So there was good news on the job front today, sort of, in the US, not as many jobs were lost this month and the numbers for the last 2 months were revised on the positive side. It looks like we may have hit the bottom and we are on the way back up again. On the down side, many are still out of work and it may take years to get them back to work again.
Companies in times like these spend time figuring out how to do more with less. They get lean and implement agile strategies. As spending goes up and people get back to work we sometimes get lax and stop focusing on the things that increased our profits and productivity.
I encourage all of our partners, customers and friends to continue to look at lean and agile strategies and also strategies for increasing revenues, becoming more vertical, and expanding offerings to your present and potential customers.
Some value-added services I have seen companies working on include:
* adding the ability to do FEA, finite element analysis, for customer’s product designs
* adding translation capabilities to their software to improve their ability to quote, collaborate and edit customer files
* improve marketing and collaboration with the addition of photo-realistic rendering
* remove paper from the manufacturing floor and replace it with computers and viewers to eliminate costly errors
* adding the capability to geometrically compare and validate CAD files to reduce waste and scrap
* train engineers in the latest features of their software, thereby speeding design and editing from 20% to 10x
* add low cost integrated NC capabilities to the CAD software to replace high-cost complex NC software.
These are all great strategies for improving productivity and increasing revenues and profits. Which strategies would provide you with the most immediate and substantial positive net results? Be sure to determine that and work them into your plans for the remainder of the year.
As the economy makes a comeback, remember to continue your continuous improvement programs and prepare yourself for both the upturns and the next downturn.
I’d like to hear other strategies you are using to improve your sales, profits, reduce costs and waste.
If you’d like to know more about the above strategies, please call, email or tweet us and we can share more with you.
Here’s to an improving economy and improving our businesses.
Thank you for reading and commenting,
Scott
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Source: CAD Freedom and Precision – Views and News from KubotekUSA – Retooling Manufacturing Business in Downturn and Upturn
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