Economy Drives Manufacturers To Go Lean

Today’s manufacturing leaders and plant managers are looking to extend the performance of their production assets, just as consumers are waiting another year to buy a new car or washing machine. A majority say they would outsource non-core functions, specifically, the maintenance of their production machinery and assets, in order to bolster against recession, according to a survey by Advanced Technology Services and Nielsen.

In the survey of 100 U.S. senior manufacturing executives, with titles of CEO, CIO, Vice President and Plant Manager, two-thirds said they would outsource maintenance as a hedge against a downturn in the economy.

The plant asset maintenance market, dedicated to the care and keeping of these assets, is sized at $124 billion and growing by analyst firm Frost and Sullivan. Strategic factory maintenance has become an imperative when access to credit is tight, new orders are down, and businesses must put off making new capital purchases.

Manufacturers like Eaton, Honeywell, Service Heat Treating and others have already adopted this recession-hedging strategy. By implementing lean strategies, eliminating hidden waste and flexing with a customer’s changing business needs. The good news: work gets created for smaller firms handling this outsourcing for the manufacturers. Keep one thing in mind..the headlines read “So-and-so announces drop in profits.” This means: they are still profitable, even in this difficult economy.

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