Personnel Tops List of Problems

John Wolz

What were your company�s biggest problems in order of importance during 2000?
The slowdown in the economy hasn�t changed the perennial top problem for the industry: personnel.
Several FIN Survey participants listed �personnel� as both the #1 and #2 problems.
The difficulty in finding and retaining good employees was the most frequently mentioned personnel problem. Specifically mentioned shortages were: office staff, truck drivers, warehouse help and tooling.
Another personnel-related problem mentioned frequently was health insurance.
More specific personnel problems included: loyalty, recognition, recruitment, hiring, training, employees learning new skills, turnover and employee performance.
The slowing economy worries many. Market segments singled out as problems were: agriculture, automotive in the second half of 2000 and trucks.
Prices: Price reductions by competition and customers drew the ire of several FIN Survey participants: price pressure, low import prices, decreasing net, margins, profit, customer price demands and cost give-backs.
Consolidation: Corporate takeovers, and one major company was named by three distributors.
Costs: Freight and transport, energy, health insurance, fuel, customer cost reductions and high interest rates.
Customers: Disloyal customers, vendor reductions by customers, customer mergers, retention of customers, closing new business.
Quality: Several noted quality as a problem, and one narrowed that to �customers increasing quality standards at the same or less cost.�
Inventory was a frequently mentioned problem: management, buildup, accuracy, inventory turnovers, delivery, JIT, on-time delivery, vendor shipment delays, foul-ups from suppliers, finishing, shortages, short lead time, special parts, rushed-through orders,
Accounts receivable: collections, timely collections, bankruptcies and slowness in payment by major accounts.
Sales: Sagging sales and finding new customers were mentioned.
Competition may keep the world moving ahead, but competitors rank high on the list of problems: increasing competition, low-ball competition, market share and import competition were singled out as problems.
New this year on the list of competitive problems are the Internet auctions.
While competitors are a problem, survey participants complained that less competition higher on the supply chain is a problem. A reduction in number of suppliers means less-competitive prices.
Technology was a problem for several: advancing internal technology, forecasting, computer/software obsolescence, new software and computer problems.
Though, as usual, government and taxes were mentioned by a few as leading problems, one noted conversely that government cutbacks were a problem.
Survey participants pointed out other forms of bureaucracy, including insurance companies and litigation, as top problems.
Problems written in once included: national contracts, plating, relocation, space, decrease commissions for reps, raw materials, more product lines, maintenance, reorganizing warehouse, organizational problems,
There also were the happy problems of �capacity� and �rapid growth.�
Arguably better than the happy-problems situation is the one distributor who listed �no major problems.�\