Guidepost: A post, at the intersection of 2 or more roads bearing a sign for the guidance of travelers.

It’s the year 2022. The challenges now and over the next several years in manufacturing are significant. The landscape is everchanging with much of this driven by technological and societal change that is advancing us into the new frontier of the 4^th Industrial Revolution. So just exactly how do we find our way? How do we focus and work on things that really matter? One thing is for sure, you can follow, or you can lead! And if you lead, what direction do you go and how do you stay the course? To begin, let’s think Strategic Planning and Execution.

This is an original article from NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

Disruptions in the global supply chain have led to a new dynamic for many small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) – the need to be more strategic about “second sourcing” and reshoring. The biggest increase is in what’s referred to as second sourcing, which adds redundancies such as a second source of a supply to minimize risk while increasing options. But supply chain experts also are seeing an interest in relying long term on domestic supply sources. 

Recruiting and hiring new employees is costly and time-consuming. It has been noted, an average organization loses anywhere between 1% and 2.5% of revenue on the time it takes to onboard and orientate a new hire to their position. And manufacturing organizations are experiencing a steady decline in hiring.

Cash-flow strategies are imperative in manufacturing because the cash-conversion cycle can be quite lengthy. Here are several strategies to consider for your business:

Track Your Cash Flow
The only way to know where your cash is going is by monitoring your cash flow biweekly or monthly.

Many organizations are experiencing the full force of change. This new speed of change is creating a shift in what employee’s value and what they are looking for in an organization. And because of this, organizations are now reflecting more on their culture and considering ways to enhance employee engagement and retention. Now is the ideal time for organizations to reflect on their legacy learning approaches and ask themselves: “will our existing learning approaches to enhance employee engagement, leadership development, change management, and problem solving help us transform our culture to best meet the future demands of our customers and stakeholders?” Perhaps, if the focus is on developing the team and not just the individual learner.

With more than 10,000 Baby Boomers entering retirement each day, organizations will spend more time contemplating how best to capture and retain departing talent. Combine this need with how quickly workforce, customer requirements, and buying behaviors are changing, you have a perfect talent retention storm.

If you don’t invest in risk management, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, it’s a risky business. - Gary Cohn, American Business Leader IBM

2020 taught us two distinct things: organizations are capable of adapting to monumental change, and identifying and eliminating risks must be a central focus for survival. A risk management plan does not need to be extensive and complex. It does, however, need to be approached with a proactive mindset rather than a reactive one.

Now that you’ve taken time to investigate the idea on implementing stay interviews to help retain your workforce, to the next step is to explore the types of skills you will need as an interviewer. Being a successful leader includes holding meaningful conversations - a skill that requires effort and practice. Instead, there are a handful of proven skills that transform the ordinary into extraordinary.

2020 tested companies’ agility and adaptability to the unforeseen. The fortunate companies that were able to keep their doors open, have been learning day by day what is needed to survive and thrive in the future.

One essential piece continues to be pertinent – employees. Employees are the ones who are continuing to generate revenue, produce quality goods, and satisfy customers. Being reminded of this, it is critical to retain those skilled workers during these possible trying times. So, ask yourself, how can you truly make each individual employee a priority? – Through conducting stay interviews.

I think dashboard is an overused, ill-defined word in many enterprises. As I was trying to create visibility into the success and challenges in our operations, I decided that I needed a dashboard (see blog on data). It sounds very simple. Everybody uses dashboards in business these days. Then I started to think about the origin of the dashboard and how that might help me create my own.