The economy’s down. The economy’s up. The economy’s down. The economy’s up.

            It’s no secret that business needs stability in order to thrive. And it’s no secret that our economy has been anything but stable. But to make it under these conditions, business has to be more competitive and responsive than ever. Eventually the survivors will be blessed with increased stability, and the ups and downs will level out somewhat. Just don’t plan on it. It’s going to take a while.

            Gone are the days of heavy inventory loads on our overhead. We have to be more liquid than ever, more fluid, both in our cash management and in our production planning. We have to build our orders as fast as ever to compete, but we can’t enjoy the luxury of keeping plenty of stock and manpower on hand. Or can we?

            As managers increasingly must think outside the box - and as the box itself seems to continually change shape - good ideas are worth a bundle. Because good ideas mean solutions, and solutions mean business.

            Once overhead and inventories are cut, labor remains a major expense area. But in these times of shrinking margins and rapid response, labor is both crucial and detrimental to your business’s profits. If it’s there when needed, orders get processed quickly. When it’s there without orders, it eats up cash flow like Superman - faster than a speeding bullet. Handing out those pink slips is depressing - and paying out all the associated expenses makes you feel like you’re running in cement.

            You can plan your inventory supply with vendors as tuned in to on-time delivery as you are to on-time shipping. Knowing which vendors can keep at your pace is one solution to a multifaceted scenario. The same holds true with labor. Any business has to have a base level of personnel on hand to take care of a base level of consistent business. But how does management respond to the sudden ups ...

...Continued in the pages of Twin Plant News, Subscribe Today!