My first thought was that you'd have to have a pretty simple job with very little responsibility to be able to be replaced by a temp. Temps type, file and send out packages. It turns out there are many different kinds of temporary jobs. He may be in charge of technical development at a gaming-machine factory one year, or reorganizing production runs at a foundry the next. In the past ten years, Franke must have taken on at least a dozen such jobs.
Many companies already outsource their non-core competencies.
Manufacturing rep firms flourish by providing an outside sales force. A sales temp filling in for a salesperson on maternity leave would be of great benefit to many companies. Taking over a territory while a salesperson recovers from an accident would also be beneficial. It is helpful to have worked in sales before taking on a temporary sales assignment. In order to be of real value to a company, you would have to move sales forward in your temporary territory are at least keep them from slipping backwards.