Manufacture Smarter Blog

4/28/2020 - BY: RON QUINKERT
Throughout my many years of working with manufacturers around Michigan, I have witnessed companies miss out on great business opportunities because of their inability to submit competitive quotes. How many times has this happened to your company? Have you ever wondered why? This may indicate that it is time to look at how projects are quoted.

4/24/2020 - BY: JOHN SPILLSON
Public concern over health and safety is at an all-time high. Concerns about food are no exception as customers everywhere look for reassurance and peace of mind to know that what they’re consuming each day is safe. There are still many questions surrounding how to maintain food safety while working with or around food.

4/21/2020 - THE CENTER
​We recently published a blog discussing how to keep employees feeling engaged and valued while working from home by prioritizing training. In addition to these engagement challenges, many are working from home for the first time ever and are struggling to stay focused and productive in such a different environment. For those who need extra guidance, there are resources that can help.

4/17/2020 - THE CENTER
To contribute to COVID-19 mitigation efforts and ensure healthcare workers, patients and individuals are getting the resources they need, manufacturers around the state have either increased production or retooled entirely to provide medical devices that are desperately needed. 

4/14/2020 - THE CENTER
Starting March 24, Governor Whitmer ordered all Michiganders to stay home and suspend all non-essential activities. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread rapidly, it’s unclear when activities will begin to return to normal. With manufacturing operations across Michigan and the nation disrupted or even halted, what can manufacturers do right now to protect and advance their businesses?

4/10/2020 - BY: BEN WOOD
Much has changed in the last few weeks. Things we used to take for granted, like going to the grocery store, eating at a restaurant or getting a haircut, are now unrecognizable or even impossible. Evidence of how quickly things change is all around us, and individuals and companies everywhere are scrambling to adapt to this new reality. As a leader in your business, how quickly can you change?

4/7/2020 - BY: CHARLIE WESTRA
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to heavily impact businesses, with operations partially or completely shut down and many team members working from home, leaders are left wondering how they can ensure employees are feeling valued, engaged and secure in their roles. While the pandemic has already caused much disruption and distress for manufacturers as they consider what the future holds, there are still ways companies can work right now to strengthen both their business and their workforce to better position themselves for the eventual return to normal operations.

4/3/2020 - BY: CHUCK WERNER
First introduced in the 1980s as a descendant of much older statistical tools, then polished and (some would say) nearly perfected in the 1990s, the Six Sigma methodology has driven process improvement on manufacturing floors around the globe for decades. But what about the carpet side of the business?

3/27/2020 - BY: ROGER TOMLINSON
Unplanned events can have devastating effects on small businesses. In some drastic cases, catastrophes can lead to the loss of important customers or, at worst, going out of business completely. To avoid this fate and minimize the potential impacts of a disaster, or prevent it from happening in the first place, planning is essential.

3/20/2020 - BY: ROB STAUFFER
Many project managers tend to stick to “their way” of managing projects, regardless of how successful their methods may be. But digging deeper, most would realize that their strategies are not only ineffective, but are costing their organization much time, money, and effort with each failed project.