More Than Ever, Nimble Manufacturing Is A Necessity

The U.S. is experiencing historical levels of supply chain disruption and unemployment. But nimble manufacturers are pivoting by reconfiguring their facilities to make much-needed products, and hiring locally at a time when many can not.

In less than six weeks, the brittleness of current manufacturing practices have been exposed, especially complex global supply chains and sluggish procedures. Now is the time for nimble manufacturing with a resilient domestic supply chain. 

The manufacturing industry’s ingenuity and leadership will drive a restructuring and simplification of what is a complex supply chain, ensuring a bright future for the United States. And it is technology that will provide the tools necessary to create the agile best practices needed to thrive in the future economy. 

Timberlane, an exterior window shutter manufacturer, faced a 75% decrease in production when regulations and restrictions due to the coronavirus were enacted. Rick Skidmore, founder and CEO, describes a high pressure meeting with his management team and their commitment to pivoting to production of essential goods—completely new product lines for the company. A top priority for Skidmore was avoiding lay-offs and providing a run-way to provide much needed time to rebuild the business. This goal, coupled with his entrepreneurial spirit, led the company to begin manufacturing face shields and intubation shields. 

“We just looked at each other and said, ‘All right, we could sit around and accept that we’re down 75% or we could use our resources and leverage it into something different,’” he said. The company had its first product, a face shield, finished in only five days.  

Adaptability And Resilience On The Factory Floor 

Adapting to completely new manufacturing processes was not without significant hurdles. The first challenge was space. The company had to repurpose its 78,000 square foot facility to accommodate new production lines while ensuring safety and efficiency. Raw materials were stored in the parking lot, where they were protected by tarps, and 100 completely new individual workstations were bought and installed. 

The next challenge Timberlane faced was hiring. Although the majority of employees were running the production of these new units, they needed more workers to keep up with production and fill two shifts running seven days a week. The company quickly set up a hiring and scheduling portal on its website, and did outreach in the local area, including segments in local news media. 

Within a few weeks, Timberlane had 500 applicants. It hired 250 new workers, and the company is considering adding a third shift if demand continues. “Because there are so many people that are unemployed, we wanted to keep it in the community to help displaced restaurant workers, retail workers, college students who lost internships and others who had lost their jobs because of the pandemic,” says Skidmore.

The Revival Of Domestic Manufacturing

If it can be said that there’s a silver lining to this very uncertain and fraught period, it’s the great potential for the revival of the domestic manufacturing industry. 

Many of Timberlane’s new hires had lost service industry jobs and are college-aged. They’re at a prime point to embark on a new career path, and manufacturing will welcome them with open arms. Members of younger generations, many of whom likely haven’t considered manufacturing, may come to realize the potential for a rewarding career that’s at the forefront of technological advancements and the new American economy. 

The manufacturing industry of today isn’t the manufacturing industry of the past—physically demanding or repetitive. As factories adopt new technologies, like machine learning analytics and automation, production becomes more efficient and jobs become more advanced-—and rewarding-—then ever. 

These technologies also help quickly get recent hires up to speed in their new roles. Machine learning-powered manufacturing platforms can analyze the best practices of experienced workforces and recommend production settings and run optimizations. New staff can follow these rules to get ramped up quickly, which empowers manufacturers to adjust hiring to respond to unexpected increases in demand.  

A New Supply Chain Model 

Timberlane’s nimbleness and creativity meant the company could change direction with little time; it is an exemplar of the mindset manufacturers must have. The company’s leaders were innovative and are now helping protect America’s essential workers and, at the same time, providing much-needed local jobs. 

We have been made painfully aware of the fragility of the global supply chain. If we can’t rely on it to provide when we need it most, we must create a new model. That new model should emphasize domestic production that is nimble, secure, and helps local economies.

We should never again find ourselves in such a reactionary and, frankly, dangerous situation where we can’t fulfill needs for basic supplies. Reaffirming America’s commitment to manufacturing, and creating future economic prosperity.