Posted on 10/25/2018 10:31:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Foxconns planned $10 billion electronic display factory in southeastern Wisconsin could be a boon for local workers vying for the potential 13,000 jobs. The facility could also be a headache for other area manufacturers, possibly sparking a heated competition for engineers, electricians, machinists, and other skilled laborers.
The talent war could also spell opportunity for organizations that help employers find and hire such professionals. Patrick ORahilly, founder and CEO of FactoryFix, believes his company could be well positioned to capitalize on the Foxconn effect, if and when it materializes.
FactoryFix is a Chicago-based startup that has developed software to connect manufacturing companies with skilled workerswelders, robot programmers, and maintenance technicians, to name a few examples. The companys technology is geared toward helping employers fill their short-term staffing needs, though in some cases temporary assignments can lead to full-time job offers.
ORahilly says he believes Foxconns arrival in Wisconsin will be an overall positive thing for manufacturing in the state. However, he says he expects the companys expanding presence will put pressure on small and medium-sized manufacturers in Mount Pleasant, WI, where the campus is being built, and beyond.
Foxconn is going to need so much talent, and theyre going to be able to offer higher pay than other manufacturers, he says. Were really going to be focused on helping those small and medium-sized companies in the area find people to hire. Theres lots more demand coming to an area where theres already a huge shortage of skilled workers.
FactoryFix currently has 13 employees, seven of whom are based in Wisconsin, ORahilly says. Last year, FactoryFix participated in a startup accelerator program organized by Milwaukee-based Gener8tor.
About 300 manufacturing businesses and 1,000 skilled workers have signed up to use FactoryFixs Web-based platform, ORahilly says. (The startup plans to release a mobile version later this year.) For now, FactoryFixs user base is concentrated in Illinois, but ORahilly says he and his team want to get the software on the radar of more employers and workers in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and elsewhere.
The one-year-old company has raised $500,000 in outside investment, and monthly revenue is about $150,000, he says.
Previously, ORahilly co-founded Compass Automation. The Elgin, IL-based company designs and builds robots and other automation systems, and installs them in factories. During his time at Compass, he says demand for the companys services came in waves.
Our biggest struggle with that business was how to staff for it, ORahilly says. Wed have all these quotes out to customers. Theyd all land at the same time, of course, so wed be scrambling to hire people.
During these busy times, Compass sometimes engaged outside staffing agencies to help the company find workers to assign to projects. But ORahilly says he came away with the impression that the staffing firms his company worked with didnt understand the manufacturing and automation sectors well, compared to other industries.
The experience sparked this idea to create a vetted network of skilled manufacturing workers that you could bring in on-demand, he says.
FactoryFix is seeking to gain a foothold in the increasingly crowded field of on-demand staffing platforms, which fit into the broader gig economy trend. Some of the other companies that dot the landscape are BlueCrew, Shiftgig, and Wonolo. None of those three focus narrowly on manufacturing and automation like FactoryFix does, however.
FactoryFix and some of the other startups it competes against use a similar business model as traditional staffing agencies. It is FactoryFix, rather than the employer, that handles most of the paperwork and pays workers. The startup earns a commission on the hourly wage of professionals that employers find using the service.
Beyond staffing firmsboth the virtual and brick-and-mortar varietiesFactoryFixs competitors include everything from Craigslist to help wanted signs at industrial parks, ORahilly says.
Several of the Illinois-based employers FactoryFix works with are considering relocating to Wisconsin or establishing an outpost there, ORahilly says. They likewise see opportunity in the Foxconn project and its ripple effects, he says.
Its only been four months since Foxconn broke ground on its new campus in Wisconsin. While its too early to know what type of impact the project will have on nearby employers, companies like FactoryFix are trying to put themselves in a position to take advantage.
If we were able to land Foxconn as a customer, thats great, ORahilly says. But really theres a lot more companies in that area that are going to need us more than ever.
Foxconn slave factories in China forbid cameras but pictures have snuck out. The UAW is doomed.
Chinese slave factories with suicide nets. How can anyone compete with them?
Chinese Wisconsin slaves will earn an average at starting of $55,000 with every conceivable benefit, plus college tuition ...
Companies hiring 13,000 new people will start competition for skilled workers...WOW, who knew?
Wisconsin can always use more cheese makers.
Just be patient, the caravan’s almost here.
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