How well do you know all of the individuals that contribute to your shop’s success?
Everyone who comes together—from the moment you receive a quote request to when your customer gets their finished components—makes up your shop’s ecosystem. There are your internal resources: your employees in the office and on the production floor. But external players are equally vital—they are the suppliers, processing specialists, and logistical teams that ensure each component meets quality and timeline standards. Your ecosystem might include:
- Software and technology companies
- Material suppliers
- Platers, finishers, and secondary processing houses
- Testing labs
- Shipping companies
Ongoing success for your business demands strong communication and collaboration with each of these contributors. For insights on fostering and strengthening these connections, keep reading!
Leverage Your Internal People
We see a common pattern of shop owners biting off more than they can chew. With too much on their own plate, they not only risk feeling overwhelmed, they often fall into the trap of under-communicating and keeping ideas and strategies bottled up.
You’ve got the right people in your shop. You’ve invested the time and resources to hire and train them—make sure you’re delegating and utilizing their expertise!
Have a Backup Ecosystem
We’ve discussed the importance of diversifying your customer base, but we cannot stress enough how critical it is to have a plan B for your staff and suppliers. Consider the following scenarios:
- If one of your vendors closes down, do you have others who offer the same service in your back pocket?
- If your material supplier faces supply chain issues, do you have another connection you could turn to?
- If one of your team members is sick when you have a hot job going out, do you have a backup person who can run that machine and get those parts out?
- Or if someone leaves the company, do you have someone else who can do the same things they could?
If plan A does not come to fruition, having a secondary ecosystem ready to step up to the task ensures smooth production and accurate, on-time delivery.
Align with Your Manufacturing Ecosystem
It’s not enough to have these connections. It’s essential to nurture these relationships continuously.
Internal and external resources should understand your company’s goals and customers’ needs. Coordinate all-hands huddles to ensure all the team members in your shop are on the same page. For your outside suppliers, schedule regular alignment meetings to keep them updated on what you’re trying to accomplish and determine how they can best support these goals. In our field, time is our most valuable (and limited) asset, so even a half-hour meeting once a year with each of your suppliers and vendors should suffice.
Once you start having more in-depth conversations with your suppliers, you’ll be amazed at how well they will support you.
Need Help Building or Growing Your Ecosystem? NTMA Can Help!
Here at NTMA, we’ve built a rich and diverse ecosystem within our industry. We have over 1,000 members and connections with vendors, manufacturing software companies, material suppliers, HR support resources, and more. Many of our members have built connections with outside vendors through our network, leveraging incentives such as our tooling program with PTSolutions.
When you want to build your supplier network or diversify your manufacturing ecosystem, leverage your membership or join NTMA today!
