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Question: "I'm in manufacturing - complex products. We're struggling with some new regulatory compliance requirements. I understand it's a cost of doing business but it's killing us. Can any of your experts point us to some research that might help alleviate some of our pain? "

Answer: "Yes, and there's actually some good news about compliance -- it can be good for business." Louis Columbus, leader of Cincom's Enterprise Compliance and Quality Management practice.

The Good News for Manufacturers about Compliance --

Compliance Can Be Good Business?

Regulatory compliance is fundamentally reordering the landscape of entire industries and none more so than manufacturing in the United States.

Risky Business

Manufacturers that do not conform to the standards being set by regulatory bodies are increasingly placing their organizations, shareholders and themselves at risk.

Staggering Costs

The cost of non-compliance in the manufacturing industry is staggering:

• The total regulatory burden on manufacturers is estimated at $162 billion dollars¹.
• In the U.S. alone, manufacturers pay $11,388 per employee in regulatory-compliance costs².

Tarnished Reputations

Non-compliance can cost millions of dollars in lost market share and inventory write-downs and present significant challenges in turning around a tarnished reputation. In addition, there is the broader and more costly expense of re-architecting supply chains and products for compliance.

The Good News?

Compliance initiatives that started out as a cost of doing business have resulted in revolutionizing all aspects of selling, manufacturing and service strategies, and they have increased bottom-line profits.

Compliance Can Be Good Business

Compliance can not only re-define your business, it can be good business.

Steps to Combat the High Cost of Non-Compliance?

• Focus - on the intersection of business process management and the need for greater visibility into supply chain, manufacturing processes and distribution channels.
• Establish - a company-wide quality and compliance-management strategy that synchronizes processes with supply chain, purchasing, sourcing, manufacturing and fulfillment.
• Utilize - technology that offers real-or-near real-time process control and visibility into key performance indicators.
• Implement - a single integrated solution. This cost-effectively reduces the risk of non-compliance.
• Audit - business processes to meet compliance objectives.

Additional resources:

For a copy of the white paper, "Top Ten Reasons to Automate Manufacturing Compliance," click here.

For a copy of the white paper, "The High Cost of Non-Compliance for Manufacturers," click here.

Louis Columbus, is the leader of Cincom's Enterprise Compliance and Quality Management practice and a former senior analyst with AMR Research.

Louis has worked with enterprise clients on defining solutions to their channel management, order management and service lifecycle management strategies. He is the author of fifteen books on technology and two books on analyst relations. His book, Getting Results from your Analyst Relations Strategies, can be downloaded for free. Mr. Columbus also teaches graduate-level international business and marketing courses at Webster-Loyola Marymount University and University of California, Irvine.

Cincom Enterprise Compliance and Quality Management (ECQM) technology is a technology platform to help manufacturers cope with compliance issues and transform their businesses in the process. Cincom ECQM provides a suite of software solutions to resolve issues quickly and prevent recurrence, helping to ensure compliance with industry and regulatory requirements.

Louis has worked with enterprise clients on defining solutions to their channel management, order management and service lifecycle management strategies. He is the author of fifteen books on technology and two books on analyst relations. His book, Getting Results from your Analyst Relations Strategies, can be downloaded for free. Mr. Columbus also teaches graduate-level international business and marketing courses at Webster-Loyola Marymount University and University of California, Irvine.

For the latest Compliance & Quality management white papers by Louis Columbus, click here.

Louis can be reached at lcolumbus@cincom.com.

1. Manufacts: The Escalating Cost of Doing Business in the U.S. - National Association of Manufacturers, May 2007

2. The Escalating Cost Crisis in Manufacturing - National Association of Manufacturers, September 2006