Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers: Flexible and Focused

Saturday, November 01, 2008
By Jonathan Katz

By targeting niche products and staying nimble, small and mid-sized manufacturers prove they can play with the big boys.

One area where many small and mid-sized manufacturers often find themselves lacking is in the process of cost accounting, says Joe Vogel, senior staff executive at small and mid-sized business consulting firm George S May International Co. In some cases, small companies haven’t invested in reporting systems that gather enough data from the shop floor to measure productivity, Vogel says. "When an operator is not doing something that’s directly making parts, you need to know what that is, and not only measure what that is but monitor and manage that cost," he says. When Vogel enters small manufacturing operations he often finds them using low-level accounting software such as QuickBooks to manage their costs. His firm helps clients establish accounting systems that can categorize direct and indirect costs.

Another area that all manufacturers are struggling with is skilled labor. This means small and mid-sized manufacturers will need to be equally innovative with their job recruitment strategies as they are with their marketing tactics. Marlin Steel Wire tries to woo workers with four-day workweeks of 10-hour days, a family-friendly atmosphere — the company bookkeeper is permitted to bring her one-year-old daughter into the office — and bonus programs for plant-floor workers who meet their targets, which have been particularly successful, according to Greenblatt. "I’ve created 20-something entrepreneurs here, and they’re all extremely focused on enriching themselves, and because of that, they’re pumping out a lot of stuff, and we’re extremely productive."

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