engineeringsurvivalcenter

Tough Economy

This section contains information and articles discussing the current economy and advice for these difficult times.

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Managing Panic

Business leaders, learn how to manage panic in the turbulent economy by recognizing and overcoming the 'Ostrich Syndrome' so prevalent in tough times. Get advice and real world examples on this increasingly common mistake made by business leaders.

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Top 10 Design Skills for Tough Times – Courtesy of Electronic Design magazine

Tough times call for top talent. Here's a look at the critical skills employers are looking for–the abilities that will help keep you happily and securely employed.

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10 Real Cost-Cutting Technologies for 2009 – CRN

This article identifies 10 real cost-cutting technology investments that offer proven ROI and will help you survive in this economy. Solutions that can help you gain a competitive edge include document management and open-source software.

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Redefine Priorities to Survive Tough Times – Cadalyst

This installment of the "CAD Manager" column shares some insight and recommended strategies useful in a down economy. These tips can help you improve your CAD operation and protect your own position.

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Surviving a Recession – IndustryWeek

This informative article explains how to keep manufacturing profits up when the economy is down. The author provides directions on how to optimize labor and communication, get sales and variables costs in sync, and improve managers and supervisors.

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10 Critical Steps for Surviving the Next 18 Months – RIS

This article provides 10 useful steps on how to survive the next 18 months in a struggling economy. Steps include labor management, inventory management, financial management, IT management and more.

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How Have Other Firms Succeeded When Times Are Tough? – Design Council

When revenue is falling it can be tempting to cut marketing budgets, delay new product development and to reduce research in an effort to save money. But is this the best thing to do? Design Council research shows that engineering design is an important tool that can help businesses survive a recession.

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CPR to Revive Your Bottom Line

In the current economy we understand that the ONLY purchases engineering enterprises will be considering are those that can demonstrate a clear, objective and quantifiable ROI case.

To this end, First Trace has produced a Cost Prevention and Reduction (CPR) self–assessment tool that can be used to determine how much your organization will save, in quantifiable dollars, when common documentation 'breakdowns' are eliminated from manual systems. Many of these breakdown incidents have become so common that many firms have begun to consider them a cost of doing business. In tough economic times, studies show that you can expect the number and frequency of these incidents to increase.

We can change this for your organization. The goal of the CPR is to uncover these breakdown incidents using your own cost data to calculate the savings possible when these breakdowns are eliminated.

You can begin the process of resuscitating your bottom line by filling out the simple form below to receive your free CPR self–assessment. Your assessment tool will be arriving shortly by email.