Originally Posted by
Enthalpic
If you are the manager, and the operation is profitable, why can't you hire more staff? Six years without a break is not healthy.
I take a shot at a short answer. Low margin business (as is most manufacturing) and getting lower. Staff's are much leaner than they used to be. 25 years ago this companies corporate phone list was a full page 2 columns, now 15 people at much higher sales (2008 accelerated this and most of the survivors in our industry never went back to pre-crash overhead structures). So it takes a lot of sales/complexity increase to add people (did add an Engineer in November) while maintaining a lean overhead structure. Is this sustainable over the long haul? We will find out in time, a lot of suppliers operating under the same constraints.
If I were 40 I would move into another industry. In my 60's it's easier to stay in this field till I finish. Not the type to just mail it in so I'll go flat out to make it work. On the plus side it's satisfying work.