“Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily cracked, and never well mended,” legendary US inventor and thinker Benjamin Franklin, once said.

To us at Contour Engineering, this concept of reputation is at the heart of building a high-performing precision manufacturing culture. It’s something that should be at the heart of any Kiwi manufacturer wanting to be world class.

How you and your business conduct themselves is what your reputation is built on. Focusing your entire business on the customer, from the conversations held within the workshop, right through to the solutions you offer, is key to ensuring a strong reputation. A good way to achieve this focus is building a culture that observes the ‘golden rule’ i.e. “do unto others as they would do to you.”………..

That means everyone, from shopfloor to front office, treats the customer (and in some cases their customers) in the same way they would like to be treated.

Achieving this sort of culture is not easy and takes regular and consistent communication, discipline and structure around the way the business operates.

For New Zealand manufacturers, there are two sides to this coin. The first is to build a reputation such that you can attract premium pricing for your products in your market, as Contour Engineering’s customers like Shotover Camera Systems or Enztec have achieved. The other side is finding suppliers whom you can trust to deliver what you want, on time, and at a high quality.

Achieving a great reputation and becoming the preferred option for customers requires manufacturers to implement the golden rule throughout their organisation. Deadlines need to be met, and the equipment needs to be exactly as described. Being near the top means that there are high expectations of you and any deviation from that will have people second guessing if they can rely on you. As Franklin says, reputation is easily broken and hard to repair so every action counts.

Which is why it is so important to find suppliers who can make sure you can deliver to these expectations. As your customers expect the best from you, so should you expect the same from your suppliers. If there are delays in getting parts to you, or if there are faults and errors, this can throw off your timelines and getting your orders away. You need to be able to rely on the goods being on time, and with zero defects.

Having the golden rule for yourself and your suppliers make for a more efficient workplace where solutions are delivered faster and on budget. It also produces better results for the customer who in turn are more satisfied with the engagement, producing more repeat business and word of mouth spread.

For more information contact us.