TOGETHER WE ASPIRE, TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE
Published Newsday April 8, 2002

RICHARD JOSEPH
GENERAL MANAGER,
CARIBBEAN BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED

During a recent business visit to Tobago, a colleague and I met a young entrepreneur who against the odds had established a reasonably well-equipped joinery factory. He told an interesting tale of the hurdles he had to overcome in the course of establishing his business, many of which (the hurdles) were surprising.

He had not received a very extensive education in the field, and after embarking on it decided to visit a large and successful factory in Trinidad to see what he could learn. He met the owner of the factory explained his mission. According to him, the owner looked at him silently for several minutes, asked if he was crazy, and saw him off the factory.

I compare his experience with my subscription to NWLEAN, an organization that shares technical information on the Internet to whoever wishes to subscribe. In the short time I have been a member, I have accumulated copies of three hundred and twenty five messages made up of enquiries for assistance, and in most cases, several responses to each enquiry. All of this information is exchanged for free and without even exchanging information about identity and location.

It is not uncommon to hear stories similar to that of the factory owner from Tobago. Many of our local manufacturers believe that what they do is unique, and they refuse to share what they know lest it be used to gain some sort of advantage over them. The reality is that most of the technology and processes used by small and medium sized manufacturers is not very sophisticated, and can be learnt from other sources.

What is unfortunate is that this attitude of stinginess restricts not only the development of the newcomer, but that of the established company as well. The mindset that informs that type of behavior is probably closed, and unable to participate in the free exchange of information and views that results in fresh insights as to how improvements may be made.

The free sharing of information and resources is quite common in developed countries, and serves to accelerate development wherever it is practiced. The home page of NWLEAN invites any and all organizations, regardless of industry, to participate. According to them, the only requirement is a desire to eliminate waste, reduce costs and to increase quality, customer satisfaction and profitability. Not only do they serve as a medium for the exchange of ideas via email, they also organize plant tours and presentations, highlighting “best practices” at member facilities, the very opportunities denied my friend from Tobago.

Our manufacturers are insignificant in size compared to some of the large international operations, and do not have the resources for research and development departments or staff dedicated to process improvement. We do not have established industry associations that share information and provide training. For industry specific exposure and training we have to travel overseas at great expense, and for periods that are usually too short to come away with a thorough grasp of the solutions available.

The best and quickest way for manufacturers in an industry with sufficient participants to be considered a sector to improve their competitiveness is to collaborate on the solving of problems, and on sharing training opportunities. Individually, most enterprises are too small to access and implement the continual changes that are necessary to maintain international competitiveness. Small companies cannot keep an eye on the marketing, an eye on production and an eye on finance, and still have time to be abreast of developments in the field. There is too much going on at the same time, and change is too rapid.

Another impending threat is the coming energy bonanza. Unless our manufacturers become increasingly efficient, they will not be able to afford the wages that the best quality workers will expect if their services are to be retained. In a knowledge intensive world where employees have become the most valuable assets, such a development would cause the death of many established industries, as happened in our last oil boom.

To use Wendell Mottley’s recent illustration, if our manufacturers are to approach the coming soup bowl of wealth with spoons instead of forks, they must seriously consider getting together to accelerate their development to a stage that can compete in the coming scenario, or end up starving in the midst of plenty.