Go Global Young Man . . . But How?

Long ago, Horace Greeley admonished his readers to get with Manifest Destiny and go west. The twenty-first century equivalent is for manufacturing to go global. But going global is a much more complex and difficult exercise than simply heading west.

Globally marketing one’s manufacturing capacity, engineering expertise, service capability and system integration ability takes more “critical mass” than most companies alone can muster. A company needs to have global resources to participate in a global market.

But, many small companies have built successful businesses doing custom engineering projects. These occupy the high-risk end of the business spectrum but can be very useful to a global market looking for new solutions to manufacturing problems.

The systems needed to solve a specific production problem for a specific manufacturer are not only one-of-a-kind, they are also often first-of-a-kind, with all of the attendant engineering and project management challenges that go with them. This is not a market for the timid.

Some of those companies, however, are using their individuality and special skills as a foundation to build a broader approach to the challenges of global marketing and management. This approach is being facilitated through the Custom Automated Systems Group (CASG) of the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

“In today’s market, there is a need to go global,” says Malcolm Mason, AMT’s international marketing director and chief liaison to the CASG committee. “Small manufacturers don’t have the resources to go it alone. Through CASG, these companies can gain insight on forming alliances and can present a comprehensive package of services to an international customer.”

CASG membership is open to those AMT members whose revenues are generated primarily from designing and building custom engineered, integrated manufacturing systems. “This team approach to international marketing allows us to compete effectively with large, multi-national companies for international business,” says CASG member Gerald Pall, president of City Machine Tool & Die.

Through trade associations such as AMT, companies can work with other complementary and like-minded companies to form a team that can play larger as a group than as individuals. For more information about CASG membership, contact Mr. Mason at msmason@amtonline.org.