03 Jun It’s All about Change, and how you handle it. Click to keep reading…
It’s been a long year since my last article. All I can say is — wow, things have changed! I’m sure many readers wish they could have fast forwarded from 2019 to 2021, avoiding the stress of COVID-19. I sincerely believe that most, if not all of us, had no idea that we could handle all the personal and professional “changes” that we would be forced to endure in 2020.
Let’s talk for a moment about the changes we’ve all felt related to manufacturing. Whether you are a consumer or a manufacturer, you’ve felt the change in areas like backordered furniture, appliances, electronics, building materials, automobiles, etc. Even Amazon Prime orders weren’t always delivered in one day!
The good news for retail is, for the most part, things seem to be settling down and getting back to somewhat of a normal flow.
Manufacturing’s extended lead times, material shortages and staff shortages are still a reality. Let’s get one thing straight, throughout the rest of 2021 and into 2022, you will see and experience “change” in manufacturing. For what it’s worth, I believe we will be much better off in the long run. As Christine Evans/Director of Product Marketing & Content Strategy at Fictiv put it in a recent article, “The Covid-19 pandemic is finally starting to abate, the vaccine roll-out is underway, and life is slowly returning to normal. In the aftermath of an entire year’s worth of disruption, the manufacturing industry is now left picking up the pieces and learning what the “new normal” will look like. While all emergencies create the need for temporary solutions, long-term disruptions create solutions that eventually become incorporated into regular practices. The manufacturing industry is now left with numerous pandemic-created solutions that just might become standard practice in 2021 and going forward. Evans goes on to say that “Manufacturing should also see a significant increase in cobots – collaborative robots that work alongside human counterparts to produce goods. Cobots ease the burden of labor for workers while increasing efficiency, boosting quality, and dramatically reducing turnaround time for orders. Cobots are already being used in multiple industries and on manufacturing floors for picking, palletizing, task completion, quality inspection.”
From my position as a representative for a large number of very successful manufacturers, I clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel, and appreciate the overall hard work and improvement that each of them are striving for!
This newsletter speaks to a wide audience, and I am honored to be a small part of it. I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for not giving up on the American dream of working hard to build a respectable, successful, enjoyable life for you and your family. Especially when it takes more effort, I encourage you to stay the course, keep God in your life and take one step after another–all while doing the right thing each and every day!– Commentary provided by Mike Laney, Lupton Associates Business Development
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