The past 10 weeks or so I've been from one end of this nation to the other. Been on the road a lot.
I'v been in a lot of different plant facilities, visited with a lot of managers out there where the rubber meets the road, as the ole saying goes. I got to ask a lot of questions about their operations, and see things first hand.
I'd say that the vast majority are planning on increasing production towards the end of the second quarter. Most of the seasoned field managers that have gone through such cycles before did not seem alarmed necessarily. They view this time as a period when they can cut personnel, make machinery modifications, bring in some newer equipment for the lines, etc. and essentially do some things that they would not normally do during regular production. In fact, I saw numerous rebuilds, retrofits, and new lines going in, at several facilities.
Many managers told me that their operations will be better, that they will come back leaner, more efficient, and more productive. While times are hard for them, they felt that their forecasting models have a recovery within 6 months.
This is just some general observations from me talking with numerous management personnel in a variety of businesses first hand, especially out in the plants themselves.
FYI.
RR |
