Springfield chamber shelves manufacturing award

For 14 years, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce has honored a company with the Manufacturer of the Year Award at a year-end luncheon. This year, that changes.

The chamber is holding a luncheon Dec. 9 at the Holiday Inn North Interstate-44 to honor all members of the manufacturing community, organizers said. And while previously the event provided a look back at the year in manufacturing, the revamped luncheon will focus on the future.

"(The award) was a great success, it worked well, but now it's time to try new things," said Herb Dankert, chairman of the chamber's manufacturers council and president of Jarden Plastic Solutions, which was the 2007 Manufacturer of the Year.

This year, organizers are hoping to provide more of a learning opportunity for attendees, said Jeff Seifried, the chamber's manager of regional development.

"Hopefully, the take-away ... is that we have to be ready for this next generation of manufacturing. We have to be focused on best-practice metrics to sustain our local manufacturers in a global economy," he said.

Manufacturing study

Keynote speaker Brad Armstrong, vice president of development for Rolla-based Missouri Enterprise, will be presenting the results of the 2009 Next Generation Manufacturing Study, which surveyed manufacturers in February and March. Armstrong will discuss results from Missouri Enterprise's Ozark Region, which includes Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, Taney and Webster counties.

"This study gives companies a benchmark by which they can compare their progress in these areas to other companies," said Harold Zinn, senior vice president of corporate communications at Missouri Enterprise.

The survey identified six areas considered critical to a manufacturer's success: customer-focused innovation, which means understanding and delivering a customer's needs; advanced talent management; sustainable product development; extended enterprise management; global engagement; and systemic continuous improvement, which involves constant evaluation of all parts of a company to ensure it functions at its peak.

"That may not just mean improving on the floor, but also looking at ways you take customer orders and other administrative practices," Armstrong said.

Rita Needham, executive director of Southwest Area Manufacturers Association, has seen portions of the survey from presentations at SAMA events. She said the best practices defined in the survey are useful for the long term.

"Focusing on process improvements is a continuous thing. You should always strive to achieve, always look for areas where you can improve," she said.

Understanding the need for constant improvement and actually putting those improvements into play aren't the same thing, however. Armstrong said the study shows a significant gap between awareness and implementation.

"One of the things lacking is good measurement systems. We all tend to improve on items we measure, but not a lot of manufacturers have an organizational measurement to see how well their company performs," he said, adding that the best way to start is by taking a step back and taking a strategic look at the business before putting together a game plan.

Gut checks

The recession has caused some manufacturers to take a closer look at business practices.

"Some manufacturers have looked inwardly to see how to become more efficient and do more with less," Needham said.

Armstrong said some of his clients are using the recession to focus on specific areas of their business.

Some are implementing quality management systems, while others are bringing new products to the market.

"Some clients are putting a tremendous amount of focus on improving processes to reduce inventory levels. They're looking at their operations to see where the bottlenecks are," he said.

The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index for November is 53.6. A number above 50 shows growth. November is the fourth consecutive month the PMI index came in above 50.

"That number shows an overall trend, but I think it's indicative of what we're seeing locally," Needham said.

Armstrong also has noticed some good signs from the manufacturers he works with.

"Some companies cut a lot of spending to really try to manage their cash flow, by being careful with purchases and in some cases discontinuing training, and now they're starting to reinvest in their people, processes and equipment," he said.