The Thomas Blog

3 Financial Risks In The Manufacturing Industry

The manufacturing industry is largely comprised of small businesses. In fact, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 98 percent of manufacturing companies in the U.S. are considered to be small (with fewer than 500 employees). Further still, nearly 75 percent of manufacturing companies actually have fewer than 20 employees. 

Within these smaller organizations, financial decisions always loom incredibly large. Every dollar counts, and one misstep can have disastrous consequences. That's why it's important to steer clear of these common pitfalls. 

Optimize Safety In Industrial Operations To Drive Productivity & Revenue

Safety in the workplace is a serious matter — especially in industrial operations. In physically demanding and/or high-risk industries like many industrial operations, the implications of such injuries can be disastrous.

The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows there were more than 5,200 fatal workplace injuries across all sectors, in addition to more than 3 million total recordable cases of non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses in 2013.

The Keys For Manufacturers To Connect With Big Buyers

Landing a contract with a big buyer can have an equally big impact on your business. However, large buying organizations tend to do things a bit differently than the clients you’re likely used to serving.

If you want a real chance at landing those big fish, you need to understand how they think and how their processes work.

How to Innovate Without Blowing Your R&D Budget

In 1998, Steve Jobs told Fortune, “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have.” Jobs believed that throwing money at a problem should not be the answer. Creativity and genuine genius should win out. And whether you’re a pharmaceutical and software company with a large budget for research and development or a custom manufacturer with considerably less, a budget is still a budget.

So here are a few tips to help you spearhead innovation without blowing your R&D budget.

What Is Business Process Management: For Industrial Companies

Industrial processes have to be precise. Any error, from a disrupted link in a supply chain to a faulty step in the manufacturing process, could significantly drop the quality of your delivered goods or service. 

With a highly competitive environment, mistakes are intolerable. 

Mistakes and errors are rife when your industrial business does not have a set of documented steps for every business operation. This is where business process management comes in. 

In this blog, we will explore what business process management is, and how it can be used to reduce errors in all of your business procedures. This includes procedures such as using Thomasnet.com to source suppliers, to the factory floor operations, right through to the end of your supply chain with product/service delivery and marketing. 

Tips To Become A Top Supplier

Most of us know that supplying a quality product or service on time, and at a fair price, is critical to achieving customer satisfaction. But what if you're not the only one that can do this for your customer?

Become your customer's first choice for their next order and rank as a top supplier with these tips.

How To Become A Defense Contractor

According to Deloitte last year in the defense sector, heightened global tensions and geopolitical risks, recovery in the US defense budget, and higher defense spending by other major regional powers such as China, India, and Japan were expected to drive global defense sector growth into 2019 and beyond. Continued military spending growth is a sign for suppliers to secure ongoing business and tap into new market opportunities. 

Challenges And Opportunities In The Aerospace Industry

The aerospace and defense industry is a major source of innovation and technological advancements. It plays a critical role in national defense, enables safe and efficient air travel, increases communication and the dissemination of knowledge, and contributes to increased consumerism and the globalization of supply chains.

Since the Wright Brothers' first powered flight in 1903, the aerospace industry has had an enviable record of achievement. From transforming modern transportations to landing a man on the Moon — it's no surprise the American aerospace industry's positive track record and strength makes it one of the largest contributors of employment in manufacturing. So what are some of the challenges this group faces?

How To Improve Your Supplier-Distributor Relationship

A prospect that you’ve been chasing for months has been researching you as well, checking out your product catalog on a distributor’s website and downloading your CAD models. They’ve narrowed down their shortlist to you and a couple of your competitors, and now they’re visiting your website to gather additional details.

But when they arrive on your site, what they see doesn’t quite match what they saw on the distributor’s site. Part numbers are off, and specs aren’t aligning 100%. Plus, basic company information doesn’t match with what they read before and content looks outdated.

Reconciling the differences would take way too long, so instead they just cross you off their list. And you never even knew they were interested in the first place.

Unfortunately, this scenario plays out all too frequently and prevents the supplier and distributor from meeting their goals. In some cases, the scenario results in a dropped key customer and the existing customer base begins to diminish.