Small Manufacturers: Are You Proactive or Reactive?

Small companies, at least in the US, have no choice but to be reactive, since there is no way of knowing what is going to happen. Healthcare, taxes, future sales, market stability......none of these things, or their impact can be known with any degree of certainty. Being proactive at this point involves nothing more than sitting on whatever cash reserves you have, and waiting to see what will happen. Nothing is clear at this point. If it were, we would see some kind of momentum building.

Hi Kramarat,

There is no guarantee and there si no certitude! However, we have to be reactive to succeed!! Individuals and small groups have to start to react!!!

As you mentioned, small companies, individuals and small groups, they must be highly specialized in a specialized market and try to swimm among large incumbents, corporations. Yes, these small businesses must be reactive to their specific products and markets to protect their areas of business. However, during the last few decades, in the West, manufacturing opportunities are disappeared or were refused, and let for foreign countries to create their niche markets by becoming producers and suppliers and we only become the user of those "opportunities".

If our population wants to return to work, we have to be reactive and restart to manufacture what we want to buy and use. When I look around and name the producer of the item I have around me, I can tell that most of them is made by foreign manufacturers. This is a problem! How to solve it? Start to do what they do and do it better, more efficiently which lower the manufacturing costs. Raw materials are the same in many countries but efficiency and productivity make the difference.

We supplied steel to Japanese automakers and they sold cars to us for less then we made our cars with our steel. It's something I cannot accept for real.

Also, I agree, salary at $70 per hour is ridiculous. In Canada, cars are made with $32/h and are not bankrupted and workers are happy. We invented work efficiency and best shop productivity but let foreign countries to use. Now, we have to use it too! We have to react and return to realities and fight back. We are able to make TV, computers, cellphones, fridges, ships, cars and trucks as we did in the past.

Think about, if we manufacture 25% of TV and all kinds of screens, our no working list will be cut half.

We let transfer car manufacturing to Japanese and Korean companies and the big three are nowhere in their business. In the other hand, the software stay here and florishing in their areas. This is the big difference!

We have to accept that when someone want something, someone else has to make it. So, let the buyer pay what she/he wants and we start to make the item. With reactive attitude we can return to our realities as was before. Probably, we have to tell to the supreme people, government and leaders, to act in the interests of the majority.

Again, manufacturing must be back for success! So, be reactive, Gil.