Wisconsin manufacturers know what “world class” looks like, but not all of them are investing the resources to make the grade.
More than 500 Wisconsin manufacturing firms responded to an online survey commissioned by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nonprofit organization that advises small- and mid-sized manufacturers on best practices for maximizing productivity.
The Next Generation Manufacturing study focused on six key strategies for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace:
-- Customer-focused innovation that outpaces the competition
-- Attracting, retaining and using a highly productive work force
-- Continuous, companywide improvement to drive productivity gains
-- A cooperative approach within a trusted network of suppliers and partners
-- Adoption of sustainable, green practices
-- Global marketing
“Firms that implement these strategies, regardless of whether they are large, mid-sized or small, get great results,” said Mike Klonsinski, executive director of WMEP. “But there is a lag for small manufacturers who start the effort. It says to us that you are not precluded from winning in a global environment because you are small, but small- or medium-sized manufacturers are less likely to start the efforts.”
An awareness of best practices is the first step, according to John Brandt, CEO of the Manufacturing Performance Institute, which conducted the study.
“(Top-performing companies) typically benchmark what is world-class performance in our industry for a particular process or metric, and start working toward it,” Brandt said. “That is not to say that there aren’t some of these things that require a significant investment ... but I don’t think it necessarily starts with money.”
Manufacturing employs one in six Wisconsin workers — 27,000 in Dane County alone — and contributes $47.7 billion to the state’s economy. There were 10,104 manufacturing firms in Wisconsin in 2007, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
Thriving in the 21st century will require agility and resourcefulness, characteristics embodied by the six key tenets of Next Generation Manufacturing.
“Firms that had made significant progress toward world-class status in any one of these activities were far more likely to outperform their peers, were more likely to have adopted best practices associated with Next Generation Manufacturing, and were more likely to have placed a high importance on that activity,” Brandt said.
