An admittedly informal and unscientific survey at the latest meeting of the Bluewater Wood Alliance has identified marketing and the slow economy as the biggest issues facing woodworkers and their suppliers today.
And while it was a small sample with no claim of representing the industry as a whole, the results nevertheless offer a glimpse at the challenges companies are facing. Others talked about increasing productivity, material flow and generally improved organization.
More than 45 people met in Walkerton on Feb. 28, for the Alliance’s latest networking meeting and when they were asked about the biggest challenges and the number one issue facing their organizations, a majority agreed that the slow economy and the resulting need to look for new customers are their biggest issues.
Participants also got the latest Alliance updates and heard several presentations.
Bob Barone of HOMAG subsidiary BENZ Inc. talked about aggregates on CNC machines and showed members how they can use machine aggregates to increase their productivity.
Wes Love of Taurus Craco presented the Weinig solution for integrated manufacturing. Love said the key objective for any business is to be ready to meet the demands of a dynamic marketplace. He said today’s world is flat … and companies have to adapt and be faster and more responsive.
Sepp Gmeiner of Lignum Consulting talked about the importance of benchmarking and creating a balanced scorecard to track successes and failures. He used the example of driving a car. “You can drive the car without ever looking at the dashboard,” he said. “But it may not be the best approach.” He argued the same holds true for benchmarking. If used properly, it can be a powerful tool for a company.
The Bluewater Wood Alliance is a not-for-profit group of like-minded manufacturers and suppliers, which represents a ‘cluster’ of wood product manufacturers in Midwestern Ontario working together for the prosperity of their companies and the industry as a whole.
The next Bluewater meeting is scheduled for June 6.
