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By now many fabricators have performed their annual company inventory. For most, this amounts to counting up materials on hand such as slabs, glue and other items directly related to production. Some will develop a list of other consumables along with an accounting of tools and equipment.
However, company owners should go further with the investigation of their asset values. Too little attention is paid to employee skills and knowledge, customer relationships, market intelligence, financial and other business goal reviews as well as personal management skill capabilities. Our best customers know these things because they are constantly assessing their people, their market potential and their ability to meet market needs head on. This has been leading to a growing demand for automation tools by companies trying to find a competitive advantage in their immediate markets and beyond. However, it's not just a matter of owning automated equipment, but rather an issue of integrating and optimizing its usage within a networked system.
Putting It All Together
The network thread of CNC automation runs through many discussions and articles presented over the past several years. The rapid growth of digital templating systems networked to CNC equipment has been at the forefront of the automation story, but it certainly doesn't stop there. Although shop automation has typically been separated from the office and its software systems, all of these disciplines are quickly becoming integrated. This connectivity is seen as a necessity by the most aggressively competitive shops in the industry.
While CNC technology found its beginnings in the lab back in 1947 and is becoming commonplace in countertop fabrication shops, it is only recently becoming a virtual plug-in to day-to-day business operations and management. Digitizing the templating process and the utilization of CAD software appears to have been the pivotal point at which these new communication and analytic tools became unstoppable. It was just a matter of time before inventory control, estimating, scheduling and P&L forecasting would be forever linked to the operations and productivity of the manufacturing processes in the shop.
The importance of digital automation is just going to grow as the software becomes more sophisticated, the shop management is taken over by increasingly tech-oriented staff and the market demands tighter margins and delivery times. To address such performance issues, Fab Choice has created a branded process, "cadtofab™," because it is important tto look at the whole company — its potentials and goals. Fabricators, large and small alike, have very different paths to growth, but whatever the size, they should be examining exactly what these paths are.
Plan For The Long Haul
This leads to a direct and honest discussion with most fabricators about the barriers to entering the digital world. The most frequently offered rationale for not building an in-depth business growth plan has to do with time. Most fabricators will tell you they simply don't have enough time to do the detail work such an endeavor requires. But they will have plenty of time after they've put up their 'Going Out of Business' sign! The process of planning is an ongoing one and fabricators should automate their automation. The planning and constant analysis process should become as much a daily routine as the conversion of slabs or sheets to countertops.
Becoming fully automated is not something that must happen overnight. Often a shop will have made a major investment in a piece of equipment and the owner feels the business won't be ready to fully integrate for a couple of years or more. Fear of new technology often keeps a business from taking a look at the opportunities and necessities right within their own business. Shops with existing digital equipment often fail to create an integrated system with existing assets, believing it would be cost prohibitive or simply may not work. But more often than not new software solutions can make all of the systems speak the same language, creating a seamless flow of data.
Many of the plans being developed through the cadtofab program have an implementation calendar of up to five years. This is where the importance of maintaining a good inventory of business assets comes in. But what are the assets you should be looking at? Everything associated with the business. Of course you should start with consumables and you should include tools, equipment, vehicles and other hardware, including the computers and laptops. But you should also know the lifespan of these assets and their likely replacement dates and projected costs.
Looking At Everything
Employees should be seen as key assets with often overlooked values accruable to the business. Without knowing the depth of your employees' knowledge, skill sets and trainability, you may be missing opportunities to make your business run smoothly and more profitably. Recognizing these skills and putting them to work is a good way to reduce turnover, thereby saving the cost of rehiring and retraining. What are you doing to help them perform their jobs better? What kind of training programs do you have and do you need more? You may have an employee who knows more about computer software than you can imagine. But you will never know this if you don't count them on your inventory list.
Vendor and supplier relationships should also be seen as valuable for the contributions they can make to successful business outcomes. These individuals are often the source of fresh information and can offer training options that will further improve your market position and employee knowledge. This is the kind of insider information that can benefit every business, but few look at it this way. And, hardly any put it on a list. By creating this kind of documentation you will soon be able to see which of your vendors and suppliers are truly looking out for you and working to protect the business you give them. Just think how knowing this will let you gauge the performance of reps, consultants and service providers.
One of the reasons to become automated is the automation of your competition. How much do you know about what your competitors are doing to streamline their businesses and how will this effect your future? Market conditions and opportunities are also potential assets that should not be overlooked. As you look at your competitors also take a look at your customers. How are things going with them? Are you missing out on business because contact and communication with them is not automatic? There are a host of CRM software tools to plug neatly into your office management programs.
Getting Started
An easy way to get started on your own process is to measure your shop. Measure the entire property, parking lot and all. Know exactly where equipment is placed and could be placed. Indicate power sources and access availabilities. There is nothing like having an accurate floorplan on the wall to have a sense of your business and spark ideas for growth. An overhead floorplan with equipment placement clearly shown to scale most often results in immediately visible shop efficiencies. Assessing the existing shop layout is usually the first step in the process.
Fabricators should also create a CAD department no matter what the size of the business, even if the department is comprised of only one person. Workflow improvement from the office through production will result from such an assignment. This is a smart way to begin automating the automation process.
Finally, count yourself! What are your best skills? What are your most important contributions to the business and how can you improve? What tasks can you delegate and who do you trust with those responsibilities? This is often the most difficult part of the process. An honest assessment here can also be the most rewarding for the business owner, employees, customers and suppliers. Perhaps this should be first on the list.
Fabricator's Choice offers a free "Automate Your Automation Planner" that can help fabricators build their own self-directed program, which can be used, by devoting a small amount of time, to develop a plan that will be an asset in itself. It can be requested from the company by contacting Molly at 888-299-8840.
About the author:
Tom Harms is President with Fabricator's Choice, a supplier of automated fabrication equipment and software brands. He is hosting an "Intro to CAD" seminar at the Surface Fabrication & Design Expo, Feb. 21 to 23 in Las Vegas and can be reached at tharms@fabchoice.com.
David Otten is a fabrication business planning expert with Fabricator's Choice, 1375 Trout Brook Circle, St. Paul, MN 55117; 888-299-8840; www.fabchoice.com, www.dotten@fabchoice.com.
author: By Tom Harms and David Otten