Swedish industry is training for world championships
Soon the great boom will come. This spring there will be full speed on Swedish industrial production. Our new cool products will give us a stronger position in the market. But the question is what does the market look like? When we are done with our development, the market has changed, or better yet, we have defined it. Nowadays, competitors are always global, which means that we must be world champions. Right?!
One summer many years ago, I decided to learn to run. Most to get in shape, but still. It was many miles at a smooth and good pace on the same loop. But then four years ago I set a goal. I would run a marathon. All of a sudden I had to plan. The result was more training, varied training and a completely different focus. When I completed my first race six months later, I realized with full force that all these small parts of the preparation worked, I was now able to run the whole distance. Even the halfway pass was faster than the previous Gothenburg turns.
Running was once the same as athletics. It had to be the fastest at 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 meters. But times are changing. This week, for example, the World Cup went into snowshoeing! Today it is competed in uphill, terrain, ultra-running and in races with various extreme stretches. Many races do not focus on anything other than achieving your personal goals by completing or achieving a certain time - no competition against anyone other than yourself or the person you choose to challenge. All of these new target images are surely a contributing reason why we see runners at all times and in all weather on the city streets.
We who ran and continue running, did we know about this development? No, definitely not. Were we well prepared when that happened? Yes actually. No one else had better conditions when new opportunities came to compete against themselves and others. Developing towards a goal and working purposefully towards it gives results.
What happens if we think the same way about our manufacturing industry? We develop our processes to get better and better. We become more efficient all the time. We develop and refine new technologies. Everything makes us more prepared to face change and "game changers".
We do not know what the next big market success will be, but if we are to have a chance as a world champion, we must prepare just as in the race. Of course, this is about technology development, product development and productivity development. But to be the best, we also need business development, process development and business development. The running step that you grind on is the same as the processes you improve.
Give Swedish industry a chance - invest in developing your running step.
Set a long-term goal, how good are you going to be? Should you be the best at technology, delivery, flexibility or anything else that is right when the next chance comes up?
See you in the track