Been challenged this year? Work smarter, not harder.

By Jennifer Herron

This weekend I read ASME’s Mechanical Engineering magazine issue No. 01/143. 

They published a survey regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering businesses. The results are relevant to Action Engineering’s business operations over this year. So many of you have asked how we are doing; it’s always nice to know our customers and incredible network are invested in our success. The ASME study validates our experiences this year. The short story is that we’ve lost revenue due to COVID, but I’d like to think we’ve learned how to work smarter.

Impact of COVID Statistics from the ASME Article: 

• Loss of revenue = 57%
  This is almost precisely the loss we realized in 2020. Every year, for the past 5 years, we have exceeded our revenue projections. This year we did not. 
• Reduction in staff = 36%
  I am happy to say that we have not had to lay off any of our valuable and experienced MBD coaches. Furloughs have happened and may continue through 2021, yet I am grateful for my dedicated employees who have faced adversity with grace, creativity, and innovation. 
• Reduced funding for staff
  This one is very true for me as a business owner and for our customers who want to go to the next step with MBD. It never feels right to spend money on outside firms to teach and coach when you don’t have the cash. It’s tough for me as a sole-proprietor and also tough for all the other businesses out there. I get it! Even so, I know how important it is to stay relevant. So, we’ve managed to be creative in our professional development. We hope you’ve been crafty as well. 

Why have I not cracked a bottle of Basil Hayden and made myself daily Manhattans? Well, I am always optimistic. At Action Engineering, we always run into challenges. Instead of crumbling under stress, we breathe and dive into our talent and expertise to figure out how to work even smarter.

Expected Future Impacts Stats from the ASME Article: 

• Reduction in staff = 28% 
• Reduction in staff learning opportunities = 25% 
• Changes to supply chain = 28% 
• Supply chain disruption = 36% 

Another set of depressing statistics, but these tell me that we have an opportunity to help!

At Action Engineering, we were forced to reduce hours, yet we retained all our experts. Their experiences with the tools, processes, standards, and especially with the people on the MBD Journey make my team of MBD experts irreplaceable.

Over years of MBD implementation with over 20 businesses, we have learned that moving into MBD means a careful focus on the supply chain. COVID’s disruption of an already cash-strapped supply chain is devastating. We need an efficient supply chain, now more than ever.

We can utilize MBD is a catalyst to kickstart process improvement conversations with our supply chain. Before COVID, we’ve seen both OEMs and suppliers achieve cost savings with the engineering-to-operations handoff. Now, the pain experienced in the supply chain is even more significant. I hope we will see an increased opportunity for OEMs and suppliers to work together to change the way they do business. The manufacturing and quality operations are ripe with cost reduction improvements to be made using MBD.

No Pain, No Change.

The future looks scary, but this may be the pain that is needed to make a change. You may not even know how to ask your supply chain for less expensive parts, and we can help. We have coached businesses by engaging with their supply chain to leverage MBD. Both OEMs and suppliers can reduce their costs while maintaining the same quality. Find out more about our coaching here. 

Because you have less staff, those that still have jobs need to work even smarter tomorrow than they are today. We have ways to up-skill your folks at reasonable costs. Doing less with more is hard, but we have captured our MBD experience & learning in on-demand videos and downloadable MBD examples. Our newly released MBD knowledgebase, OSCAR, includes: 

• 3D model templates for SOLIDWORKS, Creo, and NX 
• Guides to set up SOLIDWORKS, Creo, NX, and Adobe Reader to leverage 3D PDFs 
• Introductory learning about MBD and MBE
• Practitioner-level training to add MBD with GD&T to 3D CAD, per the latest standards in SOLIDWORKS, Creo, and NX

Join us at one of our live training events to see how you can do business differently in 2021 and leverage the advantages of Model-Based Definition (MBD).

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