Shift The Manufacturing Mindset

How to shift the manufacturing mindset “We aren’t ready…”

Where Do I Go?

Making decisions has become a fairly easy process in the manufacturing industry, but making the “right” decisions for manufacturers has become increasingly difficult. We’ve seen the rise and fall of many great manufacturers based on certain leaps of faith they have made, so that scares the industry. Do I invest in the process or the product? Do I even need new technology? Will this investment be worth it? These are all viable questions that many manufacturing leaders ask themselves every time they run into a new blog, video, or commercial about Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0. 

The importance of technological systems has become well-known in the manufacturing industry. But, only a fraction of the industry is taking action. If they know it’s important and they want to do it, why don’t they just do it? The answer is in the title of this blog; the manufacturer believes that they are not ready to take that step, and it all starts with the mindset in my opinion.

Decision Making

We usually have conversations with very high-level executives or the owners of the manufacturing companies. This means that they have all played vital roles in decision-making and the ultimate growth of the company over the years. If we’re having a conversation with them, what they’ve done has worked. 

Common Mistakes

The most common issue is that changing for a manufacturer that has done things the same way for years and seen steady growth, is a very hard concept to shift in their minds. One thing those that we talk to like to bring up is: “we are going through a lot of changes right now.”, “I’m not sure that we are at the stage to take on something like analytics.”, or “how do I know this is going to work?” 

Everyone needs a devil’s advocate, but guess what Frederick? Business constantly changes and you will never be ready for the leaps you take that end up putting you years ahead of other business. It’s the game of changing business and innovation within that got you to the point you are at today. The scalability of your company only comes when there is scalability in decision-making and action. I continuously try to remind my clients and prospects to think about the great decisions they have made to get them where they are today. It helps put into perspective some of the decisions and investments they made to grow a magnificent company. 

Opportunity or Risk

It’s not about being ready or not in today’s growing business world, it’s how willing you are to make a change for the better and gain an advantage over other businesses. It is way too easy to get discouraged in doing something because of time, money, and complication. Those objections are viable in starting a new project. With a simple cost-benefit analysis, decision-makers should be able to see the opportunity or the risk. 

In conclusion, it’s not that you’re “not ready” for it. The “right” time doesn’t exist in the rapidly growing manufacturing industry. It is the fact that analytics, smart manufacturing, and industry 4.0 are scary concepts to those who have never been exploited to them. There’s no point in hiding from an opportunity that knocks on your door every other day. It’s time for manufacturers to embrace change, make calibrated decisions, and grow their companies to scale with the help of valuable performance insights.