Covid-19 as we all know has rocked small business in particular more than any event in modern history.  Over 100,000 businesses have been driven under, so far.  Sadly, the smallest businesses have been hit the hardest, while the online giants thrive, prosper and grow.  The rich truly are getting richer.
Today we thought we’d cull a few of the best tips and trends on what to expect in the year ahead as we all struggle to get through the downturn.

1. Working remotely is the new norm.  What was a small but growing trend the past few years has risen to become a tidal wave of work-from-home staffing.  That’s not going to change.  In a recent Global Leadership Summit survey, over half said that at least half their employees would work from home (or in “non-traditional offices”) in 2020.  Google Hangous, Zoom, Webex and Microsoft Teams have made video conferencing ubiquitous.  Small businesses that can smartly adapt to a remove workforce culture will attract a new generation of skilled workers.
2. Big data is no longer the exclusive domain of big businesses.  Big data is essentially the collecting of every bit of data that goes into a digital transaction.  Credit card transactions, Facebook posts, profile updates, tweets, and a whole lot more create a complex web of intricacies, intimacies and insights.  Tools like Twilert and Social Mention can help small businesses set up alerts whenever certain keywords are mentioned in social media.  Your call logs can be a valuable source of added info about customer service and client interactions.  VOIP phone systems often include these logs.
3. You need a social media expert.  Increasingly, small businesses need to be seen on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Social media is expanding across all demographics.  Live video is slowly replacing blogs and posts.  Audiences want dynamic, interactive content that pulls them in.  “Influencers” importance continue to expand and grow.  Data mining and analytics will up the game for social marketing strategies.
4. Automation software is becoming a great field-leveler.  According to Yarro, a national association of small business owners, “recent research by McKinsey Company of 2000 work activities across 800 professions, shows that 45 percent of work related activities could be automated. Where larger corporations allocate resources to hiring, training and managing a large workforce, smaller businesses have the flexibility to replace manual processes with automation.”  Accounting, process flow and customer service are among areas that can most quickly benefit from increased automation – and there is little time to waste, as automation here is what allows small companies to operate like big ones.
5. The gig economy is here to stay.  The side-gig economy is already producing over $700B of output and turning traditional employment on its ear.
6. Tech driven customer service is growing, and it’s the future.  It’s tricky finding the proper balance between technology and the human touch (at PSSI, we lean heavily toward the latter), but many customers prefer to receive help online rather than call a company.  Younger customers are comfortable with these newer approaches; older companies need to remember this.
7. Mobile-centric employee communications are a must.  Today’s younger employees are permanently attached to their phones and tablets.  Future workers will only become more tech-savvy.  Even email is being replaced by video chats, Facetime and Skype-like technologies, encrypted messaging (WhatsApp), text and apps like Slack, Basecamp and HipChat.
8. Cloud computing: it’s not just for big business any more.  Microsoft’s fastest growing division is its cloud services.  Ditto for Amazon.  These companies provide massive repositories of data and applications, and the cloud-based services to go with them.  Business is moving to the cloud faster than ever before.  The tide is turned and momentum is gaining.  If you haven’t looked at putting your critical business infrastructure in the cloud, 2021 is certainly the year to get started.

These are only a few of the trends that are here, and here to stay.  To stay in the game, companies need to look forward in 2021 and beyond, and either embrace the changes coming, or be run over by the competitors who employ them best.

PSSI has been implementing ALERE accounting and manufacturing software for over 25 years, and we still think it’s one of the best-priced, best-functioning manufacturing software products you can buy anywhere.  Users appreciate ALERE’s flexibility over many other systems. 

This month TIW Technology President Rod Hatcher shows us the utility of manufacturing operation email automation, and how to add shortcuts for adding supplier and customer item numbers.

Manufacturing Operation Email Automation
Automatic email communications have proven to be a valuable business tool. They keep customers up-to-date, notify suppliers of changes, and make sure company personnel are informed of important information. Now ALERE v16 has the ability to send out alerts to internal personnel when certain manufacturing operations have begun or have been completed.

Individual route steps on a work order can be flagged to send email notifications. When the email rule is created, the Action is set to Post and the popup under Document has the choice of either WO-Started or WO-Completed.  Notice the “Send email” checkbox in our sample screen at the top of this column.

The alert can be a key to triggering manufacturing actions that need to be taken.

Adding Supplier and Customer Item Numbers Shortcut

Adding new customer and supplier item numbers can be a time consuming processes. While it can be done when bulk entering the item numbers on the Inventory Item Master Customer and Supplier tabs, there is a shortcut that can be employed during the process of entering an order.

On both sales and purchase orders, enter the inventory item number and the customer/suppler item number at the same time on the Line Item tab. When the orders are saved, ALERE checks inventory to see if the customer/supplier number already exists for each line. If they do not, then a message (shown above in the red circle) is displayed.

Answering ‘Yes’ will add the customer or supplier item number to their list in inventory. This is an elegant way to add these numbers without interrupting the order process or remembering to enter them at a later time.

Want to Learn More About ALERE?  

TIW has a 7 minute “Manufacturing Overview Video“ on YouTube that gives a concise summary of what manufacturing software can do for you.  Click the link below to see why ALERE may be a great fit for your manufacturing operations.

• Interested in a trial version for your organization?

PSSI can work with you to understand better what a manufacturing software system can do for you.  For information on obtaining a trial version, contact Larry Lukasik at the number below.

To learn more, call us any time at 877.273.2444, or visit us on the web.