February 14, 2017
According to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, manufacturing is on an upswing. The composite index rose in January, making it the fifth straight monthly expansion. New orders and production grew strongly! And the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank reported that manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace since April 2010 – more importantly, leaders are positive about the next six months. In fact, the forward-looking outlook measure jumped to a level not seen in 12 years! Are you ready?
What Should We Consider and/or What Impacts Could Arise?
Although this is great news for manufacturing, we should make sure we are prepared for success. Do we have the capacity and staffing to meet our customer requirements? Do we have the skills and talent to grow successfully? And, are we building agility and flexibility into our systems? According to my recent outsourcing research, 70% of executives are considering near-sourcing and in-sourcing strategies. Thus, I expect these numbers to continue to grow.
Many of my clients struggle to find, retain and train talent. Thus, I have dusted off my Skills Gap research from late 2013 and am refreshing it. I’d appreciate your feedback and insights for my research. I’ll keep you in the loop on the results.
In the interim, start thinking about the skills gap. Are you partnering with community colleges? Trade associations like APICS? Other local companies? Even competitors? Consider involving top notch executive recruiters, partnering with temporary agencies and supplementing with consultants and contractors. Success will come to those companies ready to serve the customer when the customer wants it! We cannot afford to delay.