Intelligent Manufacturing € September € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 9

Manufacturers Need to Be More Agile

---

To address such trends as mass customization, customer outsourcing and the increasing emphasis on international markets, today's midsize manufacturers will need to adopt a variety of operational changes, according to a recent study by Grant Thornton LLP (Chicago, Ill.), a management consulting firm.

The Grant Thornton study gauged the reaction of midsize manufacturers -- which often supply products to the world's largest producers and retailers -- to today's speed- and cost-driven supply chain environment. "The pressures mounting within the supply chain to reduce costs and provide value-added services are spawning fundamental changes in the form and function of today's midsize manufacturing companies," said Michael Cantwell, Grant Thornton's national director for manufacturing and partner in charge of this study.

Grant Thornton's study, based upon interviews with more than 500 manufacturing executives with annual sales between $10 million and $500 million, reveals the following findings:

• Three-fourths of midsize manufacturers (73%) believe they will need to become more agile to provide a variety of products quickly and efficiently, particularly as more customers demand items with specialized features and functions.
  
  
• Nearly two-thirds (65%) say their customers outsource at least one major function to them, such as design and engineering, distribution and logistics or customer service.
  
  
• The percentage of companies selling as much as 20% or more of annual sales abroad has more than doubled in two years, from 13% to 29%.
  
  
• More than one-third (34%) of midsize companies will already have or plan to have a site on the Internet's World Wide Web by the end of 1997.