The Indian Companies Helping the C-Suite Tackle Talent Shortages

By Philip Spagnoli Stoten with insight from Marc Glocal Inc CEO, Ashutosh Kharangate and Nextgen CADCAM Director of Operations, Ravi Kumar

The shortage of talent is an existential crisis for the manufacturing industry as we see increasing numbers of resignations and reducing numbers of available skilled staff. Burnout might be one of the reasons, certainly for those in the supply chain the last couple of years have been tough. But the truth is that there are just not enough skilled people to go around and there are nowhere near enough young people entering the industry.

Dealing with the systematic problems is essential, but in the meantime how can companies operate successfully without putting even more load onto their existing workforce. The answer is simple, they need to outsource. It seems ironic that the very companies whose business model depends on their customers outsourcing, are resistant to outsourcing themselves.

So, what can and should be outsourced? And who can help?

Within any manufacturing business there are functions that must be carried out in-house and functions that can be undertaken remotely. The pandemic allowed us the opportunity to understand which functions could be undertaken remotely, since many of the staff that didn’t need to be on-site alongside equipment were forced to work from home.

This is the proverbial low hanging fruit for outsourcing. If staff can work remotely, it stands to reason that those tasks can be outsourced and carried out remotely when internal resources are not easily available. And while talent shortages might be the overriding motivation, it might just make sense to outsource those tasks, firstly to achieve better value, and secondly because they are resources that are not needed everyday. Outsourcing tasks with uneven demand was one of the mantras that the entire EMS industry grew up on.

The two companies I looked at in India as I researched this piece, Nextgen CADCAM and MARC Glocal both provide very different services and support different parts of the manufacturing process, but they have plenty in common. They are both experts in their field with experience in the US and Europe. They have both created a flexible business model that delivers value and flexibility. And they both operate as a seamless part of the team they work with.

As Ravi Kumar, Director of Operations at Nextgen CADCAM explains, “we’re providing PCB fabricators and EMS companies with a broad range of engineering services that span quoting and supply chain, through purchasing and new product introduction, to areas like PCB layout and test development”. He adds, “what our customers really appreciate is that they can mix and match these services and deliver support 24/7 and even though they are paying for one engineer, they actually have access to multiple engineers with differing skills.” Basically customers are buying the equivalent of an engineer from Nextgen CADCAM for around US$3,000 per month and getting around 170 hour of mixed engineering skills depending on demand.

MARC Glocal provides very different services but with a similar level of flexibility and expertise. Their CEO, Ashustosh Kharangate, explains that, “we have spent time working in financial services supporting companies in their M&A activity, providing anything from research to due diligence services.” MARC Glocal have financial expertise and experience and have developed research muscle over recent projects and can offer a turnkey solution to support either a CFO or a CMO. They work on a very flexible model which could require a few hours of work with quick turnaround times, to a few weeks, or a retainer based service. While the longer duration services have a fixed cost, shorter duration projects are charged at an hourly rate of between US$20 and US$50.

C-Level support that is strategic and tactical

For those in the C-suite it seems like a no-brainer. Low risk, low up-front costs and low ongoing costs that are variable rather than fixed. A CFO can support a deal or a new project with outsourced financial services, or even fill in the gaps rather than struggle to recruit. A CMO can build market research muscle that can be switched on and off when needed, or perhaps add resources on an ongoing basis that are hard to recruit for or simply too expensive. A COO can outsource many of their engineering needs and shift them from fixed cost to variable, without training staff that may leave in just a few months.

There is little more frustrating than recruiting and training new staff only to find they have been headhunted by the competition. Why not explore some outsourcing options and do a real assessment on what can and should be outsourced. And with current graduate levels, available skills, labor rates and geopolitical trends, India seems a great place to look.

About Nextgen CADCAM

Nextgen CADCAM are a team of experienced and skilled engineers working around the clock to handle all tasks in a way that makes them seem like part of your team, including the requisite transparency and data security. They provide a broad range of engineering, sales support, supply chain and procurement services for PCB and EMS companies at competitive rates and are available 24/7 to resolve bottlenecks, add flexibility, and mitigate skill shortages. From quote to fulfillment, Nextgen CADCAM has a solution that can be delivered as part of a blended monthly retainer, allowing customers to buy a mix’n’match package of differing engineering and purchasing skills.

Learn more about Nextgen at https://nextgencadcam.com/

About MARC Glocal

MARC Glocal Inc was formed with an objective of offering transaction advisory services for  SMEs, SMBs and investor community consisting of due diligence, quality of earnings, proof of cash, investment memo preparation and other end to end mergers and acquisitions support. 

In addition, MARC Glocal Inc is assisting companies in the US with market research and feasibility services, MIS, profitability analyses, financial modeling, valuations, and business operations review services amongst others. 

MARC Glocal Inc supports both Indian companies expanding into the US market, and US companies looking to enter or expand in India, by providing in-depth market research, financial modeling, identifying local partners, and providing last mile support. 

MARC Glocal Inc is a subsidiary of MARC India which is a 12 year old company with a Pan-India presence. Learn more at https://marcglocal.com/