Subcategory: Training Education

FASB offers reprieve from updated Lease and Revenue Recognition Rules

If you’re feeling burned out from coping with extreme circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re not alone. Fortunately, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and Congress are offering some compliance-related relief for certain entities Deferral of Revenue Recognition Rules Let’s start with Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2020-05, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and Leases (Topic 842): Effective Dates for Certain Entities. It postpones the effective dates to two standards. First, ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), grants a one-year deferral for privately-owned companies and nonprofits that haven’t yet adopted the standard. Under the deferral, private companies and not-for-profit organizations that qualify can choose to apply the updated revenue recognition rules to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Qualifying entities also can defer the rules for interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is allowed. The updated revenue recognition guidance was issued in 2014 to replace hundreds of industry-specific accounting rules with a principles-based five-step model for reporting revenues earned from certain types of customer contracts. This is the second delay granted for the revenue recognition standard. CARES Act Defers CECL Standard for Large Banks On March 27, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. One provision of this law will allow large public banks to temporarily postpone the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard. Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, was issued in response to the financial crisis of 2007–2009. The updated guidance relies on estimates of probable future losses, rather than the incurred-loss model that’s used under existing guidance. The change was originally scheduled to go into effect for most public companies in 2020. Now, under the CARES Act, large public insured depository institutions (including credit unions), bank holding companies, and their affiliates can choose to postpone implementation of the CECL standard until the earlier of: The end of the national emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 crisis, or December 31, 2020. Many public banks have made significant investments in systems and processes to comply with the CECL standard, and they’ve communicated with investors about the changes. So, some may decide to stay the course. But many large banks are expected to take advantage of the option to delay implementation. This is the second time the CECL has been delayed. In October 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) extended the deadlines for smaller reporting companies (SRCs) from 2021 to 2023, and for private entities and nonprofits from 2022 to 2023. Today’s uncertain lending environment could create significant credit losses for some banks. To measure those losses under the updated guidance, banks must forecast into the foreseeable future to predict losses over the life of a loan and immediately book those losses. Making estimates could prove challenging. Fortunately, the CARES Act gives large banks extra breathing room during the pandemic. The FASB issued the previous deferral in 2015. It allowed public companies to apply the updated guidance to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and private companies to apply it to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Public companies and some nonprofits have already adopted the rules. But, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many private companies were in the process of preparing their first annual financial statements under the updated guidance. So, the FASB approved an additional deferral. Deferral of Lease Rules The second deferral under ASU 2020-05 applies to the updated lease guidance. Specifically, it grants a one-year delay of ASU No. 2016-12, Leases (Topic 842), for the following entities: All private companies, Private not-for-profit organizations, and Public nonprofits that haven’t yet adopted the rules. Under the deferral, private companies and private not-for-profit organizations can choose to apply the standard to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and to interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. Public not-for-profit organizations that haven’t yet issued (or made available to issue) financial statements reflecting the adoption of the lease guidance can choose to apply the standard to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is allowed. The updated lease guidance was issued in 2016 to require companies — for the first time — to record the full magnitude of their long-term lease liabilities and assets on the balance sheet. Public companies had to adopt the rules for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and it would have taken effect for private companies with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. Previously, the FASB had issued a one-year deferral in November 2019 for private companies. Proposal to Defer Long-Term Insurance Standard On July 9, the FASB issued a proposal to defer the updated guidance for long-term insurance contracts to help insurers navigate hurdles brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. If approved, the proposal would provide a one-year deferral of ASU No. 2018-12, Financial Services-Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts. The deferral would postpone the effective dates of ASU 2018-12 for large public companies until 2023, for smaller reporting companies (SRCs) until 2025, and for private companies and not-for-profit organizations until 2025. Earlier adoption is encouraged. ASU 2018-12 provides simpler, more transparent ways to report technical aspects of life insurance, disability income, long-term care, and annuity payouts. If approved, the proposal will be the second delay granted to insurance companies. In November 2019, the FASB deferred the updated guidance after the American Council of Life Insurers said that companies needed more time to put software systems in place, educate investors and staff, and work on other troublesome matters.  

Episode 92 – Sales and Leadership Warriors

This episode is our third installment in our partnership with Material Handling Wholesaler Magazine. For this installment, I spoke with August’s cover story author Phillip Brand who is a sales and leadership trainer. His cover story is titled “Sales Professionals Take Responsibility” and focuses on how an individual can become a true leader by taking responsibility and ownership. We dive into this topic and discuss how it can apply across the board and not just in sales. Key Takeaways One of the big takeaways from our discussion is to take responsibility for a situation. While Phillip focuses a lot on sales the action of taking responsibility can go a long way in any position and can help you to become a true leader. We discuss how taking responsibility can increase your credibility, your reputation, and your overall bottom line. From a leadership perspective, especially in the warehouse, taking responsibility can help to strengthen your relationship with your employees and other departments within your company that depend on you to deliver for them. Coming from a distribution background, I know very well that often times distribution and sales can butt heads due to sales promising something that distribution cannot really deliver on or for certain information not being communicated to distribution. However, this could be avoided by having the proper synergy within our organization. Many times these misunderstandings are because there is not an initial understanding of what can be delivered upon and what cannot so it is often a guessing game on either side. With good communication and a willingness to work together, many internal conflicts and potential customer disappointment can be avoided. Under promise and over deliver is another part of our conversation that is something that has stuck with me since the first time I heard it years ago. This is the best approach in multiple situations because it does not leave you open for disappointment from another party in the end. Phillip discusses the difference between an amateur and a professional being that a professional knows when to stop. Understanding your business and its limitations is critical to being a professional. Over promising and under delivering can leave you in an incredibly bad spot that is hard to recover from in the eyes of those you have let down. When growing a business or growing your career it is inevitable that you will make a mistake at some point and most likely you’ll make more than one but the key, as we discuss, is to not make the same mistake twice. In other words, if you do not learn from your mistake then you will have a very hard time progressing and moving forward. As long as you can own your mistake and assess the situation to correct what happened as well as take something away from it so it does not happen again then you can maintain your credibility and also keep progressing forward. The New Warehouse Podcast EP 92: Sales and Leadership Warriors To check out the August 2020 issue of Material Handling Wholesaler head to their site here. For more information on Phillip find his website here.

Sales professionals take responsibility

At a recent event, a group of salespeople were asking each other: “What do you mean when you say, sales is a profession and career?”  This has come up many times as professional salespeople struggle with those in the business who do not take responsibility for their decisions.  Clients appreciate a salesperson with empathy and the ability to develop a total solution versus simply presenting a product.  Although the basic rules of selling, like credibility and effectiveness, haven’t changed a lot over the years, techniques that may have been effective years ago need to be re-examined to meet changed circumstances. There are new rules in sales now. The new rules include honesty and integrity; trustworthiness and dedication; fulfilling the real needs of the clients. Here is the list that the group came up with that you can use as well: Instead of deflecting, choose to take responsibility for fixing the problem and wrestle it to the ground. Instead of spreading blame, professionals own and address the issue Your first job is to serve. That is the foundation of the value you should hold for your clients. A true professional always delivers. Always meet your commitments or let people know well ahead of time if you may not be able to. While all your actions in some way determine whether you will earn the trust of our people, this final choice in our “better choices” series relates most directly to our ability to build, earn, and grow trust with your leadership. It’s not about you. It’s about everyone else. People will remember how you behaved. Leadership is about reaching that shared vision of a desirable future. It’s about the greater good, not the leader’s good. Leadership is not about you! Your philosophy of life is the greatest determining factor of how successful you will be. It’s a set of beliefs and principles on how you choose to live. It’s also the way you think and act in your life. The challenge is to constantly revising, fine-tuning, and changing it if necessary. Your sales career can flourish or flounder strictly on the basis of your philosophy. Philosophy is the study of thought.  How your customers think, what they think, and even why they think what they do, all goes into the study of sales philosophy. People are smart. And they’re depending on you Business in recent years has taken on many new and complex dimensions, and this trend is likely to continue. Today’s salesperson, as well as today’s buyer, is better educated, more informed and has more options than ever before. These changes have created new, exciting, and challenging possibilities in every organization. Sales warriors need to acquire a working knowledge about these changes and have a comprehensive understanding of sales fundamentals. The selling process is a dynamic interaction between a professional salesperson and a client. The salesperson’s main objectives are to find out about the client’s needs and determine how to help the client fulfill those needs. To be successful in this process, one must learn the basics first. As with everything else, it’s a learning process. It must be built from the ground up, with a thorough understanding of the fundamentals. It doesn’t matter whose “fault” it is The buck stops here: why leadership requires taking responsibility. Leading an organization means accepting responsibility for what happens within it, for better and for worse Under-promising and over-delivering. Surprise your clients with unexpected levels of service and caring that will knock their socks off! Have them become your best advocates. Let them share news of your remarkable service to other potential clients. Professionals know when to accept mistakes they have been made and take it upon themselves to fix them. It doesn’t matter if one of your team members messed up or you did. If you are the leader, you need to take responsibility. Move on. Don’t wallow. There’s lots to do. Choosing to take responsibility, in short, has four key steps: Own the issue. Deal with it swiftly, honestly, and as completely as possible. Pledge to not make the same mistake twice. Move on. The next time you’re in the midst of a crisis, don’t try to deflect, or underestimate people, or nitpick about whose fault it was. Leaders take responsibility. Own the problem, take a hard-nosed approach, present a solution, get to work, and don’t make the same mistake twice. You’ll stave off disaster, fix problems faster, build trust, and get better results. Excellence in sales isn’t an accident. You have to make the conscious decision that you’re going to become excellent in your field. If you want to get better in selling and achieve sales superstar status, you have to commit to continuing your education. Become an expert in your field, take time to understand your prospect and tailor your approach to every individual’s needs.   About the Author: In Become a Warrior at Selling, Mr. Phillip J. Brand takes the audience on a journey of understanding deep interpersonal mechanisms of selling to ingrain the Warrior approach of structured values and principled integral behavior to acquire successful results as career sales professional. To learn more or to connect with Mr. Brand visit his website at: www.phillipbrand.ca.

Want to start making an attitude change? Take attitude actions

I define attitude as, “The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think.” Think negative or think positive is a choice and a process. Negative is (unfortunately) an instinctive process. Positive is learned self-discipline that must be studied and practiced every day. To achieve a POSITIVE attitude, or as I have named it, a “YES! Attitude,” you must take physical, verbal, and mental ACTIONS. Here are a few short chunks of attitude “awareness and actions” that will help put you (or keep you) on the positive path. Admit that attitude is no one’s fault but yours. The more you blame others, the less chance you have to think positive thoughts, see a positive solution, or take positive action towards a solution. The opposite of blame is responsibility. Your first responsibility is to control your inner thoughts and thought directions. 2. Understand you always have (had) a choice. Attitude is a choice, and most people select from the negative column. Reason? Negative is more pervasive in society and media. It’s more natural to blame and defend than it is to admit and take responsibility. Ask any politician. 3. If you think it’s ok, it is if you think it’s not ok, it’s not. Your thoughts direct your attitude to a path. If you think “this is crappy, why does this always happen to me?” You have chosen a negative path. If you think “WOW, this may not be the greatest, but look at what I’m learning. And learning what NOT to do again.” You have chosen a positive path. 4. Invest time, don’t spend it. Ignore the media you cannot control – find a project, or make a plan to sell something, or meet with someone who buys (or teaches) instead. You will become a world-class expert in five years — the only question is: at what? Spend (invest) an hour a day working at or studying anything, and in five years you will be a world-class expert. Most people will become world-class experts at some kind of local TV news program and some kind of TV rerun. Me? I read and write while you watch TV. Business news is IMPORTANT. Who got killed or what burned down, unimportant. 5. Study the thoughts and writings of positive people. Read the Napoleon Hill classic Think and Grow Rich, TWICE. Read The Power of Positive Thinking. They are priceless, timeless gems of wisdom that you can convert to your own success thoughts. The secret is to read a little each morning. 6. Attend seminars and take courses. The hardest part of taking an attitude course is FINDING one. Look at any school or university in the world and try to find ONE course in ANY of them. I’ll save you the time. The answer is (and has always been) ZERO. Find a Gitomer Certified Advisor in your city (call my friendly office for recommendations – (704) 333-1112) and take YOUR attitude course TODAY. 7. Check your language. It’s just words, but they are a reflection of how your mind sees things and an indication of how you process thoughts. 8. Avoid confrontational and negative words. The worst ones are “why,” “can’t,” and “won’t.” 9. Say why you LIKE things and people, not why you don’t. I like my job because I love my family because Say things from the positive side enough and it becomes a habit you will revel in for life. 10. Help others without expectation or measuring. If you think someone “owes you one,” you are counting or measuring. If you give it away freely, you don’t ever have to worry about the measurement. The world will reward you ten times over. 11. Think about your winning and losing words. Be aware of “loser” phrases and expressions. Lose with: “They don’t pay me enough to” or “That’s not my job.” If you say, “I’m not ’cause he’s not,” who loses? If you say, “Why should I” who loses? Think “learn,” “lessons,” “experience,” “help,” and “solutions” before you make a statement. 12. Think about your mood and your mood swings. How long do you stay in a bad mood? If it’s more than 5 minutes, something’s wrong. And your attitude (and your relationships, and your results, and your success) will suffer. 13. Are you the head of the complaint department, AND the chief complainer? Many people slip into cynicism day-by-day. They become bitter because of their jealousy or envy of other people or their own misfortune. BIG MISTAKE. List the lessons you can learn from those you have bitterness for and the results will turn your thinking towards your own success and away from theirs. 14. Celebrate victory AND defeat. In my early days of selling, I would go to a department store and buy myself something every time I made a sale. It made me feel GREAT! When someone told me to celebrate victory AND defeat, I started to buy myself something after I lost a sale, too. It felt GREAT. After a while, I was feeling GREAT all the time. Winning and losing is part of life and apart from attitude. Visit a children’s hospital. Get comfortable with the plight of others, and feel good about the minuteness of your problems compared to theirs. 15.5 Count your blessings every day. Make the list as long as you can. Start with health if you are fortunate enough to have it. Add the love of children and family. From there it’s easy to build the list. Oh, and then there are the “Attitude Aha’s.” Many (many) years ago I was riding down the road listening to a tape by Earl Nightingale (one of the founding fathers of personal development). On tape four of his legendary, but unavailable, series “Direct Line,” the topic was enthusiasm. “Enthusiasm” Earl said, “Comes from the Greek “entheos” meaning the God within.” AHA! All of a sudden, all the other quotes and advice made sense. The strength of self-belief is within your own spirit if you hunger for the feeling. And these words are food for yours. In the words of

Time to reconsider

It is still a bit strange out there. I keep walking into office or retail facilities with no one to be found. I frequent a favorite restaurant or bar and there are only a few customers to be found, most of which I do not recognize. It is July and a LOT of people are still not working, or if they are, the job they came back to is not the same as the one they left. Doing some reading and research on this RECESSION leads me to believe this recession is much different because 80+% of us now work in a service industry where the business is done face to face, compared to the non-service sector made up of the cyclical agriculture and manufacturing industries. This recession is being identified as a SUPPLY AND DEMAND DRIVEN RECESSION. With an 80% service sector, the face to face component of the business goes to zero when people are forced to stay home or decide on their own to stay home for safety reasons. Thus, the service supply GDP disappears along with the related demand for goods and services because a significant number of service workers lost their jobs.  While government programs and unemployment insurance helped stem the “consumption shock” those programs have a limited time cycle which will cause a second recession caused by additional fall-off of demand for non-service sector goods and related job losses. A DOUBLE WAMMY! I saw a summary of this scenario in John Mauldin’s weekly newsletter (Thoughts from the Frontline dated June 26) and it goes something like this: COVID shock- Decrease in Service industry revenues- Service and Non-Service Business Contraction- High Unemployment- Major Consumption Loss So, what this means is that this recovery is going to take longer than originally estimated because: Many of the service businesses closed down The non-service industries that do business with service operations will find big holes in their demand for goods and services. People that can are saving more reducing consumption further. It will take a long time before people feel safe to go out and travel. It could take years to get back to where we were. The point I want to make here is THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE YOUR NORMAL RECESSION RECOVERY. This is a new ball game with the repricing of every good and service. So, if you believe you will get through this like you did before that may not be the case. The old playbook may not work, and a new version required. Thinking about this further we should remove the word “may” and substitute “will” in the previous sentence. We started out estimating the recovery for your industry at 18 months. That probably should be 24 months. And if the scenario above is somewhat correct you can expect a pricing battle, contract term changes and customer demands like you have not seen before, with every OEM and competitor offering off the wall pricing and terms for any meaningful business. I then suggested you concentrate on work that improves your absorption percentage, working closely with customers to manage their recovery process, which could mean supplying products and services using out-of-the-box techniques. The key is keeping current customers, customize your services to meet their needs, find ways to bring “value-added” with every customer contact and manage customer credit to avoid material credit losses. If any of this means adjusting what you are providing now, then so be it. As far as the new playbook is concerned the #1 goal needs to have enough cash flow to cover expenses and debt service. What you must do to get there may be ugly, but it must be done. In the past, you may have created “recession” revenue assumptions thinking “We will be out of this shortly so there is no need for major changes.” You cannot take that approach this time around. You must do your homework finding out how revenue streams have been impacted so far for both dealers and OEM’s and assume that level of revenue will stick around for at least 24 months. At the same time, you must expect negative margin results, with both the revenue and margin results causing reductions in cash flow if changes are not made. Keep in mind that a dollar lost in this environment will take forever to recover. Thus, the need to rethink your entire operation from a cash flow perspective sooner rather than later. Managing your margins and cash flow are now the most important line items on your agenda. Managing the balance sheet is #2 on the list. Whatever it takes is on the table. People, locations, contracts, expenses, pay cuts, and cost-sharing will most likely have to be considered and implemented to generate positive cash flows. We began thinking that this pandemic would have a limited impact on the economy and your business. But we what we know now in terms of chaos in the service sector, and how that will impact your customers in the non-service sector have to be considered for planning purposes. This process will be good for you, your employees, and your banking situation. Expect your solutions to be really ugly. If they are not, go back to square one and start over. Garry Bartecki is a CPA MBA with GB Financial Services LLC. E-mail editorial@mhwmag.com to contact Garry

Beyond COVID-19: The next normal for packaging design

The coronavirus pandemic has reshaped industry megatrends in ways that will have major short- and long-term implications for packaging design The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the megatrends buffeting the $900 billion-a-year packaging industry. As the world manages through—and begins to emerge from—the great public-health and economic crisis, we expect these megatrend shifts to change packaging design in fundamental ways. To prepare for these changes and the move to the next normal, packaging companies must rethink packaging design beyond “must-haves,” such as reasonable costs, convenience, and performance. Three major requirements must be addressed: first, a good sustainability narrative; second, design with hygiene in mind, given recent heightened consumer-safety concerns; and third, design for e-commerce, ship-ready design, and direct-to-consumer models. With the right focus and innovation capabilities, these megatrend shifts, and the resulting design challenges could help packaging converters1 grow by enabling customers to revise their packaging portfolios with improved design. To help companies navigate through the future and stay ahead of the competition, we propose five critical moves they can make to jump-start their packaging-design change journey. Progressing megatrends: The next normal of packaging The COVID-19 pandemic has changed key megatrends already reshaping the packaging industry before the crisis: Sustainability reemphasized and redefined, with hygiene concerns addressed Although sustainability has recently taken a back seat, it remains a key industry-shaping trend. Packaging-sustainability goals have not been abandoned by leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and retailers, which remain committed to achieving high recyclability across their packaging portfolio over the long term. However, given the strong emergence of the new hygiene megatrend—one likely to become a key element of the next normal in packaging—companies will have to rethink the materials and design requirements of sustainable packaging. E-commerce everywhere As a result of the stay-at-home orders in many countries, consumers have dramatically increased their digital engagement—in particular, for online grocery shopping. In the United States, online penetration in this segment has increased hugely. Some industry forecasts predict that penetration will reach 10 percent in 2020, compared with 2 to 3 percent before the crisis.2 This will have significant implications for packaging design. Understandably, most of today’s packaging has been optimized for traditional brick-and-mortar requirements, not online shipments. Rapidly changing consumer preferences The pandemic has brought about major channel and category shifts. In packaging’s next normal, we expect consumers to go on being price sensitive, to further accelerate their online shopping across all categories, and to focus even more on health and hygiene. These changing consumer preferences will make it necessary to rethink the product mix at FMCG and retail customers. Inevitably, there will be implications for packaging design. Quickly changing cost pressures and more regional supply needs Before the COVID-19 crisis, FMCG companies and retailers facing significant margin compression passed these pressures up the line to converters. This issue has already affected packaging design in multiple ways: for example, the substitution of different packaging materials, “light-weighting,” redesigned formats to increase filling efficiency and volume density, smaller pack sizes, and shelf-ready packaging. Given the crisis, we expect such cost pressures to continue, and this could amplify the existing need to use packaging design to reduce costs. Speedier digitalization of the value chain Another expected outcome of the pandemic is increased digitalization of the value chain through automation and the more widespread use of AI—not only for cost efficiency and productivity but also to make supply more resilient and transparent through real-time tracking. The result could be a greater need to integrate technology—radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and near-field communications (NFC)— into the packaging. Innovative packaging designs will play an important enabling role. Packaging companies will need to reassess their strategies in light of these evolving megatrends. The next normal’s impact on packaging design Packaging design already plays a critical role in several dimensions: Supporting the consumer decision journey. The consumer’s perceptions of both the actual product and brand value depend highly on the packaging—both its tactile feel and its look. It is therefore a key component in promoting products and helps to differentiate the introduction of new ones—particularly in today’s world, with rampant SKU proliferation and robust competition on shelves for the consumer’s attention. Primary packaging is also an information carrier that educates consumers about the product inside and ways to use it. Ensuring that products have a cost-efficient delivery system. Packaging plays a basic role in containing and protecting the product—for example, helping to preserve food, to extend its shelf life, and to minimize waste. Facilitating the consumer’s need for convenience. The consumer’s changing behavior and lifestyles have imposed new demands on packaged goods—for example, reducing the preparation time of food, packaging ready-to-eat fresh meals, and enabling “portionability,” portability, and smaller individual packs. Packaging design has played an important role in fulfilling these requirements by incorporating, for example, easy-to-open and resealable closures. As we move to the next normal, packaging companies should further rethink packaging design, beyond these existing must-have factors. Any packaging launched during the pandemic or in the near future should take into account three other important requirements. 1. Design with a strong sustainability narrative The broad spectrum of design opportunities to improve the sustainability narrative can be split into two major groups, which can be addressed in two stages: Step one: Low-hanging fruit. The design improvements here are no-regrets moves, carried out with only a minimal impact on operating costs and capital expenditures for customers and packaging converters alike. These moves include eliminating unnecessary packaging, increasing the use of recycled content in the packaging material when this would be easy to do (for instance, in less sensitive applications, such as nonfood items), and helping to communicate sustainability narratives more effectively (for instance, by showing consumers how to recycle packaging). Step two: Harder but doable. Actions here include packaging-design enhancements that can promote more extensive improvements than those in step one by taking into account the full circular economy and the direct environmental impact of producing packaging materials. This effort could involve packaging design to take advantage of recent innovations in materials and to use more mono-materials.3 It could also involve introducing packaging designs in new shapes

CMAA announces updates for two specifications for overhead cranes

The Crane Manufacturer’s Association of America (CMAA) Industry Group of MHI is pleased to announce that they’ve published updates to two specifications for overhead cranes. CMAA Specification 70 – 2020 – Multiple Girder Cranes contains information that should be helpful to the purchasers and users of cranes and to the engineering and architectural professions. While much of this information must be of a general nature, the items listed may be checked with individual manufacturers and comparisons made which can lead to the optimum selection of equipment. CMAA Specification 74 – 2020 – Single Girder Cranes promotes standardization and provides a basis for uniform quality and performance. It contains information that can be helpful for purchasers and users of cranes, as well as engineers and architects. The text consists of seven sections: general specifications, crane service classifications, structural design, mechanical design, electrical equipment, crane inquiry datasheet, and glossary. Please note that printed specifications will be delayed until further notice. Downloadable PDFs of these specifications can be purchased at the links above. For a detailed description of the updates included in this new version, visit http://www.overheadlifting.org/updated-manuals-and-best-practices-documents-for-hoist-operation-released/ About CMAA CMAA is the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Inc., an independent trade association affiliated with the Material Handling Industry. CMAA traces its roots to the Electric Overhead Crane Institute, known as EOCI, which was founded in 1927 by leading crane manufacturers of that time to promote the standardization of cranes as well as uniform quality and performance. The voluntary association was incorporated as the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Inc. in 1955. Member Companies, representing the industry leaders in the overhead crane industry, serve the United States market from operations based in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Visit mhi.org/cmaa to learn more

Be an Industry Disruptor: Five keys to making positive change

Everyone has the potential to be an industry leader. These leaders are the ones who transform the world—who disrupt their industry and launch massive and positive change. The challenge is that too many people are comfortable and complacent with where they are. They’ve settled into the pattern of reacting to disruptions rather than causing them. Think about your own industry and how it’s changed over the years. Who initiated the biggest changes? Who were the disruptors? Were they the people who sat on the sidelines? Or the ones who took bold action? Contrary to popular belief, having access to large amounts of money isn’t what makes someone a disruptor. Money alone isn’t what makes change happen. In reality, tenacity and courage are all you need. So stop blaming others or outside circumstances for limiting your ability to enact change. By using the internal resources you already have, you can take action today. If you’re ready to lead your industry to new heights, here are the five keys that will help shift your mindset so you can be the disruptor others react to. Get comfortable with change Disruption is all about change. Any company that survives long-term has changed over the years. Whether they added new products or services, catered to a different market, or totally reinvented themselves, they had the courage to morph in some way. Unfortunately, many people get stuck in the vision of what their company was in the past, rather than what it could be in the future. This mindset forces them to always be reactive to the disruptions others make—they are never the disruptors themselves because they are too tied to the past. To transform your industry, you have to be future-oriented and ready to make a change at a moment’s notice. If you’re not nimble, you’ll never be the leader. Remember that everything is different today than it was just a few years ago, and that has to include you and your company. Look for the common challenges in your industry If you want to be an industry disruptor, you need to always be looking to solve challenges—at work as well as at home. In other words, problem-solving must become a way of life, not just something you do when times are tough. Look around and ask yourself, “What can I do differently and better?” Realize that if you think something is challenging or in need of change, chances are that others think that too. Ask your customers and employees what changes they wish would transpire. Then really listen to their answers. Insight leads to change. Research everything In order to find the problems and the solutions, you need to know what’s going on in your industry at all times. Research solutions that others have tried to introduce. Sometimes disruption isn’t about reinventing the wheel; it’s about making the existing solutions better. Often, even a tenth of a degree improvement can make massive progress. Additionally, do research for your emotional wellness, because when you’re emotionally healthy, you can take on anything. Broaden your research to encompass all aspects of yourself, your business, and your industry. Be resilient in your ability to solve problems Being a disruptor means being resilient. To build your resilience, refrain from asking disempowering questions like “How am I going to do this?” A better question is “Why am I going to do this?” “Why” leads to “When,” and then “When” becomes “How.” With your “why” and “when” already mapped out, the “how” becomes much easier and you’re more apt to take that first step. Along the way, you’ll run into roadblocks and rejection. That’s okay. Learn from any setbacks and then harness your resilience to bounce back and keep going. One important step is to decide ahead of time what type of challenges you will allow to disrupt you emotionally. This way, when you face a challenge, you can determine if you’re making decisions emotionally or if you simply need to look at a situation differently. From that capacity, you can take massive action. Find the eagles in your life The people in your life can either lift you up or pull you down. We all have people in our life who love hearing our problems and then telling us all the things we shouldn’t do. But if you let these people dictate your decisions, you’ll never be a disruptor. Instead, you have to find the eagles. During storms, eagles soar higher because they know the crosswinds will help them gain altitude. In other words, during the challenges they raise. Those are the kind of people you want in your inner circle. Realize that the eagles in your life don’t have to be your friends. They can be coaches or mentors you hire or only see in a professional capacity. Ultimately, their goal is to help you soar higher, not encourage you to cower when things get tough. When you rely on your eagles for support and advice, you can see problems in a new light and come up with solutions that will transform your world. Be the Change Regardless of your past successes or failures, you can initiate massive industry change. So why settle for always reacting to the disruptions that others enact? Have the courage to take action. Be the disruptor that leads your industry to new heights … and your company to even greater success. About the Author: Shelley Armato is CEO at MySmartPlans, a provider of best-in-class, SaaS construction technology that eliminates risk, creates transparency, and protects the budget. She provides professional construction services to some of the most prestigious business owners in the healthcare, scholastic, government, and commercial market sectors throughout the United States. Contact her at www.mysmartplans.com.  

U.S. Department of Labor seeks public input on effectiveness and impact of paid family leave on women and families

The U.S. Department of Labor announced a Request for Information regarding the impact of paid family and medical leave on America’s workforce. Specifically, the Department’s Women’s Bureau is requesting comment on the effectiveness of current state- and employer-provided paid leave programs and the impact that access or lack of access to paid leave programs has on women and their families. The information provided will help the Department identify promising practices related to eligibility requirements, related costs, and administrative models of existing paid leave programs. “Expanding workplace flexibility has long been a priority of the Women’s Bureau. Paid leave may also be valuable in enhancing the upward mobility of women workers and the well-being of American families,” said Women’s Bureau Director Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith. “The Women’s Bureau is interested in hearing from employers, employees, and other interested parties about the impact of various types of paid leave programs for employees of different income levels and employers of different sizes.” This information-gathering effort will help the Department and the public identify promising practices related to eligibility requirements, related costs, administrative models of existing paid leave programs, and access to information about paid leave. The Request for Information’s comment period will remain open for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. Instructions for submitting comments to the Federal Register are included in its FAQs.

Episode 89 – Enersys at MODEX 2020

In this episode, I was joined by Harold Vanasse who is the Senior Director of Motive Power Marketing at Enersys. You may remember that Enersys had my favorite innovation at ProMat last year, wireless forklift charging, and we talked further about it with Joern Tinnemeyer, their CTO, on Episode 18 last year so at MODEX I had to catch up with Harold and see what is the latest. Key Takeaways Enersys is one of the largest global suppliers of battery products for many different applications and industries. They provide multiple different battery applications for the forklift industry that allow you to operate with full power for extended periods of time. As you know from the previous discussion with them and this episode they are continuously innovating with wireless charging being a huge innovation for the industry. Their newest technology is the Nexsys line of batteries which has thin plate pure lead technology. This allows for a longer maintenance-free life of the battery. Being maintenance-free is key in the demanding distribution and warehouse environments that can require forklifts to be in use close to 24 hours a day. In this case, maintenance-free means no watering of batteries and minimal charging with fast charge setups allowing for a charge in less than 2 hours. For heavy-duty options, Enersys can provide lithium-ion battery options as well which provide the same maintenance-free, long-life advantages that the thin plate pure lead technology offers. Harold discusses how all of these different battery types are a part of the hybrid ecosystem Enersys can bring to your company. They utilize a program called Insights that helps them analyze which batteries are needed for your operation. This helps to ensure that you are getting the most cost-effective solution and the proper mix to power you through all shifts as needed. Harold also gave us an update on their wireless charging system and they even had a demo at MODEX which you can see below. Currently, they are working on field testing wireless charging with their initial target to be able to put in wireless chargers where forklift drivers park. Once this is perfected, they will move on to working on the “hot aisles” where charging will happen as the forklift operator travels in that area. The amazing thing about the wireless charging to me is the communication that the battery and the charger are doing to know when it should charge and when it should not. Really incredible stuff. Listen to and watch our discussion below. Are you looking forward to wireless charging? Leave a comment below and let us know. The New Warehouse Podcast EP 89: Enersys at MODEX n this episode, host Kevin Lawton catches up with Harold Vanasse of Enersys at MODEX 2020. They discuss Enersys’s different offerings including Nexsys and their wireless forklift battery charging solution.

The real reason why change initiatives fail

Many of the major problems that we see which impact the success of organizational change efforts are coordination failures. In short, any organizational problems are only solvable if everyone can agree to do the same thing at the same time. When a team is tasked with implementing change, oftentimes, individuals will not necessarily choose what’s best for the group, but for themselves. People frequently choose what makes sense given existing incentives, which often discourage them from challenging the status quo. It often makes the most sense to do what everyone else is doing, whether that’s driving on the right side of the road, wearing a suit to a job interview, or keeping your country’s nuclear arsenal stocked up. Take the case of academic publishing. Academic journals publish research within a given field and typically charge for access to it. In order to earn prestige within a field, researchers need to publish in the most respected journals. However, by charging high prices, journals limit the flow of knowledge and slow overall scientific progress. Although it would be better for science as a whole if everyone stopped publishing in journals that charge for access, it isn’t in the interest of any individual scientist to do so. If they did, their career could suffer. We all act out of self-interest, so expecting individuals to risk the costs of going against convention is usually unreasonable. Yet it only takes a small proportion of people to change their mindset to reach a tipping point, where it becomes an incentive for everyone to change their behavior. This is magnified even more if those people have a high degree of influence (I’m talking to you, organizational leaders). The more power those who enact change have, the faster everyone else can do the same. To overcome coordination failures, leaders need to be able to trust that when they act, the rest of the organization will act too. Leaders also need to think beyond the impact of their own actions and actively communicate what will happen when everyone acts as part of a group. And most importantly, leaders need to focus on consistent and broad communication to the entire organization. Successful communication sometimes is not simply a matter of whether a given message is received. It also depends on whether people are aware that other people also received it. For leaders to effectively communicate change, critical information must be “common knowledge,” meaning, “everyone knows about the change and everyone knows that everyone knows it”. The more public and visible the change is, the better. Leaders can prevent coordination failures in the first place by visible guarantees that those who take a different course of action will not suffer negative consequences. In closing, leaders need to understand not only why it can be difficult for people to work together in the best possible way, and how they can create better outcomes through better communication. About the Author Andrea Olson is a speaker, author, behavioral economics, and customer-centricity expert. As the CEO of Pragmadik, she helps organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500, and has served as an outside consultant for EY and McKinsey. Andrea is the author of The Customer Mission: Why it’s time to cut the $*&% and get back to the business of understanding customers and No Disruptions: The future for mid-market manufacturing. She is a 4-time ADDY® award winner and host of the popular Customer Mission podcast. Her thoughts have been featured in news sources such as Chief Executive Magazine, Customer Experience Magazine, Industry Week, and more. Andrea is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences and corporate events throughout the world. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, a TEDx presenter and TEDx speaker coach. She is also a mentor at the University of Iowa Venture School. More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.thecustomermission.com.

MHEDA launches a virtual showcase to promote members

The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) has announced this year’s Virtual Exhibitors Showcase on MHEDA’s website. Members and nonmembers can “walk” the tradeshow floor from now until December 2020. The Virtual Showcase is an online exhibit hall designed to help company’s find products, services, and solutions throughout the year. Anyone can visit the Virtual Showcase to connect with companies in the industry, and exhibiting in the showcase is specifically for MHEDA Members. There two types of booth space that vary in price and exposure on the platform. A standard booth is $200 and allows exhibitors to display the company name, company information, and contact information. These booths sort alphabetically and appear if an attendee is searching for the specific company name. A premium booth is $600 and allows exhibitors to brand themselves with logos, videos, pictures, downloadable documents, product/service details, call to actions, and other customizable features. Because a company can display product and service-specific content, these booths sort by product category, service category, and company name. MHEDA encourage premium exhibitors to promote their booth space with an MHEDA Virtual Showcase Logo. Upon purchasing a premium booth, MHEDA sends a company-specific Virtual Showcase logo to use on email signatures, websites, social media, and more. Join MHEDA Members and other industry professionals to learn and research material handling products and connect with companies all year round.

NAW launches “NAW Podcast Series: Innovate to Dominated by PROS”

NAW is pleased to introduce to the wholesale distribution industry the new NAW Podcast Series: INNOVATE TO DOMINATE, sponsored by PROS. The NAW Podcast Series is a must-listen for distributor leadership, innovation teams, supplier partners, and anyone motivated to help distribution lead the way to the future of business. In the first episode, “An Introduction to the Innovate to Dominate Podcast Series,” listeners will learn about the INNOVATE TO DOMINATE series and what it means for the wholesale distribution industry in the context of COVID-19. To subscribe to this limited series, click here. “We are so excited for this new way to engage with our members and others across the industry, innovate through this channel and share real-world B2B stories of innovation from industry experts and leaders from the front lines of distribution,” said Ruth Stadius, Vice President of Thought Leadership at NAW. About This Free Podcast Series This new NAW Podcast Series is centered around the findings in NAW’s best-selling research study, Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change® Series, written by NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow Mark Dancer and sponsored by PROS, which helps distributors to connect the dots between the forces of change all around us, the things that are reshaping how customers buy and how businesses operate. It connects the dots between those forces of change and how distributors can actually innovate their business model. Distributors are innovating, and the goal of this podcast series is to provide a roadmap for distributors to get ahead of this disruptive market. Follow Mark Dancer and Richard Blatcher of PROS as they interview special guests along the way to help distributors “Innovate to Dominate”! Mark Dancer says, “Throughout the podcast series, Richard Blatcher of PROS and I conduct in-depth interviews with special guests who provide strong opinions and share fresh insights for distributors to consider as they chart their path to the future. We dig deep to help apply each podcast’s unique lessons to potential distributor innovations.” All the remaining episodes in this limited series can be accessed by podcast subscribers, so to subscribe, click here. Subscribers will receive exclusive episodes directly to their inbox. The first five episodes in this series are: • Episode 1: An Introduction to the Innovate to Dominate Podcast Series, featuring Mark Dancer and Richard Blatcher • Episode 2: Another Game in Town: Alibaba Enters the U.S. Market, with special guest John Caplan of Alibaba Group • Episode 3: Platform Versus Value Chain: Making Sense of Platform Business Models, with special guest Alex Moazed of Applico • Episode 4: Overcoming Culture: How a Son of Distribution Built a World-Class Webstore, with special guest Sean McDonnell of Trupar.com • Episode 5: Gut Check: A Distribution Point of View on Disruption and Change, with special guest Ian Heller of Distribution Strategy Group This limited podcast series will feature a few additional episodes later this year that include interviews with more actionable ideas from the front lines of B2B innovation.

United Rentals launches Digital Learning Series focused on improving worksite performance

Webinars explore how companies can unlock smarter worksites United Rentals, Inc. has announced a digital learning series on improving worksite performance, which takes place in five weekly sessions from June 30 to July 28. These free educational events provide advice, safety guidance, and innovation from the experts and leaders across multiple industries to help navigate these changing times.  In today’s already-complex worksites, safety and work practices can change frequently, and requirements are even more stringent. The webinars – with all sessions conducted online – will provide helpful and practical tips to identify and mitigate those risks. Decision-makers, owners, contractors, and consultants can gain insights from the team to update their best practices to unlock opportunities for a more productive – and profitable – worksite.  “Companies face a major challenge in managing worksite complexity and see a huge opportunity to improve performance,” said Ty Campbell, Director, Sales and Online Services at United Rentals. “This learning series will provide companies with actionable information to take control of equipment fleets to improve how they consume and utilize equipment, and deliver real savings to the business.”  Digital Learning Series Schedule  Anyone can attend the educational sessions offered in this learning series. To register, please go to https://www.unitedrentals.com/our-company/webinar-series#/. Here are the webinar session topics and schedule:  Frictionless Fleet Management: Accelerating Opportunities for Cost Savings. Managing fleet and equipment rental needs across multiple projects, worksites and departments is inherently complex. This session explores how using a single-source, an online platform to manage owned and rented fleet helps tame that complexity and alleviate friction points in the process. It will show how to access insightful information and deliver actionable data and context to teams. Offered: June 30 at 1 p.m. EDT.  The New Normal: Safety and Productivity in a Changing Environment. Equipment cleanliness is a foundational element to a successful safety culture. As companies look to rent equipment to address worksite needs, they need to have confidence an equipment rental provider adheres to best practices for disinfecting equipment touchpoints. This session reviews steps companies can take to safeguard equipment fleet is sanitary and ready for use. Offered: July 7 at 1 p.m. EDT.  The Data Said So: Using Analytics to Drive Process Improvement and Cost Savings. Updating processes and changing the way business gets done on-site can be challenging, but when done correctly, it is extremely rewarding. Data and analytics can be a catalyst to change, and ultimately, success. This session examines one company’s process improvement lifecycle and provide insights into how they used analytics to drive double-digit equipment fleet cost savings. Offered: July 14 at 1 p.m. EDT.  Why Now? Effective Change Management in a Remote World. Adoption and implementation of change can be a challenge for any organization and can be even more challenging when team members are working remotely. This session discusses best practices to guide companies through the change management process smoothly. It will look at tools and resources available to help companies adopt cloud-based workforce performance management. Offered: July 21 at 1 p.m. EDT.  Better Together: Success Through System Integration. System integration can help a company streamline business processes and create efficiencies. This session reviews the different types of solution integrations and how they are applicable. It addresses the multiple points in the procure to pay process, from ordering management of on-rent items, all the way to invoicing and payment. Offered: July 28 at 1 p.m. EDT.  Total Control Solution  United Rentals Total Control is a cloud-based worksite performance management solution that helps companies make the most of an equipment fleet to utilize assets better and cut annual equipment rental costs by up to one-third. It provides a single system of record delivering visibility to manage both rented and owned equipment fleet, including excavators, trenchers, backhoe loaders, and other pieces of equipment. Total Control allows companies to get a handle on what equipment they have, where it is located, how much they are paying for it, how often it is being used and when they need to return it. They can pinpoint the exact location of any piece of connected equipment, and measure and track its utilization to boost performance.

Status Report: Your Pandemic financial position

Status Report: Your Pandemic financial position By now all dealers should understand their PANDEMIC financial position in terms of where they started (Mid-March), where they stand today and where they need to be to get fully comfortable they will come out of this situation still standing. A TOUGH ASSIGNMENT CONSIDERING NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT AND WHEN TO EXPECT IT. Here is what I recommend: Prepare budgets for three Sales Levels starting with the original budget for 2020, a second with a 25% drop in sales and a third with a 50% drop in sales, with the impact on your company depending on which revenue silos caused the most reduction. Carry out the 20 budgets to June 30, 2021, to reflect what help you may need from banks and vendors. You can adjust sales levels based on activity to date and solid expectations for your various profit silos. What you do not want to do is a plan for X and wind up at X – Material $$ in Sales. Better to beat the pandemic budget to ensure that your cost adjustments are where you need them to be. As part of the sales exercise both direct and indirect expenses need to be budgeted to arrive at an estimated gross profit for each budget. Each manager must bite the bullet and come up with a plan and be accountable for the plan until the industry returns to normal. Next, prepare a monthly cash flow analysis using the budget data to determine cash burn during your recovery period, and how much additional funding may be needed assuming at least an 18-month overall recovery period starting March 20. And keep in mind that cash flow is based on collections and not sales numbers.  We all know that budgets are numbers on a piece of paper. Unless there is accountability to meet those numbers, you are just wasting your time. All managers must be made aware that any differences, either up or down, impact the actual cash balance reflected at the 18-month level. This exercise will help address fixed, semifixed and variable expenses, and do not forget that the cash budget includes bank and other fixed obligations appearing on the balance sheet. Schedule 2 meetings a week to review revenues and expenses and how they are trending compared to budget and cash flow analysis. This continues until you are over the hump. Once the budget and cash flow analysis is under control management should be looking for ways to change and adjust the operation and business plan to eliminate non-profitable segments of the business and at the same time evaluate all systems and processes to determine what is not working and what adjustments would make them work better. Let us face it, you need to reduce spending and optimize costs. Vendors should be approached regarding pricing and payment terms. WE NEED RELIEF FOR THE REMAINING SEGMENT OF THE 18 MONTH RECOVERY PLAN.  Price reductions help if you are doing any buying.  Stretching out payment terms really helps even if there is an interest charge involved. On the other hand, collection efforts and programs should be made available to incentivize customers to pay sooner than they normally would. GET THE MONEY IN WHILE IT IS STILL AVAILABLE. Financing arrangements should be adjusted to defer principal payments. Or how about interest-only for six months. This is where those projections and cash flow analysis comes in handy because it shows that you are managing the situation and have spent the time to adjust internally to meet the challenges presented by the pandemic. Spending, if any, should focus on areas that supply the bulk of your absorption factor. Make the effort to communicate with “profitable” customers to establish how you can assist them to get over the hump. Everyone is expecting a lot of change caused by the pandemic. Ask customers what they will be changing and revamp your product and services to meet those needs. Every crisis provides opportunities to take advantage of poorly managed competitors.  Face it, there will be dealers who do not make it and you probably have an idea of who those dealers are. You could pick up market share buying up the assets of a failed operation or by just offering superior products and services to their customer base, which may be lacking as the competitor slides into bankruptcy. If you attack the customer base that is the prudent approach. Buying the assets is another matter that under these circumstances requires the involvement and support of your vendors. Wouldn’t it be nice to take advantage of this situation that improves the profit potential of your business? GET A HANDLE ON YOUR NUMBERS, ADJUST PROGRAMS AND FIX THE PROBLEMS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC WIPES YOU OUT!   Garry Bartecki is a CPA MBA with GB Financial Services LLC. E-mail editorial@mhwmag.com to contact Garry

Sales Managers success requirements are tough

Stop managing, start leading. Sales managers beware. No one wants a manager, but everyone wants a leader. If you think about it, there are great world leaders, but no great world managers. There is one universal misconception among every bad sales manager they all think they’re doing a great job! There are thousands of sales managers (and bosses) who do a great job and unfortunately, at least an equal amount who don’t. Many sales managers have risen through the ranks by superior sales performance and are made managers without any (or minimal) training. Most of these “managers” will fail their company twice. Once because they are unprepared for the job, and once because they have left their former position of superstar salesperson creating a sales volume void. There are seven areas of expertise a manager must possess to perform successfully. How many does your sales manager perform to perfection? Administrating Setting policy, dealing with reports, making sure the flow of paper (from orders into commissions out) is error-free, and coordinating the selling, delivering, and servicing process. Recruiting Going out to find (and solicit) people who may be qualified to sell for the company. Hiring Determining by questions, responses, and gut feeling, who is a great candidate for, and most likely to succeed at a sales position. When a person is selected, an integral part of the hiring process is to fully explain all expectations of the job. To set and agree upon sales goals (a nicer word for quotas). And to get and give commitments to specific performance. The best way to do this is to draft a commitment document that has listed what the company will do and what the salesperson will do. Be specific as to sales goals to be met. Have both parties sign the document. It should be reviewed in every performance evaluation. Training If you want to win, win, win, you better train, train, train. Sales managers should lead weekly training meetings, do on the job training with the staff, attend every seminar possible, listen to sales and management tapes in the car every day, and read six books a year on management, sales, and attitude. Motivating If you want success, you must create an atmosphere in which success can occur. This means a continuous (every minute) positive attitude and atmosphere must exist. It means recognizing and rewarding great performance. Managers create this atmosphere. What kind of atmosphere, recognition, and attitude comes from your manager? If the atmosphere is lacking, or if a manager is using his or her ounce of power to show “who is boss,” I guarantee three things will happen. 1. There will be a high turnover of salespeople. 2. The manager will blame everyone else but themselves. 3. The manager will eventually get the deserved “ax” after doing thousands of dollars in damage. Interestingly it’s not the manager’s fault. It’s the fault the company president for not providing adequate training, or not selecting the right person for the job or both. Selling Managers (and trainers) who don’t sell every day lose touch with reality. How can you lead your sales force if you don’t know what the customer needs? There should be a regular pattern of selling both with reps and alone in a leadership position. The rule is simple If you aren’t selling, you can’t lead. Leading by example This applies to all aspects of the six areas above. Don’t tell someone to do something. Show someone how to do something and provide the support and training to get it done. As a manager you want your sales team to succeed. The best way to do this is to lead the way. Remember, it’s not up to them to succeed, it’s up to you to provide the atmosphere, encouragement, tools, and training so that success can occur. Tom Hopkins gives a great seminar on sales management. When he was asked to join a management team after an incredibly successful stint as a salesperson, he said yes on one condition. He wanted six months of intensive, hands-on management training before he accepted the position. That is how he succeeded. How many months (weeks, days, OK hours) of management and leadership training has your manager had? The unfortunate answer for most is: not enough. Stop managing, start leading. If you think about it, there are great world leaders, but no great world managers. Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars visit www.Gitomer.com or email Jeffrey at salesman@gitomer.com or call him at 704 333-1112.

Nominations now open for 2020 Influential Women in Trucking Award

The Women In Trucking Association (WIT) and Freightliner Trucks are seeking nominations for the 2020 Influential Woman in Trucking award. A decade ago, the award was created to honor women who make or influence key decisions in a corporate, manufacturing, supplier, owner-operator, driver, sales, or dealership setting. The winner must have a proven record of responsibility and have mentored or served as a role model to other women in the industry. “When I first started my career, there were very few women in the trucking industry let alone in leadership positions,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager, Freightliner, and Western Star product marketing and strategy, Daimler Trucks North America. “It’s amazing to see how the industry has changed and women are now a driving force in all areas of trucking. Freightliner is proud to sponsor this award and recognize those women who are not only making a difference in their own roles but for all women in the trucking profession.” Nominations will be accepted through July 31 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020InfluentialAward. The winner will be announced at the WIT Accelerate! Conference & Expo held in Dallas, Texas, September 23 – 25. Each finalist will be asked to serve as a panelist for the “How Remarkable Women Unleash their Leadership Potential” panel discussion. Those that nominate a candidate need to ask the nominee to save the date for this event if she is named a finalist. “The Influential Woman in Trucking Award honors extraordinary female leaders who have been advocates and role models to others,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women In Trucking Association.”With 2020 being the tenth anniversary of the award, I’m more excited than ever to see the caliber of nominations submitted.” Past recipients of the Influential Woman in Trucking award include Marcia Taylor, CEO of Bennett International Group; Rebecca Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute; Joyce Brenny, President of Brenny Transportation, Inc./Brenny Specialized, Inc.; Rochelle Bartholomew, CEO of CalArk International; Kari Rihm, President of Rihm Kenworth; Ramona Hood, currently president and CEO at FedEx Custom Critical; Daphne Jefferson, Former U.S. Department of Transportation, FMCSA; Angela Eliacostas, Founder and CEO, AGT Global Logistics; and Ruth Lopez, director, transportation management, Ryder System, Inc.

Happy employees don’t just happen. Here’s how to create them—and why it’s even more vital now

The economy is a mixed bag right now: We’ve recently gotten a surprisingly sunny job report and an official declaration of recession. Deb Boelkes says both facts should cue leaders to focus on employee happiness. Here are eight ways to get started Happy employees are the best kind. They work hard, keep customers loyal, and stick around to help your organization accomplish its mission. You definitely want them on your team. This is true in the best of times, yes, but also in the worst of times. And right now—just a few months into a deeply disrupted work environment, in the midst of a shaky economy, with anxiety running rampant—is not the time to slack off on making your people happy, says Deb Boelkes. “Some leaders may think building a happiness-generating culture isn’t a priority now,” says Boelkes, author of Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring (Business World Rising, 2020, ISBN: 978-1-734-07613-4, $19.95). “After all, a lot of companies are in survival mode. They’re just trying to keep the doors open and meet payroll. This could tempt leaders to think that employees are lucky to have a job at all. “If so, this is short-sighted thinking,” she adds. “It’s more important than ever for employees to know you care about their happiness. It won’t just happen. You need to get intentional about it.” First, the May jobs report showed that the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent, and the economy gained 2.5 million jobs. Employees may have more options than we thought. On the other hand, we’re officially in a recession. Many companies are not out of the woods yet. They need super-motivated, super-engaged employees to ensure that they survive this rocky period. “The craziness of the current situation should cue leaders to double-down on their efforts to make employees happy,” says Boelkes. “People are still anxious. They are also paying attention to how leaders behave right now. When you focus on building an environment where employees feel safe, comfortable, and empowered—happy, in other words—they’ll do a great job for you. And you’ll be able to retain them when things pick up again.” Making a happy workplace environment is just one aspect of what the best leaders do. In her book, Boelkes lays out the path to heartfelt leadership. Full of real stories and lessons from top heartfelt executives, it will help you transform from a person people follow because they have to, to one they want to follow. Read on for some tactics to keep employees happy and motivated. Be especially present for employees in times of trouble Garry Ridge, chairman and CEO of the WD-40 Company, says, “When we were going through the global financial crisis in 2008, I observed people in the company as I’d wander around this office or any of our other offices around the world. People were asking me more often, ‘How are you?’ It dawned on me—they weren’t asking me how I was; they were asking me how they were, through me. Now my answer to them could have been, ‘Oh, things are…ugh,’ or, ‘Hey, let’s not waste a good crisis. We’re going to get through this. This, too, will end.’ I realized they were looking to me, in their time of uncertainty and fear, to give them that little bit of security to carry them through. Leaders need to make sure in times of war, and in times of trouble, they are visible.” Add to their positive. (Certainly don’t make things worse.) Treat your team with respect at all times. This means no bullying, humiliating, threatening, or other toxic behavior. Garry Ridge put it this way: “The Dalai Lama says, ‘Our purpose in life is to make people happy. If we can’t make them happy, at least don’t hurt them.’ Our purpose as a leader is to help people engage and enable, NOT to hurt them. We want to apply to their positive, not to their negative.” Find what makes them each tick “Make it part of your job to have a clear understanding of where employees are in their lives,” says Boelkes. “Talk with them about their families, their desires, and their personal goals. Ask them what they love best about their current job and what they would like to change if anything. This is the most important job any manager has to do: to understand what your organization needs to accomplish and then find a way to do it in a way that aligns with each team member’s personal motivations and desires.” Donald Stamets, general manager for the Flagship Solage, an Auberge resort, agrees. “You can’t do blanket leadership. Take the 1,100 employees I have. I can’t treat them all the same…Sometimes people are excited and motivated by money. Sometimes they’re competitive. Sometimes it’s strong discipline. People are motivated by different things, so an individualized approach is how I’ve become so successful.” Show them you care by helping them perform Reinhold Preik, retired founder and CEO emeritus of Chemcraft International, says people care about paychecks, but what they most want is a workplace that supports them and helps them feel good about their work. “Pay is important, but it’s not that important in the sense that people will leave you to go somewhere else,” he says. “They will realize, wherever they go, it still comes down to their performance. If you, as a leader, help them perform, then they are going to be happy themselves. Their self-worth is going to be there. If people have self-worth, they are going to be happy. If they are working in a place where they don’t feel self-worth, they don’t feel the company really cares who they are…’ they don’t really care what I am doing, I’m just punching the clock, I’m going home and nobody even knows I’m here’…then their attitude is going to be completely different.” Do all you can to help “problem” employees  Sometimes a problem employee just needs some extra guidance, says Boelkes. Meet with them and explore the issues they’re having. “Find out what they do

U.S. Manufacturing Technology orders decreased in April 2020, the lowest monthly total since May 2010

U.S. manufacturing technology orders decreased 26% in April from the previous month to $225.8 million, the lowest monthly total since May 2010, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. New orders were 39% lower than in April 2019. Total orders through April 2020 were just shy of $1.1 billion, 28% lower than 2019 orders during the same period. “It should not come as a surprise that April numbers were low given the large-scale shut down of the global economy,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “Data confirms that U.S. industrial production dropped lower than during even the Great Depression. “The encouraging news is that we are seeing an uptick in May MT orders. The aerospace and automotive sectors have begun retooling and are placing orders for new equipment to ramp up production in the fall. Some MT orders are being delayed, but we are not seeing any cancellations; in fact, April cancellations were lower than the 2019 average. “2020 will still be a down year for MT orders, and we think it is likely that manufacturing will experience uneven growth for the next several quarters. Oxford Economics has forecast a 50% decline in machine tool orders in 2020 (from 2019), and while they have also forecast a robust 84-plus percent increase in MT orders in 2021, this is still a 10% decline from where the industry stood before the pandemic. Consumer confidence, capacity utilization, and the unemployment rate are the key indicators that we will keep our eyes on as they chart future performance.”

EnerSys® recognizes 2020 National Forklift Safety Day

EnerSys®, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, will once again unite with the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) to support the annual National Forklift Safety Day. Now in its seventh year, this special day will be held on June 9, 2020, and serves as an important reminder in keeping the safety of forklift operators top of mind. This year’s event carries even greater importance due to the global crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as supply chain operations are in overdrive to ensure the flow of products and resources in all industries across the nation. ITA’s National Forklift Safety Day provides a unique platform to educate the industry about the safe use of forklifts and the importance of proper operator training to avoid injury. The ITA works closely with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to facilitate training seminars and develop educational resources to emphasize safe practices in warehouse environments. According to OSHA, common injuries occur when lift trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks, lifts fall between docks and an unsecured trailer, a lift truck strikes another lift truck, or they fall while on elevated pallets and tines. “This year’s celebration of National Forklift Safety Day is especially unique due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and validates, even more, the importance of safety and operator training,” said Harold Vanasse, Senior Director of Marketing, Motive Power Americas at EnerSys. “Despite the challenges that remain as a result of this global health crisis, we applaud ITA for their unwavering drive to raise awareness about this pertinent industry topic.” For more information about National Forklift Safety Day, click here.