When you reach a record high in your organization’s production or sales, your perspective and projections for the future should be bright. After all, this is what your organization has been striving to achieve. For some manufacturers, however, the key to maximizing their performance comes with a little bit of help from an outside source.
Consultants are third-party entities who come into your facility to gain an understanding of how your operations work and offer strategies to further improve upon what you’ve established. Rather than assigning an employee with the task of streamlining your current operations, consultants offer specialized assistance to optimize your organization.
As a manufacturer, hiring a consultant could be the move that’s needed to transform your organization into one that is even more efficient, prosperous and lean. Here, we’ll outline some of the job duties of consultants, their benefits and disadvantages should you decide to hire one for your organization.
As older workers retire and younger ones may not have a clear understanding of what the industry has to offer, it can be a struggle to retain good talent as a manufacturer in 2015. Consultants aid organizations by bringing customized training to their facilities which helps to prepare their staffs for new technologies that may be coming in the near future.
To get younger generations interested in manufacturing, some consultants make a strong effort to recruit milennials by showcasing their industry. For instance, Manufacturing Day is a national event where manufacturers can host an open house at their facility and invite local area schools. This gives students an inside view of manufacturing and potential career options for the future.
The concept of continuous improvement is at the core of lean manufacturing. And while it may be easier to implement in a small manufacturing facility that only produces one product, it can be overwhelming for medium- to large-sized manufacturing companies that offer multiple products with multiple production processes.
Consultants aim to eliminate the waste in several areas while streamlining company processes from the front office to distribution. In short, you and your consultant should work together so you both have a clear understanding of what your clients need and the steps that need to be taken to deliver results with the least amount of wasted effort.
Manufacturers that benefit from a consultant’s strategy to improve the supply chain are better positioned overall to develop, create and distribute better products at a lower price point.
This would require a focus on the entire supply chain. However, the benefits of having an outside consultant with supply chain experience would garner benefits that far outweigh the major effort that’s required for this task if you used a current employee.
Hiring an employee rather than a consultant can get costly with having to pay for benefits, work space, technology and more. Plus, consultants are often hired to tackle a particular project within a specific timeframe. With that said, you'll have to pay that consultant far less than if you were to hire a brand new full-time employee. Of course, the rates depend on the type of consultant you hire and the scale of the project.
While consultants are often hired to focus on one project, their success in that assignment can lead them to be kept on board longer to help in other areas. This would be an ideal situation as both parties would benefit equally.
As with all hires, your organization should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each potential consultant and take into account their specialty and experience. For more on how to make the right choice in hiring your manufacturing consultant, contact one of our experts today!