the benefits of ongoing training are more extensive than you may realise. Read on to discover why training and development is a necessity for any manufacturing business that wants to grow and boost profit levels.
- Attract new talent to your business – The best businesses are those that have the best talent, and by offering ongoing training and development, you are bound to attract the very best. After all, most professionals today are looking for job vacancies that offer them the room for progression and bettering themselves.
- Operate with greater levels of efficiency – One of the main benefits of employee training is the fact that your employees will refine their skills, which will lead to greater efficiency and quality. Let’s take courses providing lean manufacturing education as a prime example. For manufacturing businesses, streamlining processes and improving the quality of their output is a must. By giving your workers the platform to develop their lean manufacturing skills, you will be able to achieve this with greater ease, while also reducing waste in the process.
- Improve employee retention levels – It is not only about attracting new talent, but it is about holding onto your best talent. Your business will be able to increase job satisfaction levels by showing employees that you care about their professional advancement. Not only can this cause them to be loyal to your firm, but they are more likely to be motivated to work harder for you too.
- Stay ahead of the competition – Nowadays, competition is fierce across most industries. You need to do all in your power to stand out, and one of the best ways to achieve this is with ongoing training and development. After all, by advancing your workforce, you are advancing your business, and this can only be a positive thing.
- Stay in touch with the latest technological developments in the industry – New technology is being developed all of the time, and it can be difficult to keep up with this. However, if your business is to operate to the highest levels of efficiency, you need to. Training and development can make sure this is the case.
- Keep abreast of any changes in the industry – No matter what part of the manufacturing industry you work in, there will be changes going on regularly. It is vital for your business to keep up with this so that it does not get left behind, be it a new industry trend or a regulation that has been introduced.
As you can see, there are many different reasons why your business should invest in employee training and development. From boosting staff retention levels to increasing the quality of what your business produces, this is one of the best ways to propel your firm to new heights.