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Manufacturing risk management: Key threats and action steps
The manufacturing industry is in the midst of a volatile period. Manufacturers must overcome risks like tariffs, supply chain disruptions, international macroeconomic pressures from the wars in Iran and Ukraine, AI growing pains and more — all while protecting profitability. Implementing an effective risk management strategy can help your manufacturing business navigate today’s risks. Keep reading to learn more, plus how to assess and mitigate your own top risks. Why risk management matters for manufacturers Manufacturing businesses are currently operating in a high-VUCA environment. The acronym, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, describes many of the key pressures manufacturing CFOs and COOs face as they try to maintain smooth operations and combat shrinking margins. Risk management is a way to bring a little stability to that high-VUCA environment. There’s so much you can’t control — tariffs, international trade, wars, government policies — but by focusing on what you can do within your own four walls, you can still manage your risks enough to protect your value and operating income. This often starts with a mindset shift. If you’re willing to let go of your old ways of doing business and embrace changes like new technology or revamped processes, you’ll have taken a big first step towards making your business stronger and more adaptable. What are the major risks facing manufacturers? Manufacturers today face risks like supply chain concentration, workforce shortages and cybersecurity threats. Those risks are compounded by big-picture, geopolitical issues like tariffs and international conflicts, as well as the ongoing rise of AI. Top risks for manufacturers include: Tariff risks: Most U.S. imports are now tariffed at between 10-50% , raising materials costs for many manufacturers while also putting additional cost pressures on consumers. Geopolitical risks: The wars in Iran and Ukraine have strained supply chains and caused price spikes for oil and other essential commodities. Workforce risks: Manufacturing’s perennial labor problem hasn’t gotten any easier, with both worker shortages and high labor costs continuing to pressure businesses. Supply chain risks: Many manufacturers still put too many eggs in one basket, relying on overly concentrated supply chains with respect to both vendors and customers. AI risks: While AI can deliver significant benefits to manufacturers , the technology comes with major risks too , especially in areas like data privacy and shadow AI . Cybersecurity risks: Cybersecurity has increasingly gone from just an IT concern to a significant financial risk , as ransomware attacks or data breaches can lead to financial, operational and reputational harm. Shrinking margins: Rising costs on many fronts are cutting into margins, making it harder for manufacturers to get or stay profitable. Production risks: Depending on industry or process type, manufacturers also face production-specific risks around issues like safety and wasted open capacity. How to assess manufacturing risk Your manufacturing business may deal with many of the industrywide risks covered in this article, but it could also face others more specific to your region or niche within the industry. Conducting a manufacturing risk assessment can help you understand your unique risk environment and develop a strategy to mitigate it. Here’s a practical risk assessment framework for manufacturers (a risk advisory firm can help you work through it): 1. Identify and document risks Identify the risk areas and individual risks that could affect your business. This will likely include industrywide risks like tariffs or cybersecurity. Also consider factors more specific to your business, like a mission-critical employee who’s due to retire or production risks like food or chemical safety. 2. Assess the likelihood and impact of each risk Once you have a list of risks, assess each risk based on likelihood and impact. You can rate each of these factors using a scale of low, medium or high. 3. Prioritize risk based on likelihood and impact Prioritize your risks based on likelihood and impact, as well as your essential business objectives. For example, if supply chain disruptions are both high-likelihood and high-impact, that’s a risk you’ll want to tackle right away, while a low-likelihood, medium-impact risk will likely be much lower on your priorities list. Your C-suite should also discuss risk tolerance. 4. Identify existing controls and gaps Assess the controls, policies and procedures you already have in place to mitigate your high-priority risks. This will also help you identify control gaps that need to be filled, like a lack of AI governance or an ineffective system for tracking tariff costs. 5. Develop risk mitigation strategies Develop a risk management roadmap to tackle your top priority risks. This will typically include establishing new controls or policies to manage risk, as well as training, scenario planning and strategic steps like technology upgrades or inventory management changes. 6. Assign risk owners and accountability To ensure your risk management roadmap actually gets implemented, assign owners to each action step. Creating a system of accountability, like regular reporting at the C-suite or board level, can also help drive follow-through. 7. Monitor and assess risk regularly As you implement your risk management roadmap, continue to regularly monitor your risk environment and periodically reassess. Risks are constantly evolving, so your risk management strategy needs to be, too. How can manufacturers mitigate business risks? Implementing a risk management strategy can help manufacturing CFOs and COOs mitigate their top business risks. Depending on the results of your risk assessment, you may wish to consider strategies like: Work with a risk management advisor An advisory firm that works with manufacturers to manage risk and improve performance can help your business navigate today’s high-VUCA environment. Look to an advisor to conduct your risk assessment and help you implement internal controls, operational changes and strategic shifts to manage your risks. Strengthen supply chain resilience Diversify your supply chain to mitigate tariff and disruption risks. Start by mapping your supply chain and identifying possible alternatives for both sourcing and customers. You may also want to do a reshoring or nearshoring evaluation to determine if either could make sense for your business. Improve operational processes and controls Running your business more efficiently can help protect your margins from surging costs . One idea: Implement production monitoring to get a clearer sense of how your production is performing on a day-to-day basis (you’ll get a dashboard showing red or green status for your machines) so you can establish a baseline to improve on. You can also use AI to make predictive maintenance recommendations to reduce your risk of machine downtime. Strengthen your analytics The more data you have, the better you understand how your business is performing. This applies to not just production line performance but also areas like costs, pricing, inventory and organizational performance — all of which can help you identify inefficiencies and understand how what happens in your plant impacts profitability. Implement strong cybersecurity and AI controls You need effective controls for cybersecurity , data protection and AI. This typically includes establishing technology governance , implementing ongoing cybersecurity training and taking steps to make your business more cyber resilient . Improve financial forecasting and scenario planning CFOs should take advantage of AI’s analytical capabilities to do extensive financial forecasting and evaluate the impact of various scenarios. Forecasting and scenario planning can help you to both understand potential risk areas and decide which to prioritize in your risk roadmap. Regularly reassess risks and update controls and strategies Don’t assume today’s risks are the same as tomorrows. Make risk management an ongoing, living practice that includes periodic reassessments and updates to your controls and strategies. Stop putting off succession planning Succession planning isn’t just about who will own the company 10 years from now. Engaging in a thoughtful succession planning process makes your whole business more stable by ensuring continuity of knowledge after a long-time employee retires, passing sales relationships from one generation to the next and giving employees a path to move up in the business. Don’t ignore valuable tax opportunities Manufacturers can often offset margin pressures using tax incentives. Depending on the circumstances, these may include R&D tax credits , bonus depreciation or qualified production property , state-level incentives and even sunsetting energy efficiency deductions like 179D that could still apply to plant upgrades you’ve already made. Read More Can the qualified production property rule help your manufacturing firm reduce tax payments? Cybersecurity in manufacturing: Strategies to mitigate risk Manufacturing trends: What 456 leaders say about the industry today.
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How financial institutions can compete in today’s economy
The financial services business climate is faster and more complex than ever. Today, traditional community financial institutions must compete for customers with not just each other, but fintech companies and new digital payment options, all while breaking through the noise of countless other demands on customers’ attention. How should an institution’s CEO adjust its growth strategy to succeed in this environment? Keep reading to find out, plus why doing so also requires a new approach to managing risk. How should community financial institutions adapt to compete in today’s attention economy? Winning customers’ attention, in today’s attention-starved environment, doesn’t mean creating a flashy ad campaign. Instead, it’s about meeting your customers (and potential customers) where they are by blending new technology, such as online account opening, with timeless community banking fundamentals. It’s this combination that helps your institution stand out from the plethora of large national banks, fintech companies and other digital payment alternatives competing for your customers’ business. Here are key actions CEOs can push to help drive growth and customer retention: 1. Win on customer experience Customer experience (CX) is what a customer experiences during their every interaction with your financial institution, including marketing, account opening, customer service and branch visits. CX is the single biggest strategic asset for community and regional financial institutions, because smaller institutions are better positioned than big banks and fintechs to build long-term, human relationships with customers that lead to organic growth. 2. Understand your customers better than ever To deliver that superior customer experience, you also have to understand what your customers want and need. To do this, do a deep dive into your customer data: Develop data-based personas, map your customer journeys, explore how you can provide more automated personalization and offer proactive services rather than waiting for your customers to come to you. 3. Use AI when it makes sense AI can help you analyze your data to learn about your customers more deeply. But you can also create customer-facing AI tools that provide instant answers to questions and personalized recommendations for products or services that fit a particular customer’s specific needs. Leaning into AI also helps give your employees more time to focus on the human aspects of their job, like customer relationships or complex problem-solving. However, you can’t just throw AI on top of ineffective processes or bad data and expect it to perform miracles — your foundation has to be solid before you add in AI . 4. Reduce friction wherever you can Friction kills CX. Nobody wants to wait for a slow app to load, navigate a clunky UI or struggle to set up a password for their new bank account. Reduce friction in your customer service experience wherever you can, as this is often an area where newer fintech companies will shine. Conducting a friction audit can help you accomplish this goal. During the audit, you’ll identify specific friction points within your customer experience and prioritize which ones to solve based on impact. 5. Offer a consistent omnichannel experience Whether a customer is stopping in the branch, opening a new account online, or calling your contact center to apply for a loan, they should feel like they are having a consistent, cohesive experience. This omnichannel approach is both a powerful branding exercise and an implicit promise that you will always come through for your customers. 6. Measure whether you’re delivering for your customers How quickly and smoothly can you deliver what your customers want? This is the essential metric you need to track, measure and seek to improve on, and someone in your C-suite should own it. 7. Earn (and keep) customer trust By taking the action steps above, you’ll also start earning meaningful customer trust. This is a long-term differentiator for community and regional financial institutions: The sense you’re looking out for your customers in a way that a fintech or a Wells Fargo never could. A frictionless omni-channel experience is also especially effective at building trust. While this might surprise you, how you manage risk and compliance also affects customer trust. And right now, the moment is ripe to change your approach to one that fits better with today’s business climate. Financial institutions should pivot to a risk-based approach to compliance and risk management Even as technology, markets and customer expectations are evolving faster than ever, regulatory agencies have pulled back on some of their traditional compliance oversight responsibilities . As a result, financial institutions have new flexibility to reallocate their compliance and risk management budgets from a compliance-based approach to a risk-based approach. Rather than approaching compliance as simply a box-checking exercise, a risk-based approach is more adaptive and better suited to navigating today’s risks and business realities. This strategy seeks to: Broadly assess your risks and compliance challenges. Identify risks as high, medium or low based on potential impact to your institution or customers. Prioritize mitigating risks that are higher impact so that you allocate your resources more effectively. Implement new or more effective controls to mitigate higher impact risks. Conduct ongoing monitoring and reassessment to ensure that your risk-management and compliance efforts continue to focus on where they’ll do the most good. A risk-based approach protects both your institution and your customer experience Risks are evolving as fast as the rest of the business environment is. By following a risk-based approach, your institution is able to constantly adapt as new risks emerge rather than getting locked into a compliance checklist that may no longer adequately reflect the latest risks in areas like cybersecurity or AI. Taking a risk-based approach is also a powerful tool to help protect your reputation with customers. Essentially, a risk-based approach goes hand in hand with your growth efforts by mitigating your risk of incidents that could hurt your customer experience (or draw attention to your institution for the wrong reasons rather than the right ones). Read more A short guide to vCISOs for financial institutions How should financial institutions respond to the federal compliance pullback? Minus a data strategy, financial institutions will fail at AI
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Navigating changing Head Start compensation requirements
In 2024, the Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming established new compensation requirements for Head Start programs. Two years later (2026), with a new administration in place, many of those rules appear on the verge of being overturned in a new notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), Restoring Flexibility to Support Head Start Program Access , which rescinds many of those requirements and returns greater flexibility to local agencies. Despite the proposed rollback, the underlying workforce challenges that drove the original rule remain a major focus across the sector. Continue reading to learn what current rules could be going away and how your Head Start program should approach employee pay and benefits, regardless of the federal rules. Employee Compensation The 2024 Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming rule introduced several significant workforce support provisions focused on employee compensation. Among other requirements, the rule directed larger programs to: Establish or update salary structures Work toward greater wage comparability with public school educators Ensure compensation was sufficient to support basic living costs within a program’s geographic area These changes reflected a broader federal recognition that workforce shortages, turnover and recruitment difficulties were affecting Head Start’s ability to deliver high-quality services. The proposed 2026 rule would remove many of these requirements, citing concerns that the rules are overly prescriptive, costly and beyond the scope of statutory requirements. If finalized, agencies would have greater flexibility to determine local compensation practices and priorities. While the future of these requirements remains uncertain, the workforce challenges that prompted the original rule have not disappeared. Across the sector, agencies continue to experience recruitment pressures, turnover concerns and ongoing competition for qualified talent. The conversation around compensation is likely to remain central to Head Start workforce planning regardless of whether the 2024 provisions ultimately remain in place, are modified or are rescinded. Employee Benefits In addition to compensation-related provisions, the 2024 rule introduced several requirements related to employee benefits. Programs were expected to provide or facilitate access to healthcare coverage, paid leave and behavioral health resources for eligible employees. Additional provisions encouraged agencies to connect staff with resources such as loan forgiveness programs, childcare assistance and other support services. The proposed 2026 NPRM would remove many of those specific benefits-related mandates. As with compensation, the stated goal is to restore local flexibility and reduce administrative and financial burdens on programs. Even as regulatory expectations evolve, the broader workforce conversation continues. Employee expectations regarding health benefits, paid time off, retirement programs and overall well-being support have changed significantly in recent years. The workforce concerns that influenced the 2024 rule remain active topics throughout the Head Start and Early Head Start community, particularly as agencies continue to navigate hiring challenges and competition for talent. Why Head Start compensation rules could already be changing The proposed rollback reflects a broader shift in federal policy priorities. The Administration for Children and Families has stated that the compensation and benefits provisions established in 2024 are costly, overly prescriptive and not fully aligned with the statutory language of the Head Start Act. The NPRM estimates that removing these requirements could save Head Start programs billions of dollars in future costs while providing agencies with greater flexibility to address local workforce needs. Whether the proposed changes are finalized remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that workforce challenges continue to persist throughout the Head Start and Early Head Start community. And recent workforce data shared across the sector continues to highlight concerns related to vacancies, turnover, employee burnout and competition for talent. Whether future standards become more prescriptive or more flexible, agencies still need a stable workforce to deliver high-quality services to children and families. For this reason, agencies should consider building workforce strategies that can withstand changing regulatory environments. How should Head Start agencies proceed with a plan? Rather than viewing compensation and benefits solely through the lens of compliance, Head Start agencies should focus on how their workforce practices support the attraction, retention and engagement of qualified employees. Regardless of what happens to the 2024 provisions, agencies will continue to face competition for talent and the need to build a stable workforce capable of delivering high-quality services to children and families. Several workforce practices continue to represent sound strategies regardless of the regulatory environment: 1. Build a strong compensation foundation A well-designed salary structure provides the foundation for consistent, transparent and equitable compensation decisions. It establishes pay relationships across positions, creates clear salary ranges and helps agencies make compensation decisions that align with their compensation philosophy, budget realities and workforce needs. Just as importantly, salary structures should not be viewed as a one-time exercise. Labor markets continue to evolve, wage rates continue to increase and employee expectations continue to change. Agencies should regularly review and update their structures to help ensure they remain aligned with market conditions and organizational objectives. Agencies may also benefit from evaluating how their wages compare with both the labor market and the cost of living in their communities. While regulatory requirements may evolve, employees ultimately make employment decisions based on whether compensation is competitive and supports their economic needs. Understanding local wage pressures, labor market expectations and broader economic conditions can help agencies make more informed workforce decisions and strengthen their ability to attract and retain talent. Salary transparency is also becoming increasingly common and, in some jurisdictions, legally required. Clearly communicating pay ranges and compensation practices can help strengthen employee trust and support recruitment efforts. 2. Monitor the labor market broadly Public school districts remain an important comparison point, particularly for educational positions. However, many Head Start agencies compete for talent well beyond the education sector. Family support staff, transportation personnel, administrative professionals, fiscal staff, health services employees and agency leaders are often recruited by employers across nonprofit, government, healthcare, retail, hospitality and other industries. Understanding local labor market trends requires a broader perspective than school district comparisons alone. School district salary schedules can still provide valuable insights, but agencies should ensure they are making apples-to-apples comparisons. For example, when evaluating teacher compensation, it is important to understand not only annual salaries but also the number of contracted workdays and hours behind those salaries. Two districts with similar annual salaries may have significantly different hourly pay rates once work schedules are considered. In addition to school district data, agencies should consider reputable compensation surveys, nonprofit benchmarking resources and local labor market information. Looking across industries can provide a more complete picture of the competitive landscape and the talent market from which agencies are recruiting. 3. Prioritize pay equity and living wages Pay equity should remain a priority regardless of regulatory requirements. Consistent and transparent pay practices support employee trust, engagement and retention while helping agencies identify compensation issues before they become workforce challenges. Regular pay equity reviews can help organizations identify wage compression, unintended disparities and inconsistencies in compensation practices. These reviews can also provide valuable information when planning future compensation investments and salary structure updates. Agencies should also continue monitoring compensation relationships both internally and externally. Internal reviews help ensure compensation practices are applied consistently, while external benchmarking helps determine whether wages remain competitive within the broader labor market. The workforce challenges that helped drive the 2024 rule, including recruitment difficulties and employee turnover, continue to reinforce the importance of equitable and competitive compensation practices. 4. Evaluate total rewards, not just wages Compensation is only one component of an employee’s decision to join or remain with an organization. Benefits, paid leave, retirement offerings, professional development opportunities, well-being resources and workplace culture all contribute to an agency’s overall employment value proposition. As workforce expectations continue to evolve, agencies should periodically assess whether their benefits programs remain competitive and aligned with employee needs. Reviewing benefit offerings against local employers, neighboring school districts and comparable nonprofit organizations can provide valuable insights into potential opportunities for enhancement. Programs should consider the full employee experience when evaluating workforce strategies. In some situations, improvements to benefits, leave programs, professional development opportunities or wellness resources may have a meaningful impact on attraction and retention without requiring the same long-term financial commitment as significant wage increases. A strong total rewards strategy helps employees understand and appreciate the full value of working for the organization, not just the paycheck they receive. 5. Make workforce decisions using reliable data Compensation and benefits decisions are often among the most significant investments an agency makes. Reliable market data can help organizations make informed decisions, prioritize limited resources and identify workforce risks before they affect service delivery. Agencies that regularly benchmark compensation and benefits, monitor turnover trends, evaluate employee feedback and assess market competitiveness are often better positioned to make proactive workforce decisions. Data-driven planning can also help leadership teams and boards navigate shifting regulatory expectations while maintaining focus on long-term workforce sustainability. Ultimately, regulations may change, but the need to attract and retain qualified employees remains constant. Agencies that proactively evaluate compensation, benefits, market competitiveness and pay equity will be better positioned to support their workforce and continue delivering high-quality services to children and families. Use market data responsibly As agencies evaluate the competitiveness of compensation and benefits, it is important to use appropriate market data sources and benchmarking methods. While comparing compensation and benefits information with neighboring agencies, school districts, preschools and other employers can provide valuable workforce insights, organizations should avoid coordinating compensation decisions or sharing future pay plans with competitors. Discussions that move beyond publicly available information and into current or future compensation strategies may create antitrust concerns. Instead, agencies should rely on publicly available salary schedules, published compensation surveys, third-party benchmarking studies and independent market analyses when evaluating compensation competitiveness. Using objective market data helps agencies make informed workforce decisions while maintaining appropriate independence in compensation planning. Learn more Leveraging technology to enhance data value for Head Start programs Webinar: Head Start compensation and benefits Webinar: Find out how one Head Start leader turned smarter analytics into organizational wins
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Strategy and operations consulting FAQ
Strategy and operations consulting services help organizations develop a vision for their future and execute on practical plans to achieve it, including improving the processes and systems they need. These services typically include support to help:
- Develop strategy
- Evaluate growth opportunities
- Execute on organizational goals
- Improve processes
- Increase efficiency
- Reduce costs and waste
- Select software
- Manage change such as modernization, mergers or expansion
- Enhance financial performance
- Remove operational barriers to growth
Wipfli’s performance consulting services for businesses and organizations include:
- Strategy: Strategy development, strategy implementation and digital strategy development.
- Operations: Business process analysis and improvement, continuous improvement advisory, software selection, change management, project management and business analyst services.
The main outcome organizations can expect from strategy and operations consulting is better performance across their organization or in the specific process or function they want to address.
For strategy, Wipfli helps you move past static planning so that your organization can adapt to a challenging, rapidly evolving business environment.
Our focus on alignment keeps your people and strategy unified, so when change occurs, you’re prepared to pivot effectively. And we ground every plan in a deep understanding of your organization, allowing us to tie strategies directly to the gaps that are limiting performance while maintaining flexibility to respond as priorities shift.
For operations, Wipfli helps organizations identify the root causes of operational inefficiencies and redesign processes to improve consistency and reduce costs.
We work alongside your teams, leveraging our broad industry experience to better understand how you operate and to provide practical guidance on how to drive better, more sustainable performance. We also look at how technology can enable your vision, helping you select, implement and optimize solutions for real impact.
While every engagement is tailored to the specific client, Wipfli’s process for strategy and operations consulting is built on data, organizational objectives and industry-specific context.
Our process often includes:
- Discovery and assessment: Building an understanding of your organization’s strategy, culture, processes and technology.
- Strategy alignment: Connecting your challenges to actionable plans for improvement, and keeping your organization aligned on objectives.
- Implementation support: Applying proven methodologies to help you implement initiatives, technology and strategy effectively.
- Measurement and optimization: Tracking key metrics to demonstrate impact and identifying areas for improvement.
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