Social media is an astounding tool in the new world of media. There is an opportunity to monitor ‘buzz’ (if that matters), make introductions and invitations, appreciate and recognize remarkable, tell a story and use as a customer service tool.

When you want to know the latest about volcanoes in Hawaii or hurricanes in Florida, there is no longer a need to wait for the 5:00 News. Twitter to the rescue, Facebook photos and videos are available. Many are provided by the humans who carry a camera and mini-computer connected to the Internet in their pocket. Government agencies and news companies are catching up and use social media tools to deliver ‘the latest’.

Without manufacturing companies, we would not have the quality of life we currently enjoy. They ‘make stuff’ is often taken for granted and what they build can be the difference between life and death.

Manufacturers are often under-appreciated as they work invisibly to deliver products that change our lives. Employees typically do not have glamorous work spaces and may appear unimpressive since their work clothing is more for function and safety than style.

Manufacturers are in a word: “Remarkable”. This is why I have come to appreciate CAMPS (Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound) as they do a great job of supporting local manufacturers.

CAMPS has grown membership of nearly 300 companies, organizations, education, and government partners supporting the region’s most innovative, high performing, and collaborating companies. These companies are focusing collectively on:

• Serving domestic and international markets
• CAMPS, as an organization, has taken a leadership role in 21^st Century Workforce solutions
• CEO’s and other leaders have adopted a primary goal of improving the image of Manufacturing to all sectors of the community, with a special focus on youth programs and transitioning military personnel

If you believe as I do about the importance of manufacturers and interested in giving support, providing service or products, you can learn more here.

What you might have missed:

On June 7th, nearly 200 CAMPS Members, industry experts, and guests were introduced to the future of manufacturing. The prime message was how technology is enabling manufacturing to reach new heights.

A hundred goals (maybe more) exist in the heads of those who are going bigger, conquering the world or changing the community. It can be difficult to line up the goals swirling in their heads. These goals are in the same mind soup, side by side with ‘old truth’ vs ‘new truth’, rumors, advice from future experts, news, big data, and ideas from a bestselling book.  (With potential distractions from ‘competitors’.)

As a result, the goals are not always aligned, and it is tempting to get ‘speed think’, make a decision now to get things done.

Today we want to remind you that ‘It is still a pig”, and a few other observations to keep it real for you about branding, social media and humans.

aka How Valuable is a CRO?

Unlike a more narrowly focused Chief Sales Officer or Chief Marketing Officer, a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) is responsible for the entire array of revenue-driving activities – scaling revenue, overseeing sales and marketing teams, managing partner relationships, ensuring client success throughout the buyer’s journey, and maintaining brand integrity. As an organization grows, the need for a CRO often becomes more evident.

Some companies decide to onboard a CRO to better align burgeoning sales and marketing teams around a singular business goal, while others choose to bring in a CRO to bolster channel expansion efforts. Either way, a CRO will oversee the business processes and staff that accompany the end-to-end revenue value chain.

Sitting through a tense meeting where finance and sales are positioned on opposite side of the table engaged in conflict is as iconic in corporate America as a row of cubicles. In fact, for all levels of managers and executives, serving time in battle during these situations for their respective teams is essentially a rite of passage.

In these all too common scenarios, both sides often emerge worse for the wear instead of uniting to drive business growth. The result is a corporate landscape where revenue potential remains unfulfilled and employee satisfaction suffers. Organizational stagnation and, ultimately, demise can quickly follow when conflict breeds.

To attain sustainable business profitability, the issue of clashing CFO and CRO perspectives needs to be addressed and the entire premise of assigning roles needs to be examined.

“The goal of forecasting is not to predict the future but to tell you what you need to know to take meaningful action in the present.” - Paul Saffo

Market volatility and economic disruption are once again becoming the norm, making it more vital than ever that businesses have a strong grip on their revenue forecasts. Not only does strong revenue predictability provide a solid platform for critical decision-making, but it has also proven to be a winning business practice.

The upcoming CAMPS Manufacturing Conference on June 7th is expected to be one of the best yet. With over 200 expected to attend, the conference will present practical applications to use current technology now, not ‘someday’ in the future. I am especially interested in the keynote where Bill Hill will give an overview of IoT used in manufacturing. Of course, the robot demonstration will raise some eyebrows, but don’t be expecting a “Lost in Space” robot.

I recently attended a great CAMPS event, the Leadership Forum at The Bellevue Club. Carey Suto, Director of Supply Chain for Western Integrated Technologies (WIT), presented insights about Manufacturing Supply Chain Cost Management.