MFGx Blog

The Role of the Internet in Developing Your Business

aj — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:25:44 GMT

The Web has become the preferred channel where manufacturers, prospects and purchasers go to research sources and partners to build and develop their products. But many manufacturers miss opportunities for new business because they're presenting incomplete or insufficient information online.

Prospective customers use the Internet to research potential solutions. They have specific purposes, and they collect information on plastics processors that can provide those solutions based on their specific, technical specifications and business needs.

Today's prospect is a stealth prospect: in control and anonymous throughout the research cycle until they chose to reveal themselves. Their online behaviors aren’t very different from yours when researching a capital equipment purchase. What they find online about your company – or don’t find there – can strongly influence who they'll engage or investigate further, and who they won't. If you’re deemed worthy, they’ll engage you.

To attract, influence and motivate prospects to add you to their short lists of potential suppliers or partners, an online strategy to maximize exposure AND effectively capitalize on prospects’ behaviors must include:

Present Your Core Strengths – Your equipment and facilities are important. So are the industries and companies you’ve served. But the primary purpose to any successful Web presence for plastics processors is to differentiate you from your competition. And there’s nothing that differentiates you like describing the details of projects you’ve worked and parts/products you’ve made. Present the technical features of each part, the materials and equipment used, the improvements made to the part/product during the life of the project, and any problems encountered and how you solved them.
Start A Blog – They’re inexpensive (many are free), they’re relatively easy to set up and you don’t have to know code to update them. And best of all, a Blog (short for “Web Log”) is an effective means of communicating what your company is doing, what projects you’re working on, company news and anything the market may find interesting. Easy, inexpensive and effective. And here’s a tip: post to your Blog regularly, but you don’t have to post frequently.
Participate On The Web – Find related forums for plastics professionals – like those on Plastics.com – and answer questions, offer suggestions and contribute to the dialogue. Each post acts as an organic reference for you and your company. And remember that once the discussion has faded into the background, your posts will remain in perpetuity – legacy posts are often found by prospects searching for suppliers, and these “breadcrumbs” can be very effective at putting your company in a prospect’s view.

Union To Further Raise Costs To Manufacture In China

aj — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:47:13 GMT

The opportunities that the rising costs to manufacture in China offer manufacturers in mature markets like Europe and the U.S. are real. The low valuation of the dollar, eliminated VAT rebates, and rising labor and fuel costs all are motivating enterprises to look at other countries - many closer to their base - to supply their products.

We'll say it again - this is a perfect time to engage former customers or new prospects to sell the attractiveness and adorability of your business as a viable alternative to China sources. As they explore new options to manage these rising costs, they're more likely to listen to options they wouldn't have thought about 2 years ago.

But it looks like things are getting even more "perfecter."

This past week, a story by David Barboza in the New York Times announced "China Tells Businesses to Unionize." The ramifications for businesses currently embedded in China may be even more dramatic than the rising costs of the past year and a half.

The gist of the article is that the Chinese government is strongly pressuring corporations in China - both foreign owned and domestic - to allow the state-approved unions in their businesses. Some of the largest companies like Wal-Mart and others have until September 30th to accept the union. Mr. Barboza writes:

Lawyers and analysts say that demands of the All China Federation of Trade Unions, the only union the Communist Party allows, could sharply alter business practices of foreign companies in China, including giving lower-level workers the power to bargain over anything from pay raises to whether a Chinese headquarters should be moved elsewhere in the country.
+ "This will dramatically change the landscape here," said Andreas Lauffs, a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie's Shanghai office who is an authority on China's labor laws. "At the very least, company management must now consult, and in many cases bargain, with employees and unions on a wide range of matters, whereas in the past they enjoyed almost unlimited autonomy."+
+ The union push is coming at a time when global corporations are already facing rising labor and commodity costs in China, which is struggling to contain inflation.+

Of course, there are definately direct costs to be concerned with as the union moves into an organization:

Forming unions could be costly, lawyers and labor experts say, because a union could fight for higher wages and benefits and because companies are required to pay 2 percent payroll dues. The dues could amount to millions of dollars in additional costs for big companies. Yum Brands, for instance, has about 160,000 employees in China.
Manufacturers are already coping with soaring labor costs, which have jumped by 30 to 40 percent in some coastal manufacturing zones over the last four years. Also, a new contract labor law and stricter enforcement of older labor rules means some companies can no longer avoid paying overtime costs, which can be substantial because many factories insist that some employees work six days a week.

And in case you think this only impacts the big boys:

Union officials say they are focusing on global companies, but Chinese companies make up the bulk of the manufacturing work force and they are also expected to face audits and pressure to unionize.

But the concern - from Fortune 500 corporations to SMB manufacturers with a Chinese manufacturing presence - should be over the intangibles that come with collective bargaining and a strong union: work stoppages, and leveraging for better pay, benefits and conditions. In other words, it's not the bill on the table, but what comes for desert.

"Some foreign companies in China haven't behaved well in dealing with their workers' interests and rights," Wang Ying, an official at the All China Federation of Trade Unions in Beijing, said in a telephone interview this week. "As the economy and society develops, China needs to improve workers' legal rights and interests, which is a demand of a civilized society."

China's resolve should not be questioned here. Its aggressive approach to reducing pollution and redirecting resources prior to the Olympics should offer all the proof you need. And the natural progression to a modern society has to include an emerging, powerful middle class that wields influence and power. Look at the U.S. 100 years ago for more proof of that.

The costs of progress are always significant. China and its people are beginning to discover its potential and invest to make it reality. But the insertion of the union into Chinese manufacturing will absolutely increase costs and the need to improve margins much more quickly.

Your MFG.com Profile, The Web, And Your Prospects

aj — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:07:12 GMT

Recently over at MFG.com, a buyer in the manufacturing marketplace sent an interesting piece of feedback that all manufacturers should consider sage advice. The buyer - a prospect that uses MFG.com supplier profiles to conduct research to select suppliers - provided a list of "must haves" for their MFG.com profiles. He writes:

"... It would really behoove (you) to work very close with these new suppliers to make sure that the profile entered is as complete and detailed of as possible. I would think with the money that suppliers spend to participate in this fantastic program it would make them wise to the extreme benefits of having a detailed and complete profile. It should be (your) number one goal ... to help these suppliers develop there profiles."

The buyer's list shows what he looks for when comparing suppliers and choosing to initiate contact. It is based on deficiencies he's found with several profiles in the past:

Pictures of their shop, both inside and outside (if they are proud and it is presentable, common sense would apply).
Pictures of parts previously made that show their full capabilities.
Detailed equipment lists of everything in their shop, all the way down to overhead cranes and forklifts.
Links to their company’s website (if they have one, which they should invest in anyway).
Any ISO 9001 or other certifications they may have from distinguished buyers.
References from buyer

Not only does this list describe in detail what an active buying prospect looks for in an MFG.com profile, it also rings true for your own Web site. Your Web presence - all mentions of your company online - serve one primary purpose: to differentiate you from your competition. Thoroughness, accuracy and relevance are key to influencing these potential customers and partners that you are worth the time to investigate further.

If your MFG.com profile is incomplete, update it. If your Web site is incomplete, update it. If you don't, you're likely leaving money on the table and you won't even know it.

How NOT To Blog

aj — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:36:20 GMT

I recently wrote about why manufacturers (and businesses, for the most part) don't blog.

I stumbled on and article this morning titled "12 Common Blogging Mistakes To Avoid" that gives some pretty good advice on do's and don'ts for the beginning bloggist.

Of course, that's you - if you want to be. Just register on MFGx, and you get your own blog for the manufacturing world to see.

The list of 12 mistakes deserves a read. Here are the titles of each item (with my comments in parenthesis):

Thinking (more) people will actually read (a) post [they won't)
Using full paragraph format (be brief)
Not using or numbering lists (see previous)
Trying to sell something in a blog post (the more commercial you are, the less credibility you earn)
Not including facts (support your findings)
Using improper titles (don't get cute - say what it's about)
Writing for pHds (keep it simple, when you can ... tough for manufacturers sometimes - it's the nature of the beast)
Making the post too long (again, be brief)
Repackaging existing information (and be sure to give proper credit)
No use of headings and subheadings
Highlight or bold important terms and concepts (helps readers scan - perfect for the Web)
Not using supporting images (a picture's worth a 1000 posts)

One other point from me: find your own voice. Following these nuggets of advice can get you started blogging on the right foot.

Why Don't You Blog?

aj — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:11:37 GMT

I found an interesting blog post this morning about the Common Excuses Companies Use For Not Having a Blog. It presents 4 of the most commonly heard excuses and some arguments in favor of companies blogging to their customer base.

The author, David Wallace, had discovered results from a survey conducted by Burson-Marsteller that found less than 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with customers via blogs.

The excuses David has heard from companies?

We Cannot Afford To Install a Blog
We Have Nothing To Say
We Have No One To Write For Us
We Are Afraid!

Both the survey and David conclude that there should be more. They're right.

And the survey found that the smaller the company, the less likely it is to blog. From the survey analysis:

Larger companies tend to control blogs in greater numbers than their smaller counterparts, according to the Burson study. Nearly one-third (32%) of the Fortune 50 maintain blogs, while 16% of the Fortune 201 through 250 have blogs. Only 2% of the Fortune 451 to 500 maintain blogs.

And here's what I know - in manufacturing, it's much worse. I'd venture to say that among manufacturing SMBs, you're about as likely to find a blog as oil for 19 Euros a barrel.

Blogs can be a brilliant channel for inspiration, to influence a company's strategies and products by drawing insight from its customers and prospects. But manufacturers don't see it, and I think there is one main reason why:

Manufacturers Aren't Communicators - It's not that manufacturers have nothing to say, it's that you're not often very good at saying it. It's just not how you're wired. It's the rarest of breeds that has great writing chops and strong programming, machining, or engineering skills. It's nothing to be ashamed of - it's just as unlikely that a marketing executive can program and run a Hardinge.

The answer? Practice. Writing a blog doesn't have to be long-winded - it can be brief. It doesn't have to be written to every day - just regularly. It should portray your organization as competent and allow for your prospects and customers to talk back to you.

All members of MFGx get a blog. It's free. Try it. Get your hands dirty. Have a little fun.

Who knows? This whole Internet thing just might take off.

Military Portal Serves Up Important Web Lessons For Manufacturers

aj — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:39:49 GMT

The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) is a technology provider to the U.S. military and its contractor and supplier base. Its list of Alliance (technology) Partners and Board of Directors reads like a who's who of the machining universe - technology providers, academia and corporate leadership.

To get a strong flavor of the types of support the NCDMM offers the U.S. military supply chain, check out their Manufacturing Solutions page and select from the menu titled "Our Success Stories."

Now, certainly the NCDMM offers great value through driving efficiencies into the intricate manufacturing and machining processes required to build such sophisticated products. Rifling through those Solutions will give you a strong sense of what they've done and how they've done it. And they're actually much more effective at explaining what NCDMM does than the tired prose you find throughout the primary pages of the site. For example:

Over a very short period of time, NCDMM activities evolved from quick response support to participation in a full range of initiatives to resolve production issues that challenge the manufacturing and machining efforts of defense organizations and their contractor communities. This participation addresses currently deployed weapon systems as well as future systems. The impact of the Center's participation is quantifiable and significant.

Ugh.

Now, check out this one example from their repository of Solutions (in PDF format, unfortunately):

Now which of these best portray for you the NCDMM's competence as a potential partner?

(If you said the text, please contact me through this site with the name of your doctor. You obviously get better drugs than Elvis.)

The project sheet does several things that your Web site should do in spades:

Create Brief Vignettes of Your Competence - The PDF is brief. It's easy to read. It states the challenge and the solution and explains how it was done.
What Was The Payoff? - Show directly how your professional competence resulted in real benefits to a past customer through manufacturing excellence.
What Were The Time Benefits? - Time is important to your prospects. Maybe you improved the cycle time of a part or product. But maybe it was improved delivery time. Maybe it was better logistics. Whatever you did to get parts to a customer quicker and cheaper - list it.
Who Was Involved? - What partners did you use? What divisions or groups in your shop or plant or company? Show your versatility.
Put These Examples Front and Center on Your SIte - With apologies to NCDMM, don't bury your vignettes like they have. Make them the centerpiece of your site - you're talking to people that are looking for competent partners, not loquacious wordsmiths.

And another benefit of following this advice: the search engines LOVE this stuff, because you're naturally adding the keywords and phrases that your prospects are actually searching for.

Look, people don't go to the Web to read - they go to the Web to work. To be specific, the folks that you should care most about - prospects looking for manufacturers to make them look good - are.

The NCDMM - a great organization - got their Web site backwards. Push the words to the back, and what you do that makes you great to the front.

How Will YOU Seize On The Latest Opportunities?

aj — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:11:24 GMT

Today's MFGx guest blogger is Anita Berlanga, CEO of Bear Boring LLC, a custom machining shop in Wyoming, Illinois.

"What does not kill you makes you stronger," to paraphrase an oldie.

For small-to-midsize machine shops, the current economic recession - coupled with shocking fuel charges - will either kill us, or we will prevail and possibly even grow.

The media would have us cowering in our shops, scared to buy a paperclip, let alone explore inventive ways to maintain our customer base as well as grow during these difficult economic times but I posit that these are actually times of OPPORTUNITY for small-to-midsize machining and manufacturing businesses.

One example: As few as 5 years ago it looked as if we were on the ropes due to offshore sourcing. The current cost of fuel (coupled with other offshore difficulties) is allowing companies to reconsider shops that are more geographically desirable. How do we present ourselves to buyers to maximize this potential? What are the opportunities therein for the small jobshop or midsize manufacturer?

I don't have all the answers or I'd be in Tahiti, sipping a pina colada ... so I'm putting it to you, cyber-colleagues: what are YOUR plans to weather the current (and developing) conditions ... and maximize opportunity during these difficult times. Let's share some ideas:

One of our solutions is to provide our customers with value-added services. The big guys are sweating so you can imagine what your smaller customers are going through. Chat with your customers, find out what their concerns are, then see what you can do to address those concerns.

For example, we have a customer about 2 hours away with several processes to end-use. When we first teamed up with him we found he was sourcing casting 4 hours away from him (6 hrs from us), machining with us, powdercoating with yet another shop ... and these are relatively large parts ... if you look at this, it's easy to see that it rapidly becomes cost-ineffective for him to do business all over the tri-state area - shipping alone was eating him alive and that was before gas spiked over $4/gal!!! Our solution was to work with our local foundry and powdercoater to supply him with quotes for casting, etc. within our local area (a 20 mile radius). Now, instead of hundreds of dollars in shipping charges all over the place he has one shipping charge - back to him. In helping him keep his costs down we are hoping to help him stay in business, in general and with us!

One of my favorite phrases is: SOLVE THE PROBLEM. Most companies can get a machine shop - we're all over the place. It's harder to find a partner- one who can help the customer solve the problem. People tend to stick with their partners. In these perilous economic times, what tactics are you using to partner with your customers and help them solve their problems?

I thought it would be interesting to hear from some of you on this. We don't need particulars - just some ideas you might have for making it easier for small shops to take advantage of this economic downturn.

And that's another thing ... how do we help each other solve the problem? We can all survive this if we work together. Another example (I'm full of 'em): I just had an interesting chat with my painter - he's a tiny shop and often he's the only one there. He just had surgery on a badly damaged hand. Wrangling heavy beams is out of the question for a while. We had 2000+ lbs of frames that had to be powdercoated NOW and I suggested that I send one of our guys to help him lift the beams and he said 'well, it's my problem'. Bull - it's OUR problem. If the parts aren't done my customer will bite ME, not him. So it behooved me to get somebody over there to give him a hand. We met our deadline, the customer loves us and we solved the problem!

These economic times will cause us to react in one of two ways - we can hunker down and hang on tight to what we know, or we can explore other avenues of thinking how to do business. Do you collaborate with other machine shops that, perhaps, have a client base where processes can - and need to be- shared? If not, consider it. There is actually more business to be had with collaboration than exclusion, even amongst 'like' shops. Consider putting together an ad-hoc consortium. We have scored several HUGE jobs that way (you can have your attorney draw up a limited non-compete and you sign one, too! Works both ways). The lead shop is responsible for quality control and liaises with the customer - no cheating!!! One job we closed in the past month kept the doors open for 3 different shops, including our own. If our colleagues reciprocate, that's great. But if not, we're still all making money we wouldn't have made on our own.

This may sound all Pollyanna and everything, but consider this: the companies that are coming back onshore have been doing business with giant offshore shops with cheap labor. Even if that is changing, it's still their current benchmark so we have to be creative to give them a translatable value (it's unlikely we are going to be able to match their labor rates!). Communication, customer service and collaboration and problem-solving are all qualities that will help quantify your value and make your shop a viable contender.

And don't listen to the media - we will can prevail and grow during these times. But only if we work smart...and possibly work together.

Let's hear your thoughts on this!

Yes, Your Web Site Can Get You More Business

aj — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:29:22 GMT

No one that I know of has done more over the years to help define what a Web site should say than Jakob Nielsen of www.useit.com.

He is direct, knowledgeable, and almost always right. His message for Web site language and content has been consistent, and extraordinarily useful for manufacturers.

The latest post on the subject comes from his Alertbox newsletter. Writing Style for Print vs. Web follows Jakob's mantra that prospects are in a different condition when they visit your Web site, compared to when they encounter a brochure or other printed media.

I've always described the distinction like this:

Printed media introduces prospects to things they didn't know they needed. The Web introduces prospects to things they already know they need, but aren't sure where to find them.

For anyone interested in maximizing their manufacturing Web site, you'd do well to read through Jakob's legacy work at UseIt.com. Here are some other related pieces on his site that can help you improve your site's effectiveness at gaining new work and prospects:

Let The Games Begin

aj — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:10:33 GMT

Once again, Rick over at All Roads Lead To China offers up sound advice for buyers with suppliers and supply nodes in China.

Last year, ARLTC warned of the impending dilemma buyers and sourcing pros faced from the elimination of the VAT rebates, warning them to get their shipments out before gridlock hit the ports. (The photo below shows the gridlock in Shanghai last June, as suppliers rushed to ship product before the VAT reabates were discontinued in July.)

Over at MFG.com, coverage was also extensive around the VAT reductions and their impact.

Unfortunately, many failed to listen to Rick's warnings from on the ground in China. And now he's back, playing Paul Revere with a message that's critical for buyers in the near term, and excellent intelligence for suppliers in the U.S. and other markets:

When I began reporting a couple months ago that the Olympic Shutdown was coming, some were skeptical ... but (you should) understand that the risks of this are growing, that the impacts will reach into many supply chains, and there are ways to mitigat(e)/manage the risk.

Folks, time is short to act on these issues, and a word to the wise is sufficient.

Rick lists 3 characteristics of suppliers in China that make them susceptible to shutdown (in order of importance):

Heavy air polluters
Require high amounts of energy
Require high amounts of water

Rick also identifies 3 potential scenarios that could affect buyers that rely on Chinese sources:

Suppliers will be shutdown and therefore a part/ process cannot be delivered on time
Suppliers will not be able to deliver the goods on time due to restrictions on trucks
Even if you get the parts and are able to avoid being shutdown ... you may find it difficult to ship your goods yourself. Ports may be restricted for security, trucks may be off the road, (or) crane operators may be watching the national team

True to form, Rick offers sound suggestions on ways to mitigate the pending risks. He advises:

If you need 4-6 weeks to produce (parts or deliverables) you really only have 1-2 weeks left to push out orders or build up stock... so act now
Understand which of your suppliers are at the highest risk and speaking to them about developing some measure of safety stock within their/your warehouse
Get your sales and logistics departments together and make sure they are in sync over the capabilities of shipping department vs. customer delivery (requirements)

Rick points out that there's about 2 months until the Beijing Olympics begin, but he believes only about 4 weeks before the first shutdowns commence. That doesn't leave much time for buyers to react and plan, but forewarned is forearmed.

Google Pages - More Web Goodness For Manufacturers

aj — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:32:45 GMT

Awhile back, we wrote about Google Sites, a platform from the Googleplex that allows manufacturers to create whole Web sites with social/2.0 features easily.

Here's another toolkit from Google Labs that manufacturing SMBs will want to watch: Google Pages.

Like Google Sites, Google Pages is a WYSIWYG html editor. Here's what we get:

No technical knowledge required. Build high-quality web pages without having to learn HTML or use complex software.
What you see is what you'll get. Edit your pages right in your browser, seeing exactly how your finished product will look every step along the way.
Don't worry about hosting. Your web pages will live on your own site at http://yoursitename.googlepages.com.

While Google Sites is a one-stop shop for complete Web site creation and hosting, Google Pages looks like it'll help those of us with an existing site to create pages to upload to them without having html or technical chops.

Right now, Google Pages is still in "an early testing phase" (is that pre-beta?) but it's accessible and looks pretty good.

For manufacturing SMBs looking to broaden their Web development options, you oughtta slap a bookmark on Google Pages.

Google Sites - New Web Site Options For All Manufacturers

aj — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:43:45 GMT

Google has just announced a new Web service called Google Sites, and it offers manufacturing professionals large and small several options to promote and serve their businesses, and collaborate with others simply and effectively.

In essence, Google Sites is about building a Web site without needing to know how to build a Web site. No coding, design or advanced computer skills are needed.

Check out these features and descriptions:

Single-click page creation - Creating a new page for your Google Site just takes the click of a button.

No HTML required - Creating a Google Site is as easy as editing a document, which means there's no markup language for you to learn - just get started.

Make it your own - (Google's) customization options let you give your Google Site your own look and feel.

Get started with templates - (Google) offer(s) a growing list of page types -- web page, announcements, file cabinet, dashboard and list -- to help you get started with your Google Sites pages.

Upload files and attachments - Use the file cabinet to upload files up to 10MB in size. Each Google Apps account receives at least 10GB of storage in Google Sites. Google Apps Premier and Education editions get an additional 500MB for each user account.

Embed rich content - Google Sites is integrated with other Google products, so you can insert videos, docs, spreadsheets, presentations, photo slide shows, and calendars directly onto your Google Sites pages.

Work together and share - (Google's) permission settings let you designate owners, viewers and collaborators (meaning they can edit pages) for your site. And you can make your Google Sites available to just a few people, your entire organization, or the world.

Search with Google - You can search across Google Sites pages and content using powerful Google search technology. You'll find specific pages and documents instantly, the same way you would on Google.com.

What does all this mean for manufacturers? You can create a useful Web site for your company. You can create an Intranet (internal site) to serve you company, employees, sales force, etc. You can create private sites to serve a project and only invite the project members. You can create training sites for your employees.

The point is that you can create a Web site - without knowing how.

Purchasers, Engineers Influenced By Weakened Dollar

aj — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:48:14 GMT

A recent survey of international purchasing professionals, engineers and supply chain managers reveals that the declining value of the U.S. Dollar has noticeably influenced where they source manufacturing to.

The survey, conducted by MFG.com, resulted in over 500 buyers responding. Among the findings:

40% of the participants stated the current value of the US dollar had an effect on where they choose to source their business.
47% of the Buyers stated they were sourcing more business in the US as a direct result of the declining value of the US Dollar.

This survey represents the latest evidence of a trend of gradually shifting sourcing proclivities away from China that began in the summer of last year, when China reduced or eliminated many VAT rebates. More evidence of this shift - and examples of how to capitalize - can be found here, here and here.

U.S. and other mature market manufacturers are still in a good position to influence buyers to consider them as attractive alternatives to their "low-cost" competitors.

If you're a manufacturing SMB, it's a good time to reach out to buyers and explain what makes you different and valuable as a partner in their supply chains. Use your Web site to specifically define those strengths.

Seizing this opportunity can help you win business from buyers that are ready to sold on you as an option.

(According to MFG.com, the entire survey and an announcement regarding future data channels from the company will be made public at the end of June, 2008.)

Do YouTube?

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:05:10 GMT

Videos presented on machining and manufacturing Web sites vary wildly in both quantity and quality. Don't believe me? Take a trip around the Manufacturing Web and tell me what you find.

Granted, some are pretty good (mostly on capital equipment manufacturers' or other big boys' sites). But the vast majority of what little you can find shouldn't be.

A big part of the problem is MIP (Manufacturer's Internet Phobia). This is a condition that afflicts many managers, presidents and owners of small to mid-sized shops and plants that are on the cusp between their kids that can setup a LAN with their eyes closed and their parents who still marvel at the first time they saw the Smothers Brothers on color TV.

Videos can be incredibly valuable in presenting your value as a technology and service partner. They can also go a long way in differentiating you from your competition.

But the question for MIP sufferers is: How do I create and manage videos efficiently and do my business justice?
Answer: Have you thought about YouTube?

Obviously, many manufacturers haven't. Check out these search results from YouTube a few days ago (keyword/phrase – results):

Machining – 174,600 (looks impressive until you start finding Jimi Hendrix "Machine Gun" and Rage Against The Machine clips on the 3rd SERP
High Speed Machining - 100 (much cleaner results, but c'mon – 100?!?!)
Gear Hobbing - 8 (including a House Of Blues reference)
Machining - 122 (not as bad as you'd think, but just know there aren't a lot of Davenport references)

YouTube isn't the place where your customers are going on their own to research in ways meaningful to you. There's too much "space junk" to make it a valuable research channel for your prospects.

Instead of producing and hosting your own videos on your site or posting random videos on YouTube hoping they're found in the haystack, consider creating a Channel on YouTube.

It's easy to create (create an account on the YouTube home page) and your profile page is your Channel. Give it your company name, and start uploading videos of the processes you're best at. As your collection grows, link to it/them from your own Web site – both as a collection (click here for videos) and individually (click here to see this turbine blade machined).

Following this advice is free, effective (by linking to it from your site, you increase the value by sending prospects to videos in context to their research) and it's easy (no hosting or other technical requirements).

Related Link: Joining the YouTube Community – And Creating Your Own Channel

Do Manufacturers Truly Understand Brand Development?

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:56:44 GMT

This is the title of a really good forum post on MFGx, and it's a great question that deserves to be debated.

In my opinion, the question posed is valid, because the vast majority of manufacturers don't understand branding at all. Marketing and promotion are "black arts" to manufacturers as much as feed rates, multi-axis machining techniques, and cellular manufacturing are to "marketers."

From my experience, the causes are easy to understand but complex to solve:

Branding by and to manufacturers is different - The elements of "branding" that are most obvious in our culture (logos, slogans, etc.) resonate really well with the consumer in us, but they don't work well to solicit strong behavioral response from manufacturers with precise, explicit, tangible needs. I mean, think about it: "Looking for high-tolerance, complex geometrical product solutions with the most exotic materials for advanced weapon or aerospace applications? Well, we're the bomb!"
There are few examples to follow - Consumer Marketing has become so prevalent, that that's all we see and have to use as examples. Manufacturer's Web sites often go for the shallow, and ignore the detail that most buyers of their services are looking for.

But maybe you think I'm all wet, or worse. Jump in this discussion. Defend yourselves. Share your thoughts.

So, what do you think? Do manufacturers truly understand brand development?

Competition For Tanker Heats Up; Manufacturers Can Capitalize

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:27:27 GMT

As you may have read here on MFGx and around the blogosphere, the competition between Airbus and Boeing to build aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. has been fierce.

Now, Airbus has stepped up with a bold announcement (see Airbus Sweetens The Deal and associated links) - if they win the tanker contract, they will, in fact, move substantial production of other aircraft to the U.S. (Alabama).

It's extremely important for aerospace manufacturers to keep an eye on these developments, because there will be ample opportunities for savvy manufacturers to enter the emerging supply chains established from these moves.