Manufacturing

Write a cold email to a plant manager or VP of Operations.

Context:
- Recipient: [NAME, TITLE]
- Company: [MANUFACTURER NAME]
- Industry: [DISCRETE / PROCESS / HYBRID MANUFACTURING]
- Plant size: [EMPLOYEES / OUTPUT]
- Signal: [EXPANSION / NEW LINE / EFFICIENCY INITIATIVE]
- My solution: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Metric impact: [OEE / THROUGHPUT / DOWNTIME REDUCTION]

Manufacturing Email Rules:
- Lead with operational metrics (OEE, throughput, yield)
- Speak their language (downtime, changeover, scrap rate)
- Reference specific manufacturing challenges
- Be practical, not theoretical
- Respect their limited time off the floor
- Offer plant visit or demo on their turf

Plant managers care about: uptime, safety, quality, efficiency, their team.

Create outreach for an OEM supplier.

Context:
- Company: [SUPPLIER NAME]
- Tier: [TIER 1 / TIER 2 / TIER 3]
- OEM customers: [WHO THEY SUPPLY - GM, Ford, Boeing, etc.]
- My solution: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Supplier requirements addressed: [QUALITY / DELIVERY / COST]

OEM supplier pressures:
- Cost-down demands (annual price reductions)
- Quality scorecards (PPM targets, audits)
- Delivery performance (JIT, sequencing)
- Engineering changes (rapid response required)
- Capacity investments (without guaranteed volume)

Positioning should address:
1. Meeting OEM requirements more efficiently
2. Improving scorecard performance
3. Reducing cost to offset margin pressure
4. Enabling faster response to changes
5. Providing audit-ready documentation

Include references to similar tier suppliers if possible.

Generate discovery questions for a manufacturing prospect.

Context:
- Prospect: [NAME, TITLE at COMPANY]
- Manufacturing type: [DISCRETE / PROCESS / ASSEMBLY]
- My product: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Known pain: [EFFICIENCY / QUALITY / SUPPLY CHAIN]

Manufacturing discovery categories:
1. Current operations (shifts, lines, throughput targets)
2. Pain quantification (downtime hours, scrap %, OEE)
3. Existing systems (MES, ERP, SCADA, PLCs)
4. Decision process (plant vs corporate, capex vs opex)
5. Implementation reality (production schedules, maintenance windows)
6. Success metrics (how they measure improvement)
7. ROI requirements (payback period expectations)

Ask about specific lines or processes - get concrete, not abstract.

Generate questions to uncover supply chain pain in manufacturing.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Industry: [AUTOMOTIVE / AEROSPACE / CONSUMER / INDUSTRIAL]
- Supply chain complexity: [LOCAL / REGIONAL / GLOBAL]
- My solution: [HOW YOU HELP SUPPLY CHAIN]

Discovery areas:
1. Supplier management (number, quality, reliability)
2. Inventory challenges (carrying costs, stockouts, obsolescence)
3. Visibility gaps (where they lose sight of materials)
4. Planning accuracy (forecast vs. actual)
5. Lead time pressures (customer expectations vs. reality)
6. Recent disruptions (what went wrong)
7. Regulatory/traceability requirements

Questions should uncover:
- Quantified pain (dollars, days, units)
- Who owns the problem
- Failed solutions they've tried
- Timeline for addressing it

Help me respond to: "We can't risk disrupting production for implementation."

Context:
- My product: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Their operation: [TYPE OF MANUFACTURING]
- Implementation requirements: [WHAT'S NEEDED]
- Our approach: [HOW WE MINIMIZE DISRUPTION]

This is the #1 objection in manufacturing. Help me:
1. Validate their concern (production uptime is sacred)
2. Explain phased implementation options
3. Reference similar implementations that didn't disrupt
4. Propose implementation during planned downtime
5. Offer risk mitigation (parallel running, rollback plan)
6. Quantify cost of waiting vs. implementation risk

Never minimize their concern - show you understand manufacturing realities.

Create safety/EHS-focused positioning.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Industry: [IMPACTS REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT]
- Safety challenges: [KNOWN ISSUES]
- My solution: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Safety/EHS impact: [HOW YOU IMPROVE SAFETY]

Safety value angles:
1. Incident reduction (recordable rate, lost time)
2. Compliance assurance (OSHA, EPA, state regulations)
3. Risk mitigation (costly accidents, liability)
4. Insurance implications (lower premiums possible)
5. Worker satisfaction (safer environment)
6. Audit readiness (documentation, training records)

Position for different audiences:
- Plant manager (operational + liability)
- EHS manager (compliance + metrics)
- CFO (cost of incidents + insurance)
- HR (worker satisfaction + retention)

Include ROI of safety improvements (cost of incidents avoided).

Write an ROI-focused proposal for a manufacturing investment.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Plant/Line: [SPECIFIC AREA]
- Current state: [METRICS TODAY - OEE, DOWNTIME, SCRAP]
- Proposed solution: [YOUR PRODUCT]
- Investment: [TOTAL COST]
- Expected improvement: [TARGET METRICS]
- Payback expectation: [THEIR REQUIREMENT - usually 12-24 months]

Manufacturing proposals need:
1. Clear baseline metrics (current state)
2. Conservative improvement projections
3. Payback calculation (months)
4. NPV/IRR if they require it
5. Risk factors acknowledged
6. Implementation timeline
7. Resource requirements (their side)
8. Reference plants/case studies with actual results

Manufacturing buyers want hard numbers, not promises.

Create quality-focused positioning for manufacturing.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Quality challenges: [DEFECT RATE / RECALLS / SCRAP]
- Current quality metrics: [PPM, COPQ, FIRST PASS YIELD]
- My solution: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Quality impact: [HOW YOU IMPROVE QUALITY]

Position around:
1. Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) calculation
2. Defect reduction potential
3. Traceability and root cause analysis
4. Compliance/audit readiness
5. Customer quality requirements (OEM scorecards)
6. Quality certifications (ISO, IATF, AS9100)

Build a quality-focused value prop:
- Current state cost (scrap, rework, warranty, recalls)
- Future state improvement (specific metrics)
- ROI calculation
- Risk mitigation (avoid costly recalls)
- Competitive advantage (quality reputation)

Create positioning for Industry 4.0 / digital transformation.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Digital maturity: [EARLY / ADVANCING / MATURE]
- Initiative: [SMART FACTORY / IIoT / AUTOMATION / DATA ANALYTICS]
- My solution: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Digital transformation fit: [HOW YOU ENABLE]

Address common executive questions:
1. What's the ROI on digital initiatives?
2. How does this fit with our existing systems?
3. What skills do we need on our team?
4. What's the implementation risk?
5. How do we scale beyond a pilot?

Create a digital transformation business case:
- Current state (manual, disconnected, reactive)
- Future state (automated, connected, predictive)
- Journey/roadmap (realistic phases)
- Investment required vs. value created
- Risk mitigation approach
- Success stories from similar manufacturers

Write a follow-up email after visiting a manufacturing plant.

Context:
- Company: [MANUFACTURER]
- Plant visited: [LOCATION]
- People I met: [NAMES, TITLES]
- What I observed: [SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS]
- Pain points discussed: [WHAT THEY SHARED]
- Next steps agreed: [WHAT WAS DECIDED]

Follow-up should:
1. Thank them for the plant access (this is a big deal)
2. Reference specific things you saw/discussed
3. Connect observations to your solution
4. Provide any requested information
5. Confirm next steps
6. Offer additional technical resources

Be specific - show you paid attention during the visit.