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Many small manufacturers get their start innovating around a single hit product but building on early success is often the hardest thing for a business to do. As Robert Glazer explains, “When you bet your company's future on just one product's explosive success, that doesn't automatically translate to long-term growth.”

The most successful manufacturers understand that resting on success can kill even the most popular businesses. A commitment to ongoing product development is the best way to ensure future relevancy. Developing additional products that align with a current area of expertise is crucial to building the brand and driving growth.

Making New Year’s resolutions is something we all do, or joke about, or both. But regardless of which category you think you belong in, there’s no question that the New Year is a good time to re-examine how you do things and implement improvements in the workplace.  But where do you start? Every year, the list of “we should…” is a long one, but here are a few ideas that we think are a good place to start:

If 2018 hasn’t gone fast enough for you, the holiday season is upon us and like every holiday season, nothing is ever easy! This year there are a number of potholes that are appearing on the road to the holidays and beyond, and if you have not already prepared for some of them you might find yourself celebrating without any “roast beast” this year!

Last week we talked about a few common myths regarding Quality Control (see “5 Myths About Quality Control”), but one myth we did not cover was the one about Quality Assurance being the same thing. It’s not uncommon to hear them used interchangeably, and in a closed-loop environment of a large facility, it might not make a difference if everyone agrees to what the definitions are in their environment. But if you ever plan to use outside resources in any way, or want to make sure you are on the same page with suppliers and customers, it might be a good idea to understand the differences and apply them accordingly.

Last month, we published Part I of this article, where we talked about making that transition from “freewheeling inventor” to “process-driven listener”. Basically, it is about being more systematic in how you collect the data and insights that lead to more relevance in your new products. This is hardest for the business which was started from a single brilliant idea that succeeded, because it is not uncommon for the small manufacturer to not really understand WHY their initial product succeeded. Play-Doh, the ubiquitous colorful molding clay of everyone’s youth, was originally created in the 1930’s as a wallpaper cleaner. Success is great, but if you started out intending to be an innovator in the cleaning products business but all of your customers are under five years old, where do you go next?

If you’re like many small manufacturers, you started your business in one of the following ways:

1. You saw a gap and had an inspired idea that you turned into a successful product
2. You worked for another manufacturer and saw a better opportunity to become their supplier.
3. You cashed out of your first career success to fund your dream startup.

And if you are a 2^nd or 3^rd generation business owner, then your family likely started one of those ways too, and they did well enough to make it successful for over a full generation.

Regardless of how you started and what you started with, everyone has the same problem:

There has been much written about finding and retaining happy warehouse workers. These issues are not going away as eCommerce is expected to grow.  But, who is going to do the work? It has never been more important to have the right equipment which includes an advanced warehouse cart with portable power.