Four-fifths of respondents to a recent survey sponsored by the states Industrial Resource Center Network rated advanced talent management as a highly important (46 percent) or important (34 percent) strategy. An even higher percentage, 86 percent, rated customer-focused innovation as important, with 46 percent reporting that they invested one to five percent of sales revenue towards new product development. That figure is slightly higher than the national average.
Four hundred manufacturers across Pennsylvania participated in the online survey, conducted February through April. The results showed agreement on six factors they considered essential to Next Generation Manufacturing (NGM) success: innovation, talent, productivity gains, expanded networks, sustainability, and global engagement.
While emphasizing the important of talent to their firms, the respondents–mainly independently owned firms–said they needed to make progress toward advanced talent management. Only five percent classified their firms as world-class in that effort, and only 23 percent said they were making good progress toward that status.
“The brain pool from which we draw is limited,” says small manufacturer Chris Tarsa, president of C.L. Sturkey, Inc. The family-owned knife-manufacturing firm, with annual revenues of $2 million, employs 17 people to make medical microtome knives in Lebanon. “When upper management is two or three people, it becomes difficult to make the best decisions.”
Thats where the non-profit Industrial Resource Centers come in, offering training and expertise to make small companies more competitive. Supported by the states Department of Community and Economic Development, the seven regional IRCs are affiliates of the nationwide Manufacturing Extension partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. These centers help small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) respond to changing markets, technologies and competition.
“Using programs from IRCs, we gain expertise on specific topics. That makes small companies more competitive and allows us to export our goods,” says Tarsa. “I cant stress enough–innovation is the key, either for management, employee acquisition, or processes.”
Sources: Chris Tarsa, Lauren Bryson
Writer: Chris O’Toole