The manufacturing arena is facing many challenges. Some of these include demand and supply inconsistency, extended response times and quality communication between partners. In normal circumstances, you can miss out on important conversations when not communicating about procurement and supply issues. But now, more than ever, you not only must make yourself available, but you also must make yourself virtually present.
#1 – Be Virtually Present by Leveraging Technology
There is an increasing reliance on technologies that enable quality communication when working remotely. The traditional model must shift to utilizing technology and trends that your audience is utilizing daily.
For example, marketing is beginning to do much more of the heavy lifting concerning the sales funnel because of activities like social selling. There is also more weight being put on data, which is why utilizing marketing platforms like e-commerce is increasingly important.
The pandemic has made society act more touchless, even from a technological standpoint. By utilizing technology that enables people to meet easily and freely will help build that communication to keep business running at its new normal.
#2 – Develop Training Materials for Leadership Team
Here at Brennan, we have developed training materials to build our infrastructure for quality remote management. These materials have improved our company, so it’s likely to continue building down that path.
It’s a new world, and Brennan is adjusting to provide better services to those we work with on a frequent basis. Everyone must maintain consistent and constant communication, especially now, with the ever-evolving supply chain demands.
#3 – Fully Utilize Your Resources and Be Prepared for Process Changes
Logistic pileups have presented many challenges. But, by having a multi-national footprint, we have been able to move product around, giving us the opportunity to service differently but effectively. This new way of working has presented its own set of challenges, but it has also provided improvements in our processes.
#4 – Evaluate Spend and Cross-Channel Integration
One of the biggest challenges has been events, especially trade shows. There is resistance to attending shows. Attendance isn’t good, which contributes to return on investment.
In the past, shows were always difficult to track unless there was some way of gathering data virtually. Therefore, it’s worth taking the time to move funds that were once used for shows to other channels to properly track performance and meet your customers where they are at in today’s world.
#5 – Understand Where Your Industry Stands to Make Projections for Change Management
Increasing Use of Electrification
Hydraulics is not a new technology. And while there is always a push for something new, there are still threats within the industry, like many others.
For instance, there is a threat of electrification. So, the combination of electrification and hydraulics is increasing because of this threat. And while each method has its limitations, you’re going to see digital pumps and similar products come to market instead of actuators replacing hydraulic components. Overall, there is more digitization of hydraulic components for the control of electronics.
More Space Travel from Other, Non-Government Entities
Additionally, the aerospace market has been getting a lot of publicity. From billionaires to big businesses, launching into the galaxies is no longer limited to government travel. And because hydraulics plays a big role in aircraft, we are very excited to see these changes.
Staying on top of change and technology helps us to make projections and prepare for the way we do business. To learn more about Brennan’s response to today’s working environment, visit IndustrialSage. Marketing Director John Joyce is interviewed about the issues and improvements we have made throughout the company.