Page 46 - MetalForming September 2013

Adopt Leading Technology Strategies
metalforming sector. New approaches to talent acquisition, training and retention cannot be postponed. If you need a great workforce, you have to be proactive in building it. Compound- ing matters is the realization that much of the current metalforming workforce is moving toward retirement, and these exiting employees will take their knowl- edge and skills with them. Don’t be surprised when your that next-genera- tion workers exhibit materially different expectations regarding performance, compensation, rewards, technology and more.
Make innovation scan and adop- tion a core competency—Everyone within your
organization
should be
involved in
identifying and
adopting new
technologies,
processes and
markets. Given
the speed with
which the
industry and
its supporting
technologies
are changing,
firms must
adopt a more
proactive
stance regard-
ing change and
innovation.
Acquire
new analytics and insights —Under- standing business performance has always been a requirement for metal- formers. However, today’s business cli- mate requires these analytics be taken to a new level. It is not enough to sim- ply understand which customers or product lines are most profitable based on simple gross-margin measure- ments. You must combine this analysis with external data that indicates growth or shrinkage within your cus- tomer’s industry, or that predicts future cost changes for raw-material inputs. Although this brings a new level of complexity to business analytics, mod-
ern technology tools have emerged to make this analysis easier, faster and more cost effective.
Adopt a new customer focus— Responding to customer needs and desires also should be taken to a high- er level. Don’t settle for reacting to needs through excellent service; proac- tively serve customers in a way that makes their businesses better. Accom- plishing this level of service requires not only delivering to minimum expec- tations for compliance and delivery performance, but developing a level of insight into their businesses so that you can deliver a delightful one-to-one experience.
Delivering a compelling cus- tomer experi- ence requires your organiza- tion to partici- pate with your customers, to enhance your methods for quoting and estimating, cus- tomer-relation- ship manage- ment, program management and advanced engineering. Modern enter- prise business systems provide metalformers
with a foundation to support their over- arching business strategies. These advanced and scalable systems, avail- able to companies of every size, aid organizations by providing the required information analytics to your evolving strategies.
These enabling technologies allow a business to identify areas of improve- ment, and markets on which to focus. Most importantly, they empower your employees to transform from manag- ing transactions to becoming true busi- ness managers, by providing them with the tools and methods needed to make more-informed business decisions.MF
44 MetalForming/September 2013
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