BLOG #0002
ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY AND FORECASTING WITHOUT A CRYSTAL BALL
It seems like a short time ago we were talking about the Great Recession of the late 2000’s. The housing-market bubble bursting, businesses floundering, high unemployment, and widespread panic. Fast-Forward to the Spring of 2020 and we had a new challenge; The Pandemic. It was a global crisis akin to a zombie-apocalypse. In many ways the economy came to a screeching halt. Businesses everywhere drastically slowed down their operations. Others completely closed their doors, either temporarily or permanently. Once again, panic set in everywhere.
A short time later we began to hear of many sectors/ businesses/ industries having overcorrected. Now there was a shortage of Automobiles, Chips, Pilots, Laborers. Shortages of food service workers, packaging and other components made the daily news. During this time, we heard the word “Supply Chain” more than we had ever heard it before. Daily stories of Container ports so full, they were unable to unload the backlog of containers and freight.
What became very apparent is that none of us can predict the future. Some of the largest, best run companies in the world could not foresee what long-term impact the pandemic would have. Many of these same businesses could have never guessed that only a couple months after a total shutdown they would have product and labor shortages.
The biggest takeaway from downturns and the subsequent upward trends is probably this: if you can find ways to be flexible, minimize risk, and avoid pitfalls, your business can even survive a global pandemic. Sounds easy- right? Not really, but here are a couple ideas/solutions that may help:
Staff Augmentation
Automation/Robotics
Consultants/Specialist
Staff Augmentation: is a great way to supplement your internal team and the core competencies that you already possess. For example, hiring an electrical engineer or mechanical engineer to help you complete a 6-month project. This allows you to bring on the talent you need at a fraction of the cost. Also, it prevents an organization from having to add a permanent employee. Especially if toe-dipping in a new market, new product roll-out, or new idea is the goal.
Automation/Robotics: has always been considered a good fit for anything that is dull, dirty, or dangerous. Furthermore, it can be viewed as an opportunity-cost gained. By freeing up that task, you can now utilize that experienced employee in a more valuable way. Perhaps, running the robot cell, or serving in Customer Technical Support.
Many organizations have deemed the internal knowledge and product knowledge of their team much more valuable and applicable than any outside source you can bring in. That may be true, but maybe there is another way of looking at that. By bringing in a Consultant/ Specialist you are bringing in an outside view, with fresh ideas, who can work with and collaborate with your team. Further, they often have vast industry and product knowledge that may supplement/inspire/synergize with what you already have on your internal team.
