Newsletter Masthead
 
July 2010
 Lessons from the Book:
Saving American Manufacturing
by Michael P. Collins 
 
Last month I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the author of Saving American Manufacturing, Michael P. Collins. We talked about our views of American Manufacturing and it’s future and I want to share with you some of the lessons form his book.
 
Current Situation of American Manufacturing:
 
Manufacturing as a Percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
 
China                      34%
Germany                 23%
US                          11% (29% in 1950)
 
Michael believes there is a critical mass of manufacturing we need in the US before our national growth falls from 3% per year down to 1-2 % per year. This will greatly impact the way of life in the US.
 
 
Lessons from the Book - Saving American Manufacturing (Ways to Grow American Manufacturing):
 
Book: Saving American Manufacturing1)       Stop the Bleeding – Find out why you are losing orders, find out how your products/services compares to your competitors and put plans in place to correct any product outages and TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
 
2)       Find New Markets – classify you most profitable customers by NAICS code and market to other companies under that NAICS code. Begin looking internationally for markets for your products and not just markets within the US. Also, determine the best combination of sales/distribution channels to reach these niche markets.
 
3)       Offer New Products/Services – from marketing research that includes customer/prospect conversations, create new products to meet a niche or add services to your product offering.
 
4)       Offer Customized Products & Short Production Runs (this is one of my favorite methods for American Manufacturers because in order to provide a customized product you have to build a relationship with that customer that is hard to duplicate by another company and your product margins typically are much higher).
 
5)       Become a Prospector Organization – Most manufacturers have a Defender Organization  that works well for stable, reliable markets with a functional organizational structures with centralized decision making.   Prospector Organizations works well in a changing environment. Prospector Organizations have decentralized control, service multiple markets and constantly finding and capitalize on new product and market opportunities.
 
 
I recommend any one in manufacturing to purchase the book on Amazon.com.
 
 
Thanks,
Ben Moore
Agent Technologies, Inc. 

Continue to blog about this article at: http://xrpsystem.blogspot.com

 

View Past Issues at: http://www.agenttech.com/archive.asp

 

 
The Consumer's Workshop: the future of American manufacturing
 
The Consumer's Workshop: The Future of American Manufacturing is a hand book on how to setup the systems within your company and create the workforce you need to be successful now and in the future.  Written by authors that have worked at some of America's largest manufacturers, founded their own manufacturing organizations and helped numerous small manufacturers grow.
 
The Consumer's Workshop: The Future of American Manufacturing is a must read for today's business leaders.  It is insightful and provocative in its approach to where US manufacturing has been, how manufacturing got into the troubles it faces today and what we need to do to become the standard for world class once again.  If we want to know how to regain that competitive edge once again, the roadmap is certainly the pages of The Consumer Workshop.

-- Bruce Vaillancourt,Director, NIST MEP Program, TechSolve, Inc.

Book The Consumer's Workshop is an extremely timely review of how manufacturing strategy developed in the past
and how it will change in the future. The author team clearly demonstrates that companies have to change -- and provide plenty of advise how such a change should take place."
-- Frank Piller, PhD, International Manufacturing Consultant

As the authors make clear, eventually American manufacturing will become the workshop for direct production of consumer's own designs -- or it will be no more. Begin that path by following the steps outlined here."
-- B. Joseph Pine II, author, Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition

Investment: $12.99

 

 

 

 
In This Issue

Lessons from the Book: Saving American Manufacturing
xRP: Free 30 Day Trial
Manufacturing Statistics July 2010

 

Xrp Logo

Online CRM / ERP Solution 

Need Your Vote !


Increase Sales 
Manf Rep Software
Hosted ERP  

 
Base Subscription:
$9 per Month per User 

 30 day free trial 

  
 
Watch a 10 Minute Video on Why You Need xRP
 


 
Factory Image
 
Manufacturing Statistics 
 
1) Industrial production increased 1.2 percent in May 2010 after having risen 0.7 percent in April.  Source: Federal Reserve Board

2) Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 125,000 in June.  The private sector added 83,000 jobs while 225,00 temporary census jobs were lost.  Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
 

3) Manufacturing Trade Deficit increased to $42.3 billion in May on exports of $152.3 billion and imports of $194.5 billion.  Sources: Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis
 

4) New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased $2.2 billion or 1.1 percent to $192.0 billion.  Source: Census Bureau 

5) Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May increased $2.5 billion or 0.8 percent to $304.4 billion.  Source: Census Bureau
 

 

 
   
 
 
 
 
Agent Technologies, Inc.
Phone:  513-942-9444
Fax:  513-942-9446
 
 Founded in 1995, Agent Technologies, Inc. provides e-Commerce Solutions, Business Reporting Solutions, e-Business Strategy Development and Agent Based Systems. Try xRP - Our Online CRM/ERP Solution (xrpsystem.com).  FREE 30 Day Trial!
 
 
Agent Technologies, Inc. | 8216 Princeton-Glendale Road, Suite 191 | West Chester | OH | 45069