Innovation and Value creation

I recently attended a meeting of the the American machine tool trade association. The organization is called the Association for Manufacturing Technology or AMT. The industry is down this year, largely as a result of the economy. The Association and all its members are looking for ways to generate revenue. I was fascinated with a presentation that made the point that manufacturing is the only way to generate revenue producing products that are transportable through time and space. A "widget" made here has a value and it can be shipped anywhere, anytime and it will always have a value.

The presentation went on to demonstrate that if the resources available to make "widgets" are fixed, the only way generate more revenue is through higher productivity, or Innovation. The machine tool industry is all about productivity enhancement; higher speeds, faster feeds, easier programming, and unattended operation, all to improve productivity. But, the low cost solution for revenue growth just might be Innovation. Clever ideas and creative vision can both increase productivity and launch new "widgets" with more function and more features that more people are willing to buy.

The incubator for American ingenuity has long been small business and it's no different for manufacturing. The American entrepreneur has been coming up with better ways to build products faster, better, and cheaper since before the industrial revolution. It wasn't really easier in the old days, but the global economy has changed the landscape of the competitive market place. With foreign countries subsidizing labor and materials as well as assisting in the penetration of key markets, the small and emerging manufacturing companies in the USA need to change the way that they have traditionally worked.

To be an entrepreneur has long meant that you were your own boss, the captain of your ship, and that command was often a lonely thing. Today's demand for competitive prices has driven overhead down so that internal resources are often not available. The company with the clever concept, may not have the engineering staff to design it, the manufacturing know-how to build it, or know where to find the help to bring the idea to market and create the value and sustainable growth that the innovation should bring. Today's business leader needs to find ways to network in order to find manufacturing solutions that make dollars and sense.

Being the "Captain of your own ship" can no longer mean steering the boat with no help. Finding the right part, or partner to help create the solution is more important than ever, because getting to market with the right idea at the right price is a matter of timing. As some wise old guy once said "The Opportunity of a Lifetime must be seized within the Lifetime of the Opportunity".

Without knowing where to find the pedal, the "right" material for the rod, or how to   mold the seat, America would still be standing and waiting.

Innovation @ Work