Curious about outsourcing? Not exactly sure if it’s the right thing for your company? The potential to impact your company’s long-term success is so great through outsourcing that we’ve outlined the benefits and potential advantages of working with a contract manufacturer with a series of whitepapers. The first in our series, Outsourcing 101, is meant for companies new to the idea of outsourcing.
As an OEM, you may have determined that the way to be successful and maintain control over your product is to handle every phase of the manufacturing process in house. Your “big picture” check list of requirements in the manufacturing lifecycle probably looks a little like this:
- Research and development
- Engineering and design
- Product sourcing
- Production (including the facilities, equipment)
- Personnel and training
- Marketing
- Product delivery
With many of our customers, we often hear that they’re so busy just managing the lifecycle that taking time to research and develop new products or product enhancements falls by the wayside.
That’s where outsourcing can be a strategic advantage for your company. With outsourcing, it’s still your product manufactured to your specifications – and you still maintain control. Someone else just takes care of part (or all) of the process thereby giving you more time to focus on the bigger picture.
In this first whitepaper, Outsourcing 101: Outsourcing as a Competitive Advantage, we’re offering a complete overview of the concept of outsourcing, including some of the most common reasons to outsource:
- Company growth: “We can’t handle the production demand.”
- Staffing and personnel needs: “We can’t find the right people for the job.”
- Product development: “We can’t solve recurring quality issues.”
- Innovation: “We’re missing out on innovation because we’re spending all our time meeting current production demands.”
We also address some misconceptions associated with the practice of outsourcing, such as the cost of outsourcing or how hard it is (or isn’t) to find a contract manufacturer. In reality, many reasons why some organizations don’t outsource are, in fact, the main reasons they should.
Expect that your competitors are exploring outsourcing options, if they don’t already have a contract manufacturer relationship. It’s quite possible that you can’t afford not to explore the option.
Download the whitepaper here and look for parts two and three of our series in the coming months. Contact Rick Bromm with any questions.