For years I have meandered through the halls, offices and board-rooms of small, medium and monster Automobile After-Market Manufacturers and Suppliers. I have the misfortune and good fortune of being an analyst for the industry, having been for nearly 25 years, and like most analyst when in doubt, I fly to the pet companies I actively follow here and there.
Managers everywhere in the auto industry have been preaching the so-called importance of the “brain economy” expressing concern that this trend is turning the attention away from the trades and the services they provide, foundation of their businesses. Everyone is going to college, everyone is talking about a post-industrial society ; so whose going to need consumer car care products ? And what about professional products ? Skipping the obvious response on need, who is going to perform the service ? a college and university degree carrying body shop mechanic, come on.
Yesterday I was floating around (best way to pick up the scoop) through the offices of Falken, creators of the Clean Plus® branded consumer and professional products. I like their factory better but I though I would look for these creatures of modern employment in the offices of this global leader for the Automobile After-Market, after all that is where the paper pushers in cubicles are to be found I reasoned. There in the heart of this office complex I was exposed to concerns, albeit minor, that the administrative jobs were going the route of those in the manufacturing sector as administrative functions tended to be outsourced through their IT installations to any source that can be connected. It was pointed out to me that “while we have not adopted such a policy because our sales and profits are rising, amongst our competitors the loss of jobs is catastrophic as the impact of the economic crisis accelerates the process”. So the question is begged : where is the future ?
The bourgeoisie are undecided about blue collar functions work they say can only be associated to a past long gone, low-skilled laborers or immigrants. Yet the mechanical, body shop, detailing, wash, restoration and similar automobile jobs are amongst the top for survival in these times. This conclusion is supported by logic and the research I have performed on the matter quizzing 50 or more key persons in the industry. These jobs have weathered the outsourcing impulse very successfully. I see no cause for worry.
And so I told my captive audience, give up your paper work, get out-there, get your hands dirty, the Automobile After-Market is not victimized by the crisis or outsourcing trend, it is in fact promoted by both. Be independent in your thinking rely on yourself and not some paper pusher in the corner cubicle work with your hands.
As I see the trend, there are two kinds of work developing, service on a one-on-one, requiring a face-to-face, like that of a personal doctor, a dentist etc, and the remote service that doesn’t require one-on-one such as an internet article publisher - case in point. White collar workers are in the toilet, with 40 million jobs scheduled to disappear to cheaper outsourcers, but I predict exactly the contrary for one-on-one service labor in the industry, I see that as the future with remuneration and demand rising exponentially.
So what does this mean ? Well start by rethinking the impulse of pushing your kids to college, toward “clean” work. Instead consider if the child is not better oriented to one-on-one service. Of course that’s a hard one to swallow for our bourgeoisie but it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee, the future belongs to those that can successfully coordinate head and hand combinations.
Given that I have doubts as to my own abilities to do so, maybe I’ll just follow the conclusions of my own research about the demonstrated success of this company, as noted in other articles, and buy as much FLKI stock as my meager means will allow with a vision of luxurious retirement in Auto land.
Author Resource:-
John David is one of the nation’s most respected expert analyst on the Automobile After-Market Industry. He holds appointments as a covering analyst with some of the world’s largest players. He also conducts a private practice as a consultant in capital raises, mergers and acquisitions for small to medium size manufacturers in the consumer, professional and industrial chemical, wipe, wet wipe and car and vehicular care industries.
Distributors interested in learning more about the Clean Plus® Product Group’s capabilities should visit www.cleanplus.com.
Concepts and Products adored by the citizens of Baytown, Texas
Falken Industries Ltd OTC : FLKI is a diversified industrial conglomerate that operates in Chemicals, Wet Wipe and Biodegradable Technology. Falken Industries Ltd is the concept behind more than 160 products distributed through a network of global platforms and the recipient of trade awards for innovations, biodegradability and environmental and health quality standards.
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