IAMC Insider, Site Selection magazine, May 2003

Highlights of the
Palm Harbor
Professional Forum

Development Hall of Fame Welcomes
First Members

IAMC Holds Inaugural Research Rountable

IAMC Heads to Boston for Fall 2003 Forum

IAMC Board Charts Ambitious Plans

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From Site Selection magazine, May 2003

Palm Harbor Program Highlights
Proficiency and Profitability

Here are some highlights of the highly successful IAMC Professional Forum held April 69 in Palm Harbor, Fla., covered by the Site Selection team of Director of Publications Ron Starner, Editor Mark Arend and Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing Jack Lyne. Look for further coverage at www.iamc.org.
American manufacturers that will be most successful in the 21st century will be those firms that produce a varied mix of high-quality products in low volume, the Monday luncheon keynote speaker told the 200 attendees at the IAMC Spring 2003 Professional Forum here. "The reality of manufacturing today is that you can't compete on volume with China and Mexico," said Mark Snyder, vice president of manufacturing operations for Largo, Fla.-based Linvatec, a leading arthroscopic and powered surgical instrument maker. "American companies cannot compete with the low-wage labor that high-volume manufacturers hire in Mexico, where factory workers make $2.50 an hour, or in China, where workers make $2.50 a day."

The company makes more than 4,000 specialty products sold to 8,500 U.S. companies and some 4,800-plus international buyers. Most of those products are made at the company's 980-employee complex in Largo. The firm maintains smaller factories in Anaheim and Santa Barbara, Calif.

Linvatec's facility in Largo, Fla

Linvatec's facility in Largo, Fla.

Linvatec remains competitive, Snyder said, by producing only those medical instruments that are leading-edge and that can't be produced in high volume. "If there is a demand for a high-volume product, we outsource it," he said. The five tactics Linvatec uses to maintain its competitive edge are lean manufacturing; focused factories; fully integrated core competencies; a flexible, competent work force; and outsourcing of high-volume products and components.
Three industrial asset management experts made the case that industrial portfolio management is best approached holistically, with financial analysis, engineering analysis and operational impacts considered equally in the site-selection process.
Eric Dillinger and David Kiel – both with Carter & Burgess – suggested two techniques for managing an industrial portfolio: Standardize "front-end" contract documents, and apply electronic systems to tasks that can be a drain on efficiency and productivity; and use prototypes when planning new facilities. Prototypes include drawing, narrative and a process appropriate for the planning of a certain type of property, such as a distribution center. Wal-Mart, Staples, HEB Grocery and other companies were cited as examples of organizations that use this technique.

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