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Running a small manufacturing company can be challenging as you have some big names as your rivals. Some of the largest businesses in the world are in the manufacturing sector, and it is hard to topple them. Hard, but not impossible.
There are little things you can do and tactics you can use to try and compete with the big boys. A few ideas are listed below, and they provide the perfect starting point for a small business aiming to tackle the industry giants:
Find a USP
Small manufacturing companies do have some potential USPs they can call upon to set them apart from the bigger businesses in the industry. Most of the large manufacturing companies will mass produce things using machines and crazy AI tools. While this can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing for some consumers.
As such, your small business can do the opposite and focus on producing handmade products. You cater to a gap in the market where consumers want to purchase goods that haven’t been made by some multinational corporation. The idea of a handmade product is nice to lots of consumers because it shows that a lot of time and effort has been put into it. Moreover, it makes the product more unique as it isn’t something that’s mass-produced. So, you can play on this and make it your USP, encouraging sales from people that aren’t interested in what the bigger businesses are offering.
Clearly, there are other USPs you might be able to find. Look at your business and consider what can make you unique. Perhaps you focus on things like worker’s rights and human welfare. It’s well known that a lot of manufacturers have awful working conditions and don’t treat their employees well. If you brand your company as one that offers fair wages and excellent employee benefits, it reflects well on how people perceive your company. In fact, many consumers would be willing to spend money on your products, rather than support a huge manufacturing business that doesn’t treat its employees well.
Up your efficiency
Efficiency in manufacturing can be best described as how long it takes for you to produce your products to the highest standard possible. An efficient business will produce products extremely quickly while maintaining an exceptionally high standard. As a consequence, this often means that your business is able to get more products out there in a quicker time. Naturally, this is beneficial as it means you have more things to sell – as well as shorter downtime between restocks.
Bigger businesses tend to be efficient, but this is an area in which you can beat them. Bigger manufacturing companies usually have much larger supply chains and more things that can go wrong, possibly causing them to take longer to create products. Your small business can give itself an advantage by using things like OEEsystems throughout the enterprise. Effectively, this is software that can be used to measure your performance and productivity, pinpointing how it can be improved. Thus, you can boost efficiency and drive your business closer to the top.
Invest in technology
Yes, we mentioned earlier that making things by hand can be a good USP. However, this doesn’t mean you should completely ignore technology. There are lots of examples of great tech innovations in manufacturing that make life easier for a small business. Things like software applications or 3D printing have made it easier for you to make things without needing hundreds of employees. After all, this is how a lot of smaller businesses end up struggling against the big guns.
Big manufacturing companies can have thousands of employees in one factory. It allows them to do much more than you will be able to do with hardly any employees. You don’t have the funds to invest in more staff, but technology can help you bridge the gap. Tech solutions can let you run processes automatically and take care of loads of elements of making a product. This might mean that you use technology to create the different parts of a product, but you can still assemble it by hand, keeping that USP.
Ultimately, an investment in technology is an investment in your business!
Focus on customer service
Having a big business is great, but it usually means that the customer service side of things suffers. Massive manufacturing companies often struggle with customer service because they have so many customers always contacting them. Not only that, they can have customers from different parts of the world, so there are language barriers. It usually means they outsource to a general call center, meaning the customer service is much worse than it should be.
The one benefit of having a smaller business is that you have more control over your customer service. You can really focus on delivering a service that goes above and beyond what customers expect. Offer lots of ways for people to contact your brand and always ensure that you respond to complaints or queries as quickly as can be. If your customer service is up to scratch, it can really give your company a boost in comparison to the bigger businesses out there.
Market yourself
A spot of marketing will always enable smaller companies to compete with bigger ones. This is because it forces your brand out into the public eye, making people aware of you. Social media is a really good way to raise brand awareness and drive attention to your small manufacturing company. It’s a place where you can post content that demonstrates your expertise, encouraging people to learn more.
Put together a killer marketing strategy, and there’s no reason your small business can’t stand up against some of the biggest in this industry!
By no means will it be easy to compete with businesses that have been established for years. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. The manufacturing sector can be a profitable one, and there is definitely a niche appearing for smaller businesses. If you apply some of the ideas we’ve discussed, it could put you in a good position to step on some massive toes.
