Three big issues fabricators must prioritize in 2024

In 2024, fabricators and small manufacturers must tackle Gen Z employment, digital marketing, and reshoring. Getty Images Plus

When my editor asked me to write a column on the three biggest challenges facing manufacturers this year, I said sure. However, when I put pen to paper, it became very difficult to narrow it to three.

I own a small manufacturing company with my husband—12 employees—and I consult a handful of others. This experience, in addition to participating in a few industry organizations with other business owners, gives me plenty of material to consider.

Some of the issues facing our company and the ones I work with include, but are not limited to, a reliable revenue stream, keeping up with marketing efforts, exiting employees that aren’t the right fit, onboarding new jobs without errors, rooting out sources of profit loss, managing independent contractors, hiring, hiring and retaining Gen Z employees, cash flow, interest rates, lack of space, cost to expand, time management, reshoring, keeping up with digital marketing, and setting priorities. There are many more, but this list is a good start.

After much reflection, I picked the three I felt were the steepest hills to climb in 2024. And the winners are …

Gen Z Strategy

I have written quite a bit about integrating Gen Z into the manufacturing space, so I don’t want to repeat all that. However, as we continue to develop strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining this employee base, I have encountered some new hurdles.

The good news is that Gen Z is open to discussion. Once we started hiring younger workers and publicizing our efforts to do so, the phone started ringing. It turns out, Gen Z likes to hang out with Gen Z. Our small business developed a reputation, and four out of our five new hires last year were under 25.

Now we must keep them engaged and happy. We move employees around a lot more often, giving them a variety of work and opportunities to learn new things. They ask for what they want and bring their ideas and expectations to the table—and we must be ready to respond.

I just had a high school work study employee ask if we would expand our business to include a mobile welding unit for him to run after trade school graduation. He has investigated equipment costs and has some ideas for customers. He met with me about this at 4:55 p.m. on a Thursday when I was walking out the door to go home and start supper. I didn’t leave.

Instead, I invited him into the conference room. I took notes. I am now researching several of the data points he presented. I will respond to him within a week. Am I catering to one employee and making good use of my time? Yes to both.

The young man is an excellent welder, he wants to work for us through trade school, and he is willing to consider a career with us as long as he’s moving around a lot. We thought the days of people spending 30 years at one company were over, but right now our business has three employees in their early 20s asking what a long-term career with us would look like. If we create the experience of working in a variety of fields and experiences, they will stay. This is something we need to address quickly.

Another related hurdle here is getting parents on board. Our industry has done a good job of shifting recruiting efforts to students and young people, but parents are key, and they need to understand more about our industry before they are willing to promote this option to their children.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is no longer just a good idea—it's essential. For the past three years, I’ve suggested that manufacturers enter this space, but now I’m insisting: You must be on a minimum of four social channels with consistent and engaging content. I train my clients on this all the time and still struggle to keep up in my own business.

If you pick one aspect of digital marketing to tackle in 2024, focus on video. Video reigns and video works. You can also repurpose it for many uses: social media, your website, email campaigns, and training material. It takes time, but it doesn’t have to take a lot of money. You need to dedicate someone on your staff as the point guard for this effort and establish goals for posting and content creation.

Video used across social media and your website is one of the most cost-effective marketing efforts available to you. So much can be done on a dime, but it’s usually the last thing we consider as a priority. This mindset needs to change.

Reshoring Efforts

The effort to reshore work back to North America is not so much a challenge for manufacturers as it is grabbing your piece of the opportunity. Every time I open a news feed, I read more about the work coming back to domestic suppliers.

Onshoring will require a retooling of sales efforts to prospect, sell, and onboard this work. The first question here is, which industries are leading the charge? Some of the big ones are electronics, automotive, medical equipment and supplies, transportation equipment, and appliances. Do you serve any of these? If yes, who are you not doing business with? If not, what do you need to do to adapt your business to these types of customers?

Do you have enough salespeople? Do they have the right skills? Are there conferences or industry events that you could attend to close the gap between supplier and buyer? Also, are you educating yourself about this effort, status, and long-term expectations? Do you keep up with changing legislation that directly impacts this effort?

Even those who aren’t concerned about a recession admit the economy has softened. This is an excellent opportunity to diversify your business to survive the ebbs and flows.

A Final Thought

Write a business plan. Even the smallest company should have a full-year business plan with some documented goals and tasks three to five years out. There is much that can happen day to day to cause stress and concern. A business plan is a road map, but more important, it’s a security blanket. We just rolled ours out to the leadership team (which includes four people) this week. Our small company will undergo a significant amount of change and some risk in 2024. Revisiting the business plan consistently keeps the team calm and prepared for battle.