Managing Automation - August 2008 - (Page 54)

robert malone NEXT Think of the Head, Ramón robomalone@aol.com Rescuing manufacturing from daunting energy, security, and recession problems will require deep, aggressive action grounded in reason. In the gritty 1964 film A Fistful of Dollars, Clint Eastwood plays the Man with No Name, while Gian Maria Volontè plays Ramón Rojo, the villain. In a final shootout, the Man with No Name taunts Ramón to shoot him. He says, “The heart, Ramón. Don’t forget the heart.” Eastwood’s character has tricked Ramón to shoot and shoot again to no effect, as the Man with No Name is wearing a metal plate over his heart. Of course, if Ramón had gone for the head, Eastwood would have received many fewer awards subsequently. The Man with No Name sets up Ramón to lose. He encourages action and even defines the nature of the action. Answing a call to action always appears courageous, but action may incline us to mistakes. It may be a substitute for thinking logically and with an awareness of longrange consequences. Take, for example, independent truckers hauling supplies to and from factories. They face daunting prospects. With the high price of diesel fuel, they make the delivery, but lose money. The more they deliver, the more they may lose. What action can they take — a march (truck roll) on Washington or a push to take over Saudi Arabia or for U.S. oil companies to get busy with energy research? What about embracing automation? Cooperative wireless communication networks, for example, could help independent truckers to operate as a fleet rather than individually. Truckers also could take better advantage of intermodal delivery — for instance, by using rail for the long haul and trucks for the short haul. The trucker that excels in communication and intermodal delivery is actually thinking, not merely reacting. So what should manufacturers do in the face of stiff competition and rising costs for transportation, security, and running factories? Should they reduce staff, close marginal factories, or, perhaps, invent a better mousetrap or smart car? These actions all seem reasonable. But no business can run long term by reduction (and we do not mean running lean). No manufacturer will dominate by continuous workforce reductions. No factory closing will usher in a new era of growth. No quick-scheme innovation will sustain a manufacturer. Innovation is not a quick fix. It is a state of mind that must permeate an enterprise. We do not create a healthy enterprise by continuous retreat. Manufacturing must embrace automation. Laborintensive manufacturing is eventually terminal. Taking work to where the labor is cheap may have been a solution when logistics and transportation were economical, but now outsourcing globally has become too costly. Goods that can be made at home should be made at home, using lots of automation, rather than lots of people. One recommended strategy is to move the enterprise toward service: assuring product quality, delivering in good form, providing maintenance when needed, and offering around-the-clock implementation and repair advice. The product is really mostly service and aftermarket. As anyone buying a computer printer knows, it’s the ink, baby. Inaugurating such programs takes thought before action, regardless of any incentives to go for the heart. Brainpower is the way to survive. Think of the head, Ramón. Think of the head and use it. ■ Robert Malone, based in New York, is principal of Robert Malone Associates and former editor-in-chief of Managing Automation. maonline managingautomation.com For more of Robert Malone’s views, visit: ❑ Watch and Learn www.managingautomation .com/next51 ❑ Growing Pains www.managingautomation .com/next50 ❑ Mean Manufacturing www.managingautomation .com/next49 ma 54 2008 August Photo: Dirk Kikstra http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/next51 http://www.managingautomation.com/next51 http://www.managingautomation.com/next50 http://www.managingautomation.com/next50 http://www.managingautomation.com/next49 http://www.managingautomation.com/next49

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - August 2008

Managing Automation - August 2008 Contents Take 1 After 18 Months, the Oracle/SAP Suit Has Little Effect on Maintenance Sales At 100, Foxboro Reinvents Around Its Customers New Private Equity Firm Eyes Software A Software Suite Just for Manufacturers i2 Chief Focuses on Services Plan Notes It's Time for Action Examining U.S. Competitveness Leveling the Field An Unhealthy Situation Exploring Alternatives Math and Science: Key to the Future Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - August 2008

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