How to rake in excess returns: seven ways to take advantage of counterintuitive industrial trends.

• Author: Pettit, Justin
• Position: GUEST COLUMN

ANYONE LOOKING to make money in today's challenging environment might well benefit by identifying global trends across a wide variety of industries. In particular, trends that are counterintuitive and have broad implications provide the greatest opportunity for profit. At Booz Allen Hamilton, our experts across the globe embarked on a project to identify seven important counterintuitive trends. I recently took a close look at these trends, working to find the actionable opportunities within them. Here are my recommendations:

Close the knowledge and talent gap

With more than 35 percent of the population predicted to be over 55 by the year 2020, most companies face a significant knowledge gap as experienced minds retire. The increasing need for temporary staffing--extending well beyond administrative tasks to actual organization leadership--is growing. In addition, companies will begin searching for new software ideas, especially as it relates to the replacement of work traditionally done by humans. Digital oil fields provide just this type of value, and oil-services companies like Schlumberger connect their customers' command centers to remote drilling operations as well as to their own facilities.

Pursue value-added suppliers

While offshoring and outsourcing of commodity products and materials continues to grow, value-added suppliers have emerged from the rubble of the traditional, adversarial manufacturer/supplier relationship. The value-added approach to sourcing materials exists where both parties envision greater collaboration to eliminate inefficiencies. Opportunities exist wherever solutions support collaborative efforts, whether that's in process industries like gas or oil or in software solutions.

Manage the 'R' in R & D

Projections reveal that 69 percent of R & D will be located outside of the United States. With more of the commoditizing 'D' being outsourced, just where do the opportunities exist? They exist in the value being created on the 'R' side, especially within evolving networks of talent around the globe. Countries like China and India are establishing new centers of expertise where one particular process or technology is located. The need to build and manage tightly knit global R & D networks that combine hard levers like tools with soft levers like talent will continue to grow.

Track new uses for software

The increasing use of software in manufacturing represents an important, new trend, extending beyond simply tracking...