Integrate
Automation and Robotics
The struggles related to the pandemic and the resulting labor shortage forced many companies to have to do more with less. That, of course, should be a business philosophy of any manufacturer looking to expand its output. While fewer people are responding to job postings, you could make up the difference by utilizing automation to help you expand in ways that may have been impossible before. It has been predicted that by 2022 that 42 percent of work task hours will be completed by machines.
Automation
can save money, and it can allow you to rapidly expand your business. The rapid
expansion of Amazon, for example, would not have been made possible without
automation and robots. While you may think your manufacturing business can’t
afford to purchase robots, costs have been steadily coming down. At this point,
the upfront investment may quickly pay for itself especially in consideration
of the tight pandemic-influenced labor market.
Expand
Your Export Operations
As a manufacturer, there is always the possibility of expanding into new foreign markets. Instead of only shipping your products domestically, you could ship them around the world. Breaking into new foreign markets as a manufacturing company isn’t always easy of course. You need to develop new relationships with foreign government entities and foreign distributors. You need to hire talent that knows both the culture and the language.
You have to
do plenty of research to understand the market and the preferences and needs of
those foreign consumers. However, with the right amount of effort, your
products could end up on the shelves of foreign retailers. Your revenue base
could expand exponentially as a result. Overall, while there are many
challenges to overcome like cultural differences and home market protectionism,
expanding your export operations is one of the best ways to naturally grow your
company.
Utilize
Digital Marketing
A second strategy you can use to expand your manufacturing business in 2021 is to reassess your marketing mix. For one, relying more on digital marketing than you have in the past can help to speed up your expansion plans. While things may have been different in the days of long ago, today, far more business-to-business relationships between manufacturers and suppliers or distributors begin online.
Companies
looking for new B2B partners are now far more likely to start their search on
the web. As such, digital marketing must be an integral part of any serious manufacturing marketing strategy. If you
ignore the importance of digital, you may end up losing many would-be clients
to your direct competitors who are much more visible online. Consider pairing
up with a digital marketing agency with manufacturing experience that can help
you reach the partners you will need to grow your business and reach your full
potential.
Leverage
Your Data
As a manufacturer, one of the most important assets you have is actually your data. If data regarding your manufacturing processes, sales, clients, and more are currently not being recorded and stored in your computer network, you are making a big mistake. Today, most companies try to record and store as much data regarding their business operations as possible. If you have access to that data in a form that can be easily parsed by analytics software, you can analyze that data when plotting current and future strategies for your business. You’ll have a better idea of what products are succeeding and which are failing.
You’ll have
better intelligence to use to decide what to manufacture when to manufacture
it and in what quantities to maximize your profits. Data regarding the
operation of machinery, your employees, and the assembly line overall can also
be used to increase efficiency a great deal. Such a data-driven approach can
even predict the creation of bottlenecks in production or the exact point when
machinery needs to be serviced or replaced.
Conclusion
The past
two years have been tough for many manufacturers. Still, there is the
possibility to readjust in 2021 and take your company to new heights. There are
many ways for you to expand your operations. Consider doing so by increasing
export operations, investing in automation, implementing digital marketing
strategies, and better-taking advantage of the data produced by your operations.
Doing so can help your company expand naturally and take it to the next level.
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