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Manufacturing companies should examine the way employees are asked for input; if feedback is slow, consider that employees might be on the defensive about their capabilities. In this situation, a question such as "Is there anything we're doing wrong?" might be less effective than "Is there anything we can do to make it easier for you to satisfy the customer?"
Better Bidding and Pricing
As recently as 10 years ago, few manufacturers predicted just how quickly the trend to "buy cheaper at any cost" would erode carefully cultivated business relationships. It's not hard to understand why the buy-cheaper imperative became widespread; industrial equipment customers face intense pressure from shareholders or boards of directors to achieve rapid ROI. Every equipment purchase is scrutinized relentlessly.
To alleviate customer jitters about ROI, some equipment manufacturers are offering "pay as you go" or "try it for free for six months" options. If your company doesn't already offer a variation on these pricing models, consider adding one. It will require your bidding and quotation processes to evolve to include better lead times and cost analyses. At first, introducing innovations like these will seem like a daunting task, but there are many benefits. Pay-as-you-go pricing opens numerous opportunities for after-sales support to your customers. Software solutions can help, by presenting various scenarios to assist your pricing strategies.
As mentioned earlier, concurrent engineering can significantly lower your costs and produces a more competitive bid. It can also substantially speed up your entire quoting and bidding process, and reduces the chance of errors that can occur when engineers hand over their work to manufacturing. This will be an important benefit for your company and for your customers, and distinguishes your services from competitors who don't follow the same practice. Therefore, team members preparing quotes and bids should take special care in adding up custom design and engineering costs.
Industrial equipment manufacturers who engineer to order cannot automate every step in the building process-nor should they. But many steps can easily be automated and may have received scant attention within your organization. Content management and information sharing, for example, can be easily automated with software solutions. Product configurators will remove many of the redundancies in your processes and can free up hours of time that engineers and designers can put to better use. Always ask: Does your bid include all of the design and manufacturing excellence that your company actually provides?
Beyond Price: Communicating Your Company Value
It's easy for industrial equipment customers to overestimate the advantages of ordering from a low-cost manufacturer. Make it just as easy for customers to understand your unique value-why you offer more than just the cheapest price.
For example, if your company builds machines that require one or more changes in a business quarter, your benefits summary should include your unique ability to offer on-site maintenance that goes beyond custom installation. Realistically, every machine will require follow-up adjustments, which most customers understand. However, a customer facing intense ROI pressure is going to demand in-depth analyses at regular intervals far beyond the installation. These may occur at six-month, nine-month, or 12-month intervals. This puts your customer at a severe disadvantage if a machine adjustment is required and the manufacturer is located in a far-off part of the world. This situation offers a powerful strategy for differentiating your company. Because low cost is top-of-mind for your customers, give serious thought to how you can communicate your geographic advantages, during all stages of your customer courting process.
Custom installations that can be completed in one or two days, instead of several months, should be communicated within your bid. Your ability to keep machines running around the clock for maximum proficiency should receive special mention as well.
Turning Regulations into Opportunities
Some ingenious manufacturers are expanding their customer focus to become experts on their customers' customers-specifically, how clients cope with myriad regulations throughout the world.
For example, food manufacturers who export globally face wide-ranging regulations governing labor laws, food safety, and environmental issues. They may have specific labor union mandates to follow, in addition to local and national laws within their own countries.
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