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Ten Midwest Manufacturers Rewrite The Rules of Global Competition
CHICAGO, IL — The International Trade Club of Chicago announced today that senior executives from ten growing manufacturing companies will share their company’s approach to facing global competition and how they developed and implemented their international business strategies on December 7 and 8, 2006 at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, Illinois.
In a peer-to-peer format – from manufacturers to manufacturers – actual practitioners will convey replicable, strategic and tactical information regarding global options and resources. The two-day GLOBAL MANUFACTURING SERIES (www.itcc-gms.org) has been designed to assist small and medium-sized Midwestern manufacturing companies compete in the global marketplace through a series of practical and timely case studies.
Presenting companies include Atlas Technology (IL), Bi-Link (IL), GR Spring & Stamping (MI), Hydrox Laboratories (IL), Mathews Company (IL), North American Tool Corporation (IL), Prince Industries (IL), S•K Hand Tool Corporation (IL), and The Schebler Company (IA). In addition, Cardinal Health (OH, IL) in collaboration with one of their top local MBE suppliers (Hydrox Labs) will discuss Cardinal's unique supplier diversity program, how they qualify their suppliers, and how Midwestern companies can improve their supplier opportunities.
“Manufacturing is alive and well in the Midwest, but it needs to reclaim its leadership by engaging globally,” states Series chair and ITCC director Paul Heinze. “We intend to provide concrete and proven strategies for success. The business case studies we will present will offer actionable and replicable tactics and tools to compete globally.”
According to SERIES co-sponsor Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Great Lakes economy is the third largest in the world and in a recent survey 76 percent of area manufacturers indicate their business activity has increased in the last year. Combined, the Great Lakes Gross State Product is $3.5 trillion. Manufacturing represents 16 percent of this total.
SERIES Program Details:
The SERIES will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 230 South Adams Street in Chicago from 9am to 4:30pm on December 7 and 8, 2006 with a business networking reception following the meeting on December 7. For registration details, visit www.itcc-gms.org or contact the ITCC Event Coordinator at events@itcc.org or 312-368-9197.
SERIES Sponsors:
The GLOBAL MANUFACTURING SERIES 2006 is sponsored by The International Trade Club of Chicago (ITCC). Partners include the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Tooling and Manufacturing Association, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Manufacturing Programs, IIT University Technology Park, Jane Addms Resource Corporation, U.S. Department of Commerce, The Economist Business Intelligence Unit, Chicago International Trade Commissioners Association, DeFonseka LLC, and International Visitors Center of Chicago. State of Illinois and Cook County governments are providing partial financial support for this initiative.
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About ITCC
The International Trade Club of Chicago (www.itcc.org) is a not-for-profit trade association based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1919, the ITCC is the oldest international trade association in the United States. Members represent a broad range of manufacturing, technology and service sectors, as well as educational, civic government institutions and the foreign diplomatic corps. The Global Manufacturing Series is one of several ITCC programs designed to provide a forum for discussion, collaboration and education to support the profession of international business management and promote the sustained, balanced growth and success of U.S. businesses.
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Must-Know Small-Biz Stats & Facts
by David R. Butcher, Industrial Market Trends
Did you know that small firms represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms in the U.S.? Here are some other facts and figures about small businesses that may surprise you.
“Small Business” Defined
The Small Business Administration, which has established a size standard for most industries in the economy, defines “small business” as follows:
• 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries;
• 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries;
• $6* million for most retail and service industries (*increased to $6.5 million last month for loans, contracts);
• $28.5 million for most general & heavy construction industries;
• $12 million for all special trade contractors; and
• $0.75 million for most agricultural industries.
About one-fourth of industries have a size standard that is different from these levels. They vary from $0.75 million to $28.5 million for size standards based on average annual revenues, and from 100 to 1500 employees for size standards based on number of employees.
Small Last Year Was Big
Ninety-nine percent of all businesses in the United States, as of mid-2005, were small businesses, according to an article in USA Today.
Although a “small business” is technically — and perhaps unrightfully — defined as a business with fewer than 500 employees, even if you look at…you know…real, actual small businesses — perhaps those with fewer than 50 employees — small businesses still make up 98 percent of all businesses. And more than half of all employees in the U.S. work for small businesses.
The SBA’s data point to other numbers, wherein small firms:
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms;
• Employ half of the country’s private workforce;
• Pay 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll;
• Have generated 60 percent to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade;
• Supplied more than 23 percent of the total value of federal prime contracts in FY 2004; and
• Represent 97 percent of all the exporters of goods;
• Generate a majority of the innovations that come from U.S. companies; and
• Are employers of 41 percent of high-tech workers (e.g., scientists, engineers and computer workers).
Sources: USA Today, July 18, 2005; SBA Office of Advocacy, updated October 2005
Survival Rates
According to SBA data in May 2005’s Monthly Labor Review: There were 572,900 new businesses, and 554,800 business closures (though not all closures were due to bankruptcies); two-thirds of new employer firms survive at least two years, and about half survive at least four; sixty-six percent of new establishments started in 1998 were still operating two years after they started; and forty-four percent were still operating four years later in 2002.
The number of self-employed workers in June 2005 fell 3.1 percent or 303,000 from the month before, recent Labor Department data show. Self-employment tends to fall as the economy grows. That’s especially true among laid-off workers who start tiny companies after failing to find work in slow times.
Sources: USA Today, July 18, 2005; U.S. Small Business Administration, June 2004, updated October 2005
Women At Work
The number of women-owned firms continues to grow at twice the rate of all U.S. firms (23 percent versus nine percent). There are an estimated 10 million women-owned, privately held U.S. businesses. According to the SBA, “The greatest challenge for women-owned firms is access to capital, credit and equity. Women start businesses on both lifestyle and financial reasons. Many run businesses from home to keep overhead low.”
According to American Express, women are more likely than men to seek business advice (69 percent women to 47 percent men. Where small-business owners go for advice: 52 percent from individual mentors; 51 percent from social networks; 44 percent from trade associations; 36 percent from business advisors; 31 percent from the Internet; and 27 percent from Chambers of Commerce.
Sources: SBA, Office of Advocacy and Business Times, April 2005; American Express
Financing Small-Biz
In 2005, small businesses received nearly 100,000 U.S. Government small-business loans, according to Small Business Center. Women and minorities registered double-digit increases in the number of government business loans received last year.
Commercial banks are the most important suppliers of debt capital to small firms, according to the SBA, as they supply more than 80 percent of lending in the credit line market and more than 50 percent in other markets, such as commercial mortgages and vehicle, equipment and other loans. In June 2004, small-business loans outstanding owed to commercial banks amounted to $522 billion, but small firms are not only receiving loans from smaller, relationship-driven banks. Very large banks with assets of at least $10 billion are making a significant percentage of small loans of less than $100,000.
According to All Business (via WebProNews), 95 percent of all entrepreneurs are estimated to have opened their businesses with capital from their own pockets, or from money they borrowed from relatives, friends or another person in their community. “Lenders want to see business owners risk their own funds in the business venture, and often require that the business owner or owners provide a minimum of 25 percent of the capital needed to start a business, and at least that much equity in the business if the business is already in existence.” Simply, lenders aren’t as willing to take a risk when a business owner doesn’t even risk his or her own money in the investment.
Small Business Resources:
• www.SBA.gov
• www.SCORE.org
• www.Inc.com
• www.Entrepreneur.com
• www.Microsoft.com/smallbusiness
• www.NFIB.com
• www.Forbes.com/smallbusiness/
• www.irs.gov/businesses/small/
• www.Allbusiness.com/
• www.Businessownersideacafe.com/
References
You may not know it, but small business is bullish
http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2005-07-18-small-news_x.htm
by Steve Strauss
USA Today, July 18, 2005
Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf
SBA Office of Advocacy
$19 Billion in Government Business Loans for Small Businesses
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/12/emw326812.htm
Small Business Center, Dec. 30, 2005
Successfully Obtaining A Small Business Loan
http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/expertarticles/wpn-62-20060111SuccessfullyObtainingaSmallBusinessLoan.html
by Rebecca Game
All Business (via WebProNews), Jan. 11, 2006
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Reprinted from Industrial Market Trends, January 17, 2006 issue (http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2006/01/mustknow_smallb.html).
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Global Manufacturing Series Links Automotive and Medical Sector Opportunities
by Michael L. Hetzel, International Trade Club of Chicago board of directors
With automotive manufacturing dispersing from the Midwest and growing slowly across the U.S., AutoMed2005 (www.itcc-tma.org) profiled the significant opportunities and ease of transition for U.S. automotive suppliers to also serve the rapidly growing medical manufacturing sector.
Produced by the International Trade Club of Chicago (ITCC - www.itcc.org) in association with the Tooling & Manufacturing Association (TMA – www.tmanet.com), this 2005 edition of the annual Global Manufacturing Series was well received by a capacity crowd at the TMA conference center in Park Ridge, IL on December 7 and 8, 2005.
The program focused primarily on case studies of successful Midwestern small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers (SMMs) presented by their respective senior company executives. Included were presentations by supply chain executives from OEM companies DaimlerChrysler and Cardinal Health who profiled opportunities for SMMs to serve their companies and industries. There was also an executive briefing on intellectual property management and protection for companies operating in today’s increasingly global environment.
Each case presentation was followed by Q&A and a moderator summary of key learning points, and each day ended with an interactive panel session between the speakers and attendees.
“The series format is a departure from many programs and seminars, bringing the insights and lessons learned for each case closer to the attendees through direct interaction with the executives who created these successes” stated ITCC president Sidney Salvadori, “the key focus this year was to identify the many crossover opportunities for manufacturers serving automotive to participate in the rapidly growing medical product sector.”
Day One
Day One of the program was devoted to the automotive sector, opening with current reality data regarding the automotive market conditions, production distribution and trends in the U.S. and globally that were presented to set the program context for the day.
Current reality data included:
• The size of the U.S. and the next four auto markets in units and value
• Review of the redistribution of production locations out of the Midwest and globally
• Growth rates in the U.S. (0.8%) compared to other countries (e.g. China; 7.8%, India; 10% and Brazil; 5.3%)
• Review of information sources for business planning and specific examples of distortions in perceptions of global trade that can skew and damage strategic planning, execution and results for SMMs
Following the current reality session was a joint OEM/Tier One presentation by Denise Bondy, senior manager, body in white procurement at DaimlerChrysler Corporation (Auburn Hills, MI; www.daimlerchrysler.com) and one of their top-rated first tier suppliers, Iroquois Industries (Warren, MI; www.iroquoisind.com), a manufacturer of chassis stampings and assemblies, represented by H.J. “Jim” Carleton, vice president of operations.
Denise provided considerable detail regarding their vendor rating system and related performance metrics. She highlighted the vendor selection and management structures at DaimlerChrysler and the significant opportunities for SMMs to leverage capabilities, performance and even geographic locations (such as the Chicago area) in creating profitable and sustainable relationships supplying them. Jim then continued the presentation with the case study of driving the growth of Iroquois through their supplier relationship with DaimlerChrysler as a key component of that growth from under $50MM to more than $150MM in sales revenues over the last decade.
Key learning points from DaimlerChrysler included their concentration of production in the NAFTA area but with global sales, their recommendation for SMMs to leverage their local position in the U.S. with global assets, and their openness with suppliers in all areas for design and production. She cited the very successful Stow-and-Go seating of their minivans as a supplier innovation.
The Iroquois case confirmed and well illustrated the opportunities for success for high performance SMMs located in the Midwest, provided they make a commitment to integrate their practices with customer needs, metrics and location. Their strategy was clearly stated by Jim as “Do what others couldn’t or chose not to do, integrate where it makes sense, keep it simple and lean, process drives technology and be conservative with growth and investment.”
Following DaimlerChrysler and Iroquois were the Tier Two SMM case study presentations beginning with Tricon Industries, Inc. (Downers Grove, IL; www.triconinc.com), a manufacturer of insert molded components and accessories, represented by Jay Winkler, vice president of internal operations.
Jay presented a compelling story of Tricon’s successful strategies including the changing of their business model from their original charter, changing their culture and attitude regarding global trade, and shedding their anger about global trade challenges while adopting a positive outlook about the opportunities. Their successful domestic sales efforts and their global business activities include exporting, a strategic alliance in the U.K. and a plant in Mexico which they opened in 2003. In combination, their efforts have produced revenue and job growth here in Illinois and they continue today as a successful, growing and profitable company fully integrated with U.S. and global markets.
Tricon clearly defined their approach to business in their acronym “ACES” - Attitude, Commitment, Evolution and Service:
• Attitude of positive outlook rather than anger about global business conditions. “Daily attitude ‘adjustments’ are necessary to keep the organization from falling prey to the discouraging headlines our industry and the global economy creates”
• Commitment to the future in being open to any change that may benefit the company
• Evolution in the recognition that “The world will not wait for your company. Take a ‘reasonable risk’ and help the company to evolve into something better than it used to be”
• Service that’s based on “servant leadership”
The next case study was Dudek & Bock Spring Manufacturing Co. (Chicago, IL; www.dudek-bock.com), a manufacturer of custom springs, wire-forms, flat form and progressive stampings, welded rings and light assemblies, presented by Matthew Puz, vice president of sales and marketing.
Matt told a story of responding strategically to the quarterly-horizon financial attitude of Wall Street for the benefit of their public company clients but focusing long term with their own strategies while refusing to adopt the negative attitudes of the “victim of globalization” crowd. They decided instead to control their own destiny. Ever since these decisions, Dudek & Bock has been growing locally in Illinois by going global. Their initiatives include a strategic acquisition in the Detroit area and establishing a direct investment in a manufacturing facility in Mexico. Just as with Tricon, their globally engaged combination of efforts has reinvigorated revenue and job growth here in Illinois.
Key components of the Dudek & Bock case include:
• Sharing all of their metric tracking with their clients and engaging in “value engineering redesign” to create new opportunities for their products through the conversion of designs from other methods
• An example of redesign as a market strategy, converting stamped components into wire forms, saving significant costs for their clients and creating a new product category to expand their wire forming operation
• Respond to clients’ needs but control your own strategies
The third case study was Camcraft, Inc. (Hanover Park, IL; www.camcraft.com), a hydraulics and flow component specialist and a 2005 finalist in Industry Week’s Best Plant competition, represented jointly by James “Jim” O’Donnell, vice president, and Paul Lindsay, vice president of marketing.
Jim and Paul shared the Camcraft story of growth from 80 employees in 44,000 square feet to over 250 employees in 112,000 square feet since 1985. The Camcraft strategy is focused on their single location with niche products of such complexity as to eliminate most offshore competition. They’re leveraging a high investment profile in their people and facility along with an evangelistic dedication to people and ethics into continuing growth of excellence in capabilities and output performance. In their case, Camcraft finds success through the study and monitoring of the international scene while they remain focused on exclusively serving the U.S. market with the highest possible efficiency concentrated in their single location strategy.
Once again attitude plays a key role in success. For Camcraft, optimism and a culture of innovation and excellence serve to counter the global competitive threat while a challenging niche technology reduces the external competitive field even further. Camcraft represents a well defined case of going local by understanding global.
The final case study of the day was Industrial Molds, Inc. (Rockford, IL; www.industrialmolds.com), a precision injection mold and die cast die manufacturer. Their case was presented by Doreen Huro Michelini, president of China-Mexico Solutions LLC, who is managing their international activities as an external resource rather than as a direct employee. Engaging an experienced global manufacturing specialist like Doreen is a successful global strategy in itself, as an alternative to allocating full time employment resources, yet still accessing the needed global operations experience.
Once again we’re shown the power of “attitude” about global trade and the attitude of participation rather than exclusion or resentment. It took a balanced attitude to propel the company from a garage operation with one employee in 1968 to a global player with global strategic alliance partners, one in Sweden and five in China, and 250 employees worldwide (including 180 mold makers, many of them based in Rockford, IL). Doreen presented not only strategies but numbers, cost data and real-world examples of techniques useful in dealing with European and Asian partners. She also illustrated supporting their success by using the offshore activities to support their client relationships as their clients migrate their various projects worldwide. Importantly, this is another case where the U.S. SMM grows locally through global engagement.
The key learning points for Industrial Molds included:
• Harnessing offshore inputs for local competitive advantage, using global experience to conduct a successful “U.S.-China balancing act”
• Building a business network of alliances and partnerships to remain in alignment with the global movements of their clients.
The panel discussion followed this last case study with vigorous interaction between attendees and speakers, and was in turn followed by a well attended networking reception of attendees and speakers along with other international business professionals who attend the regular ITCC networking receptions throughout each year.
Key points raised in the panel session included:
• Attitude can take a company in different directions
• U.S. companies are behind European and Asian companies in capturing the advantages of business collaborations, and we need to remedy this ASAP
• SMM’s also need to engage in marketing more often and intensively. Like collaborations, marketing is another key weakness in the U.S. SMM business culture.
• Remember that trade flows both ways, not just inbound, and pursue more exports
• There are unbalanced trade issues in the real world, but companies can’t wait for these to be corrected and must create effective strategies for the conditions that exist
Day Two
The proceedings of Day Two were significant in two ways: first, of course, was the sharing of successful strategies and tactics by the presenters, and second was in the crossover potential for automotive suppliers to participate in the more rapidly expanding medical market. We opened Day Two with a current reality presentation of status, trends and a global overview of the medical manufacturing market.
Current reality information for day two included:
• The medical manufacturing sector is growing at about 7.1%, compared to only 0.8% for automotive
• If a company can engineer and manufacture precision tooling and products to TS16949, then medical manufacturing is not out of reach
• Not everything medical requires clean rooms and sterilization; new capital expenditures are not needed for many product types
• There’s a vast network of medical practitioners generating innovative product ideas in the US, but not enough manufacturers to produce them
• As with automotive, or any sector, there are distortions in perceptions of global trade that can skew and damage strategic planning, execution and results for SMMs
The OEM presentation to lead off the Day Two program was Cardinal Health - Medical Products and Services Division (McGaw Park, IL; www.cardinal.com), a manufacturer of health care products and services with revenues of $65.05B. Cardinal was represented by Allen Shoopman, director of global sourcing.
Allen provided a tremendous amount of “nuts & bolts” information for the SMM seeking to serve the medical market and specifically for serving Cardinal. He brought samples of various products and key points in his presentation included his sharing of supplier metric information and a profile of the sector marketplace, many details about the Cardinal global sourcing model and specific information on how a U.S. SMM can get started with Cardinal. It’s important to note that Cardinal has a Supplier Diversity operation in the Chicago area with the charter to mentor SMMs in establishing and maintaining a successful and mutually profitable relationship as members of the Cardinal supply chain.
The key learning points for Cardinal were clear; SMMs are desirable suppliers as Cardinal needs to reduce costs just like all other product companies. Cardinal manufactures many products at their own facilities (10 in the U.S. and 11 across Mexico, Asia and Europe) while they encourage and even train SMMs to participate in their supply chain. Offshore sources are also utilized but Cardinal prefers domestic suppliers for their supply chain and uses them whenever possible.
The first SMM case study of the day presented the innovative business model of NewMedical Technology, Inc. (Northbrook, IL; www.newmedical.com), a manufacturer of innovative products and specialty surgical devices for hand and orthopedic surgeons, presented by A. Michael Hanna, chairman and CEO.
The NewMedical profile is a combination of incubating the ideas from their think tank of ten practicing surgeons and profiling manufacturing operations to bring the ideas to market. They also maintain a related not for profit angel investment group with the charter to start up or acquire the necessary engineering, manufacturing and marketing assets that are needed alongside their external alliances with SMMs as the company grows.
In addition to a detailed account of their strategies and tactics Michael described their direct need for SMM collaborative partners for the development of products, and related the difficult situation currently created by a pay-me-now mentality among tooling and other suppliers that I later dubbed “retail manufacturing.” He also presented comparisons to the highly collaborative suppliers in other countries who are much more open to speculative project development and long-term shared results.
I have to pause here to comment on this issue I call “retail manufacturing.” I’m at a loss to understand when exactly this came about, but having started my career in manufacturing in the 1970s I can remember many Chicago area companies ready and willing, even eager, to invest existing capacity and personnel in potential products and clients on a shared project basis rather than billing every minute of work like an accountant and selling every tool and part like a retail store. I spent many years with a company where we built tooling and machinery on speculative collaboration, creating successful and highly profitable client relationships in exchange for a stake in the ongoing programs. Somewhere along the way this attitude has apparently been lost and the change has severely impeded the ability of U.S. SMMs to compete globally. We need to recapture the practice of product development collaborations before we lose our edge in innovation completely.
The second presentation of Day Two was more of a practical briefing on the management of intellectual property than a case study. This was a presentation by Tin-Chuen Yeung, PhD., managing director of Everest Intellectual Property Law Group (Northbrook, IL; www.everestip.com), who focused on the management of IP in today’s global environment.
Tin presented both strategic and tactical information regarding the development, use and protection of IP, including some rather detailed information about “patentability vs. freedom to operate” and the myth that IP piracy only occurs in other countries. He provided a useful discourse on the costly aspects of enforcement of IP rights compared to the option of a trade secret approach rather than revealing the IP publicly through the patent process.
Key learning points from Everest include:
• Many people end up knowing about your product before you can launch it. IP management is a strategy and bundle of tactics, not a lawsuit after the fact
• Make sure executives at both companies understand any contract, don’t just turn it over to the lawyers; they generally know very little about manufacturing
• Enforcement of IP is much more expensive than proper management of IP. Use a trade secret approach whenever possible
The next presentation was the case study of MedGyn Products International (Lombard, IL; www.medgyn.com), a manufacturer of quality medical supplies, instruments and equipment for OB/GYN medical professionals. The MedGyn case was presented by Gustavo Alvarez, Latin America sales manager.
Gustavo not only highlighted the strategies that have allowed MedGyn to grow into three divisions and global markets, he also presented detailed and useful information on the profile of the Latin American marketplace and related regional business practices. He presented their current specific needs for SMMs to supply them with screw machine, injection molded and extruded products, along with placing in context the fact that they have as much difficulty finding qualified and collaborative SMMs in the U.S. as the difficulty U.S. SMMs express in finding quality clients.
Several key learning points from MedGyn included their strategy of partnering with doctors and scientists; the innovation generators for their market, the recognition that in many other countries around the world U.S. manufactured products are perceived as highly desirable, even coveted, and the successful results to be obtained through a view of the world that’s not narrowly U.S., Europe and/or Asia centric.
The last case study of the day was the recently opened U.S. unit of Swiss-based Polydec International (Chicago, IL; www.polydec-inc.com), a manufacturer of micro-sized precision machined components, presented by David Kouidri, president.
Here’s a case study of a small (US$12MM) offshore company coming to the U.S., which happens more often than most people perceive because our media mainly cover U.S. companies who move operations offshore. Historically an automotive supplier, Polydec has recognized the suitability of their processes and expertise to also serve the rapidly growing medical device market and are rapidly assimilating new clients in their new sector. Their competitive advantage comes from leading edge micro machining technology as their niche. An interesting element of the presentation was the recognition that their Swiss employees have been just as resistant to change and globalization as Americans are. Another important component of their market and client relationship building strategy, which related back to the NewMedical presentation, is that Polydec provides free prototyping for their clients and are not merely near-term focused on “retail manufacturing.”
Key learning points from Polydec included:
• The U.S. is a desirable location for many offshore companies, not just the other way around
• They’ve clearly identified the ability of their automotive-focused operations to readily cross over to serving the medical device sector
• Resistance to change and globalization is not unique to people in the U.S.
• Offering free prototypes is not always successful, but retail manufacturing is also not the answer; the ideal collaborative strategy lies somewhere in between
A lively interactive panel discussion followed the presentations with challenging and instructive Q&A between the presenters and attendees. Similar elements were discussed as with the panel on day one, and the medical equipment market clearly emerged as more familiar to SMMs than many had expected it to be.
In summarizing the two day program several key learning points emerged in common across the presentations:
• Successful companies large and small open their minds to global trade even if they choose not to participate in global markets or sourcing. No one benefits from anger and fear.
• All of our case companies have a “can do” attitude embedded from the top down in their corporate cultures, with high levels of employee development and commitment to executing global strategies.
• Most of the companies engage in international activities of some fashion, and all are growing and successful here in the U.S. as a result.
• All of these companies are committed to excellence, not just as a buzzword but as a functional, deliberate and measurable business practice.
• Whether operating internationally or not all of these companies are exercising a strong commitment to good, old-fashioned operational excellence as a key foundation of their success.
• All of the case studies at AutoMed 2006 share the same key traits with the case studies of the first ITCC Global Manufacturing Series in 2004.
The participants in the program came away with actionable information to bring back to their own corporate teams to incorporate into their planning. The next Global Manufacturing Series program is scheduled for October 19 and 20, 2006. To be added to our mailing list, and SMMs who would like to be considered as case study candidates, please contact ITCC at execdir@itcc.org.
To view detailed information on the presenters and case companies, as well as a link to the information on the 2004 GMS presenters and case companies, please visit www.itcc-tma.org.
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Author Michael L. Hetzel is VP/Americas of ProQC International and a member of the board of directors of the International Trade Club of Chicago (ITCC). He chairs the ITCC-TMA Global Manufacturing Series (December 7-8), www.automed2005.org. Michael Hetzel may be reached at 708-710-5935 or mlhetzel@northerngalaxy.com.
Reprinted from the International Trade Club of Chicago January 2006 issue of ITCC Trade Report. To view article, go to http://www.itcc.org/article.asp?artid=260. Article Copyright ITCC 2006. All Rights Reserved.
The International Trade Club of Chicago (www.itcc.org) is a not-for-profit trade association based in Chicago, IL. Founded in 1919, the ITCC is the oldest international trade association in the U.S. Members represent a broad range of manufacturing, technology and service sectors as well as educational institutions, government agencies and the diplomatic corps. The Global Manufacturing Series is one of several ITCC programs designed to provide a forum for discussion, collaboration and education to support the profession of international business management and promote the sustained and balanced growth and success of U.S. businesses as other global regions emerge and develop as both competitive threats and opportunities for trade.
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