The 2017 Update: The Confluence of 3 Manufacturing Mega-Trends
By Bill May, President, High Value Manufacturing Consulting, LLC. This article was originally published in March of 2016 and is now being updated to reflect the changes in the economy and latest insights on the manufacturing sector in the United States. The changes...
2017: The Year of Small to Medium Manufacturing
The Year of 2016 In Review If your company is in the Manufacturing sector and you have less than 500 employees, current indications are that 2017 will be one of your best years for business growth. Post-election optimism for an improved business climate in the United...
Small Manufacturers seek Revenue Growth via Exporting
What is your company’s readiness? Is your manufacturing company looking to grow revenues? Then it’s time to consider exporting your products. The 2016 Small Business Exporting Survey by the NSBA (National Small Business Association) indicates that 65% of small...
The Confluence of 3 Manufacturing Mega-Trends
Today the manufacturing sector of the US economy is hovering around 12% of GDP. Twenty years ago this sector accounted for approximately double, or 23% of GDP. Year to date the US economy, as measured by GDP growth, is rather flat with growth around 2%. The next 3-5...
Two solutions for manufacturing workforce shortages, a contrarian approach.
Apply simple Automation to realize more efficient manpower utilization. Create entry level evaluative value added jobs. Are you continually searching for qualified employees in your manufacturing plant? And when I say qualified, I mean technically and interpersonally...
Top 8 Challenges for Small Manufacturers and Time Management
As my company works with Small to Medium Manufacturing companies, it is striking how many of their individual problems fall into to the same eight categories. These companies are trying to deal with most, if not all of these pain points simultaneously. We often find...
3 Points you need to know about the Automotive Supply Base
Recent media reports regarding the automotive industry can be misinterpreted. Although light vehicle sales in North America have attained record levels and future forecasts indicate these levels will be sustained for the next several years, you could be missing...
Does Your Manufacturing Company Have a Plan for Success?
The Southeastern United States is home to approximately 40,000 manufacturing companies. Approximately 36,000 of them have less than 500 employees (82% with less than 100 employees). A significant number of these Small to Medium Entities (SME) experience operational...
What’s Needed Most in Today’s Manufacturing Plants?
American manufacturing is once again faced with the prospect of expanding domestic and export market opportunities as the United States shifts from an internationally focused manufacturing presence. A relatively new manufacturing philosophy has evolved from these...
Need to Improve Your Manufacturing Business? Goldratt, Deming, or Ohno; who has the best solution?
Most of us in the manufacturing world are always looking for the right method to improve our business. If you’re looking for or have utilized a business improvement methodology, most likely it will be taken from one of these industry thought leaders; Dr. Goldratt, Dr....
Two Simple Steps to Improve Manufacturing Product Margins
A Tier 2 Consumer Industry supplier was struggling with cash flow and profit margins. We quickly discovered inventory turns were not sufficient at less than 4 times per year. The client also suffered from a disorganized warehouse with inventory spilling into the...
What is High Value Manufacturing ?
The University of Cambridge defines high value manufacturing as: companies who benefit from highly skilled, knowledge-intensive manufacturing operations while competing on unique value and innovation. At High Value Manufacturing Consulting we focus on Value and...
About Me
Bill is a former Automotive Manufacturing Executive that believes in order for manufacturing companies to thrive in today’s global economy, they need to be lean and quick to change.