My wife Donna and I just returned from a 3-week bucket-list kind of trip. We met up with Donna’s parents and took the train from Toronto, Ontario, across Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia. It was a beautiful trip filled with awesome scenery, relaxed visiting, and first class meals.
In Part 1 of this discussion we discussed 5 battles that small batch job shops like RBB need to fight if and when they occur. Those situations are:
Note: This post is adapted from a similar one I wrote for the ODS blog which is devoted to leadership, communication and trust.
Like any business, small batch shops like RBB have many things we can improve upon all the time. (And the minute we don’t admit it signals the beginning of dangerous complacency!) It’s a growing challenge since most low-volume electronics manufacturing companies face intense competition and so seem hooked on instant answers and urgent innovation. Employees, regardless of their formal authority face enormous pressure to address everything that stands in the way of reaching the company's goals. Or they often think they do.
Talent, class, commitment, and integrity. These leadership hallmarks are exemplified in Wendy Smith, RBB’s General Manager, who begins in May 2013, after 27 years of tireless effort, a new chapter in life. We part as friends and she will be greatly missed. Yet this critical transition will be virtually transparent to customers and the business – and this is a story worth sharing.
I know it sounds cheesy; it’s the cheesy that makes it good! My wife Donna and I were on a weekend getaway when we picked up a very cool, wall-mounted antique brass bell. Sometime earlier I had begun wondering how we could alert everyone in the company when we landed a new customer relationship.
Many of the customers who find their way to RBB or other expert job shops, often do so by surprise. Several industry dynamics put the small batch customer at a disadvantage.
If you operate a business in the made-to-order, small batch world then you face a set of challenges that simply comes with the territory. Whether you’re making cookies, candles or custom circuit boards, by relentlessly improving the following important elements, you can significantly distance yourself from your competitors. They sound obvious – but to sustain an ongoing competitive advantage, they must be approached consciously with a fresh, questioning mindset.
When SmartBusiness Cleveland Magazine honored RBB Systems with its 2010 Evolution of Manufacturing Award, it drew attention to the growing separation of RBB’s business model from the rest of the pack of reputable contract manufacturers. All the way back in 2008, RBB had announced that it had “left the field” of large batches permanently behind. Since these high volume (gravy) runs had always been the Holy Grail, SmartBusiness was intrigued.
