Is there a plan in place at your company if a top employee, such as the president or owner

dies? Episode five is the first in a new interview format on MakingChips. In this fifth episode,

we talk to Stacey Bales about her story of taking over as President of Bales Mold Service (recently

rebranded as Bales Metal Surface Solutions).

The first reaction from the bank is “How are we going to liquidate?”

Who takes over when multiple family members are involved and no succession plan has been

setup? Major issues arise, such as trust among family members - when there is no succession

plan, family members will fight out their new roles instead of moving into the proper roles

right away. The family needs to establish that they are all on the same team and not out for

themselves.

“Be very transparent with the person that you believe is coming up.” The owner of every

manufacturing company should be transparent about how they want to handle the succession

of their company and have a vision about where they want the company to go.

Stacey Bales is the 2nd generation owner and President of Bales Metal Surface Solutions. Bales

provides engineered coating and finishes to mold makers and OEMs. They have locations in

Illinois and Texas. In addition, Stacey is on the Board of Directors of the TMA (Technology and

Manufacturing Association) and President of AESF (American Electro & Surface Finishers).

In our Manufacturing News segment, we discuss a news article about the City of Atlanta. They

are short on manufacturing skilled labor resulting in six figure incomes for certain positions.

In our Metalworking Tools segment, we discuss Southwestern Industries (CNC Technology for

Small Lot Machining). Southwestern machines are intended to produce small lots of parts, so

you can go from programming to producing parts much quicker than traditional CNC lathes

and mills with easy to use ProtoTRAK programming.

Do you go to the bar or do you take action?  Jason and Jim will step you through 11 points to consider WHEN the recession hits the Metalworking Nation.  Yes, this subject is a bummer, but MakingChips is going to Equip Manufacturing Leaders no matter the subject.

Women in manufacturing

Yoda says “No!  Try not.  Do or Do Not.  There is no try”

1.      Pay attention to your cash flow – like a hawk – know the numbers.

2.      Talk to your staff and be honest about what is going on.

3.      Be honest with your partners.

4.      Know your core competency and stick to your business model.

5.      Minimize purchasing and reduce expenses – can you insource any of your services?

6.      Lower your overhead.

7.      Minimize your labor costs (OT) – make strategic decisions sooner rather than later.

8.      Realize your capacity level.

9.      Negotiate with banks.

10.   Negotiate with your landlord.

11.   Capitalize on opportunities.

This episode is about tactics for manufacturing companies WHEN the recession hits.  That’s right, I said WHEN, not IF.  If there is one thing that nobody understands, it’s our economy.  There is little evidence of a recession proof economy, so we need to spend some time discussing how to better prepare.

Are you ready for a recession?

1.      Do you have a diversified customer base?

2.      Maintain proper overhead (building ego).

3.      Review your debt – did those decisions result in a return?

4.      Strategic purchase of capital equipment

a.      Measure your ROI

b.      Invest in technology to stay productive and ahead of the competition

c.      Don’t spend money just for a write off…have a strategic reason

d.      Should you pay cash or get a loan?

5.      Does your company provide a critical part or service that is recession proof?

6.      Is your customer base recession proof or vulnerable?

7.      Is your product or process difficult to replicate or will your customers be looking to lower their costs?

IMTS started as The First National Machine Tool Builders Exposition in Cleveland in 1927.

Post WWII, the show moved to Chicago in 1955.

What is the IMTS hangover?

What did you learn at IMTS that you can take back to your business?

What is the best way to prepare for a show, such as IMTS?

Do social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others matter to the manufacturing industry?  We will discuss WHY you should be on social media, WHAT platforms to consider, and HOW to get started.

SEO

Brand Awareness

Thought Leadership

Influencing a New Generation

Social Media Platforms

How often?

What is the process?

What should you do first?

Social Media PPC

Jim’s eBook “Social Media in Manufacturing”