To quote AMT’s Chief Knowledge Officer, Pat McGibbon, “The U.S. manufacturing landscape continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace. This development, in conjunction with concerns about trade policy impacts on exports, points to a decline in manufacturing technology orders in 2019 over 2018.”
The question that you need to be asking yourself is …
What is my company doing to prepare?
At a recent meeting I attended with AMT members, we discussed the current state of our businesses and our growing concerns over the uncertainty in the marketplace. We all experienced the downturn in 2008, but have we learned anything from that time? Have we been riding the wave of success and forgotten that what goes up must go down? As Ben Franklin once said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Preparing for success in an uncertain marketplace requires asking the right questions. Here are a few points to consider when planning for changing market conditions:
Do I have a contingency plan(s)?
Some members have multiple plans dependent upon many factors. Has your company conducted a risk assessment and identified areas of weakness? Your plan should cover the scenarios identified in the risk assessment but also include other possibilities. What if there are supply chain issues or weather emergencies? Trigger points also need to be identified. When does the plan go into action, and who makes those decisions?
Do I have recurring revenue?
If new orders aren’t coming in, do you have anything in place to maintain a steady revenue stream? Do you have service, parts, or applications engineering? In an economic downturn, companies will want to get lean and will turn to automation. Can you offer those services to your current customers?
Have I ranked your current personnel?
We have all hired (or tried to hire) skilled workers over the past several years to keep up with demand and the pace of our market. If and when the time comes, can you keep all your employees? Should you keep all your employees?
Now is a good time to take a look at your company, team, builders, suppliers, and products. Are they competitive, productive, and innovative?
There are always opportunities for your business during a downturn, and AMT is here to help identify them. Meeting, greeting, and building relationships with existing customers and partners will always be a good use of your time – no matter what the economic outlook is.
You can call on AMT’s Member Services team at any time to discuss what the future looks like for your company, to help answer the questions listed above, or to review your existing contingency plans with our industry experts.
AMT’s Distribution Summit (D19), September 11-12 in Detroit, is an opportunity for you to meet with experts, work on your sales strategy, and develop effective customer communications. MTForecast, October 2-4 in Cleveland, is the most comprehensive economic outlook and forecast for our industry and can help you plan successfully for the future.
Email Kim Brown at kbrown@AMTonline.org.
