Don’t wait for the level playing field – get in shape to run uphill

by Bruce Braker, president - Tooling & Manufacturing Association (TMA)

Globalization of manufacturing is a reality no matter how we feel about it. Manufacturers in countries around the world are fighting for share in the huge United States market for manufactured goods. Domestically based American manufacturers must fight back to defend our turf. Learn how to compete in the global manufacturing environment by listening to and interacting with experts, including some of your successful peers. Register for the “Discover the Keys to Competitive Manufacturing” series today. For registration details, visit www.itcc-tma.org or contact Aldo Caronia at 312/368-9197 or execdir@itcc.org.

Some manufacturers say, “We can’t compete until we have a level playing field!” TMA respects the lobbying efforts aimed at leveling the playing field and the association participates heavily in those efforts. We should continue to demand that level playing field, but we can’t afford to plan and act as though we expect meaningful results from those demands anytime soon – if ever. Don’t depend on anyone’s lobbying efforts to level the playing field. Don’t depend on the next election to level the playing field. Don’t depend on your trade associations to level the playing field. Don’t depend on a level playing field – get in shape to run uphill. If it flattens some that’s great, but don’t depend on it.

Your strategic plan, your marketing plan, your sales efforts, your training and education, your customer focus, your target industry strategy, your resource deployment, and your technology application by your company or your company collaborating with a few others will do most of the leveling that’s going to be done. No force outside your plant is going to make “free” trade into “fair” trade anytime soon.

So, here’s how to make sure some of the $4 trillion in U.S. manufacturing shipments are made by your company: 1) Participate in the seminar series, “Discover the Keys to Competitive Manufacturing: Global Success in the 21st Century;” 2) Implement necessary changes in your business; and 3) Keep fighting for “fair trade.”

Presented by
The International Trade Club of Chicago and Tooling & Manufacturing Association in collaboration with the Chicago-Cook Business Center, Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity-Illinois Trade Office, Illinois Institute of Technology Manufacturing Programs and the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago