According to the latest state of the industry reports conducted by First Research, capital equipment manufacturing of metalworking machinery for industries such as oil, gas, and mining are expected to rise by 9% during 2013, due to favorable automobile industry market forecasts. This is due to automakers expanding operations and hiring workers. Equipment for personal technology is also showing favorable growth of 8%, as more consumers are purchasing smart phones and tablet devices. Other industries requiring capital equipment are expected to see moderate growth of at least 5% during the coming year and up until 2016.
For small to medium-sized industrial machinery manufacturers, this is good news. They can continue to supply the necessary capital equipment to meet the growing demand, while not storing a surplus of machinery in their warehouses. One challenge they will face though is staying competitive on the technological front. Many small and medium-sized capital equipment manufacturers are being driven to find their specialty niche, in order to complete with larger manufacturing companies.
With technology changing and evolving to improve capital equipment manufacturing, it becomes difficult for small manufacturers to keep up. They simply don't have the continued R&D resources to keep up with larger companies who can more readily change operations to remain up-to-date. Small companies, especially those in specialized manufacturing niches, find themselves either going over their budget to keep up with advancing technology or going out of business because all their operations have become obsolete.
To stay competitive, small and medium-sized manufacturers must keep track of industry changes to streamline operations. Every aspect of the company must be analyzed and upgraded to meet growing machinery demands. One option is for companies to take a proactive approach in organizing their operations--by instituting enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
ERP solutions can help small manufacturers keep track of budgets, eliminate repetitive manual tasks, and engage in quality control. By manufacturing the highest quality equipment in the fastest amount of time, while staying under budget, ensures that capital equipment manufacturers can stay on top of their market and match competitor output.
Staying in business while expanding operations is every manufacturer's goal. Adjusting operations based on the current industry outlook and keeping up-to-date through ERP manufacturing software, a small company can gain an edge to bring in profitable sales.
