The 3D Printing Store

Mar 23, 2020

From Debra Wilcox, The 3D Printing Store:

As supply chain disruptions continue to grow, The 3D Printing Store sees opportunities for businesses in the manufacturing industry to come together and work towards finding better solutions.

Can you see the end of the week, or maybe just the end of the day? Customer uncertainty, work schedules and supply chain problems are real but we cannot stop. We make the things we use every day -- in our homes, in communication systems or in defense of our nation. Manufacturing is not discretionary.

Does your supply chain look different than it was two months or even two days ago? Fix it, shorten it, or maybe take this moment in time to redo it. Implement the changes you thought about.

Work with others facing the same challenges. Other manufacturers are in the same spot. Collective wisdom is better than individual magical thinking. Talk to each other and come out stronger.

We can reinvent the wheel if it's a smarter wheel. New Year's resolutions have faded. Back to business as usual, but is it not business as usual. If your current plan is headed downhill, change the trajectory. Where are your resources and how can they be used smarter?

Reorganizing? Make that a bottom to top exercise. Ask employees or workers for their ideas. Our workforce -- young and old -- have ideas on how to do things better. They often don't volunteer ideas and they may not have been asked. Ask.

We all have been given truckloads of lemons. Let's make gallons of lemonade -- or the containers to put it in. That is what we do -- we make things. Manufacturing is not discretionary. It is dynamic and will rise to the occasion.

Contact Debra Wilcox at dwilcox@the3dprintingstore.com or call 720/724-0368, or visit www.the3dprintingstore.com.