Its an old proverb that says “Opportunity knocks but once.” It makes one wonder what its origins are: who said it, why they said it, and to whom they said it to.  To knock only once paints Opportunity’s nature as stingy and impatient. However proverbs are there to teach their lessons.  To sit on a couch waiting for opportunity’s seventeenth knock, because knocks 1-16 were inconvenient or just didn’t feel right, doesn’t light a fire under anyone, and it’s hard to believe opportunity knocks even one time at a such couch sitter’s door.  When it knocks, a path has been cleared to welcome it, and in such cases it may knock more than once.  But why wait? A road, for all intents and purposes, can be traveled both ways.

This idea was bolstered when reading the article: Forging New Partnerships: How to Thrive in Today’s Global Value Chain, by the Manufacturing Institute, National Association of Manufacturers. This institute is the research and education arm of the National Association of Manufacturers, an industry trade group that advocates on behalf of members to enhance the competitiveness of manufacturers. Although the article is skewed toward small and medium-sized manufacturers, (SMMs), its message is pretty universal.

High-quality products and on-time delivery no longer guarantee success. Customers everywhere are looking for lower costs, more support, more value-added services, more innovation, more help in satisfying their own customers, and they’re willing to look anywhere to get it.  In order to deliver more than just good product, SMMs must first recognize that the old equation of success: price = cost + profit; no longer works. SMMs must improve constantly to maintain profit and survive. From an operations perspective, successful SMMs have already embraced lean manufacturing and other forms of operational change. “Part of a continuous improvement mindset is the necessity to adopt lean principles of eliminating waste, improving processes and only adding value to the product,” says Dick Strojinc of RSM McGladrey. “In many cases, I look at lean as being a way to make the value chain even more effective.” Independent of a company’s size, he can’t imagine a manufacturer being — or wanting to be — a global company without adopting the principles of lean, when it makes sense, as part of continuous improvement.

New challenges arise, with new roles and capabilities required of SMMs, including employees who can perform under these new conditions. There are a number of new communications channels that SMMs need to put in place:

• A better-informed team.

• A rewarded team. When your employees excel with innovative ideas, they deserve recognition. SMMs vary in how they recognize their top performers, from cash bonuses to days off with pay and companywide recognition.

• A better-informed customer. It’s important to communicate with your primary customer about your lean experiences and new roles in innovating. Customers should understand that at times they need to share risks and costs for new product development if it is to be a successful partnership.

• A high-tech college partner. Local colleges, universities and technical schools can provide tremendous assets for SMMs with new innovation mandates, especially when the local college has technological capabilities that the SMM does not have. Kellie Johnson of ACE Clearwater calls this “compute to compete” and has turned to local colleges to help her company simulate never-before-made parts for a whole new unmanned aerial vehicle that a major aerospace company has suggested. This partnership will give her company a competitive advantage.

Communication and innovation are keystones in success. There are countless ways to innovate.  Some may decided to sit and meditate on their couch, which is a practice that shouldn’t be knocked, it can result in fruitful ideas – if not done excessively, nor with a remote and a bowl of chips handy. Innovation can be accessed by the individual, however sometimes the best brainstorms come from a brainstorming session with colleagues or with those in an extended network. To summarize the above: no successful company survives as an island, it looks within and looks without. That can also be said of success and the individual.

Networking is an invaluable element and clears the path to doors of many opportunities.