Wisconsin manufacturers should be planning now, for the economy's future recovery. Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership president, Mike Klonsinski, admits this is a tough time for Wisconsin's signature industry. “We're in survival mode in a lot of manufacturing firms in Wisconsin . . . in order to get through this period,” says Klonsinski.
But Klonsinski says manufacturers need to remember the economy will rebound eventually, and he says strategies to survive and strategies to grow and prosper are not mutually exclusive. “A lot of the first, second and third priority survival strategies are those that will make manufacturers better for the future,” says Klonsinski. “This is the optimum time to be looking hard at all your operating processes, and ways you can speed those up and save money.”
WMEP's Manufacturing Matters Conference in Milwaukee on Tuesday will focus on ways the state's manufacturers can emerge stronger and more profitable when the economy recovers.