PERC announces new Director of Off-Road Business Development
Matt McDonald brings propane background, fresh perspective to PERC team The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) welcomes Matt McDonald as its new director of off-road business development. In his new role, McDonald will lead research and development and training projects with a focus on new product development and commercialization in the off-road and material handling markets. He will also assist in market communication strategy and outreach. “Matt’s passion for the industry, paired with his existing experience and expertise, made him a great fit for this position,” said PERC President and CEO Tucker Perkins. “We have no doubt he will be a great addition to the PERC team and look forward to watching him expand propane use in the off-road market in new, innovative ways.” Prior to PERC, McDonald was a general manager at Ferrellgas for nearly six years. He also served as an aircrew survival equipmentman in the United States Navy for four years. “I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this market and excited for the new challenge,” McDonald said. “I know I am joining forces with an incredible team here at PERC and am eager to dive in and get started.”
Episode 78 – Spatial Intelligence with Locix
In this episode, I was joined by the CEO of Locix, Vikram Pavate, to discuss how they are utilizing their technology to now help track and trace individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discussed how Locix is utilizing their spatial intelligence technology to help track individuals movements within facilities, trace previous steps of potentially infected individuals and help to identify where individuals might be too close. Key Takeaways We have talked to Locix before on the show back at ProMat last year on Episode 11 and their technology was intriguing then as it is utilizing sensors to give you an idea of what is going on at your dock to help increase dock efficiency. Since that time they have expanded into utilizing spatial technology beyond the dock and inside of your facility to understand where assets are and movement patterns. Now that there has been an increase in the need for awareness of distancing due to social distancing they are pivoting their technology to be used differently. The spatial intelligence technology that they are using is now being utilized to help track movements of individuals. Vik jokes in the episode that it may seem a bit big brother but the reality is that this can help to determine what areas in your facility might be at risk if you have someone who tests positive. The ability to trace a person’s movements can give you an idea of where they spent time in the facility and who they may have potentially come in contact with. This can help to limit the spread and help you take further precautions and isolate certain individuals if needed. In addition to tracing individuals, the technology from Locix can also track assets. This is extremely helpful for any large facility that has a lot of assets to track. During the current times where hospitals are getting overloaded and resources overextended, this technology is incredibly helpful to keep track of different machines needed so that resources are being allocated and used as much as possible. As we move forward and try to figure out life post-COVID, when the time comes, one difficult hurdle is determining the work environment and how to ensure proper distancing. With spatial intelligence, you can track movements which over time can give you data to determine where there is a high frequency of movement and where there is a re-occurrence of multiple people getting close due to layout or traffic patterns. Using this data you can then determine layout changes or traffic pattern adjustments that can help to alleviate insufficient distancing. Listen to the episode below and view the video to see an example of their tracing technology. The New Warehouse Podcast EP 78: Spatial Intelligence with Locix
ALAN opens nominations for 2020 Humanitarian Logistics Awards
From hand-made posters to social media shout-outs, there are many ways to honor the supply chain heroes of COVID-19. But one of the most prestigious went live earlier today. The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) has officially opened nominations for its fourth annual Humanitarian Logistics Awards. “Our profession has always been full of selfless people who have gone above and beyond to help during disasters,” said ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “However over the past 12 months, the logistics industry has been especially heroic and deserving. Thanks to the pandemic, Hurricane Dorian, Puerto Rico earthquakes, and Southeast tornadoes, it seems 2019-2020 has had even more amazing stories than usual. We’re really looking forward to the chance to acknowledge them via our 2020 awards.” Presented annually, ALAN’s Humanitarian Logistics Awards are open to any logistics professional, academic, organization, or department. They are awarded in four key categories, each of which can have multiple honorees. In-Kind/Financial Award Employee Engagement Award Research/Academic Achievement Award Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations (including self-nominations) can be made via ALAN’s web site (https://www.alanaid.org/humanitarian-awards-nomination/) between now and Friday, July 10. “The more nominations we receive, the more opportunities we have to give supply chain humanitarians the recognition they deserve,” said Fulton. “So we encourage everyone to feel free to nominate the best examples of our industry’s service to others.” Established in 2017, ALAN’s Humanitarian Logistics Awards recognize companies and individuals who exemplify the best that the supply chain has to offer by assuring that aid and comfort are rapidly delivered to communities in crisis. Previous winners have included Phil Palin, Disaster Relief by Amazon, Total Quality Logistics, Dr. Nezih Altay, Dr. Allison Thompson, The Shippers Group, Estes Express Lines, The Home Depot, MIT’s Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab, LIFT Non-Profit Logistics, The Performance Team, International Paper, Saddle Creek Logistics, Kane Is Able, States Logistics, the UPS Foundation, and Jock Menzies. For a full list of rules and nomination criteria go to https://www.alanaid.org/alan-award-nomination-information-2020.
Episode 76 – Military eyes in the Warehouse
Episode 76 – Military Eyes in the Warehouse In this episode, I reconnected with Don White, CEO at SnapFulfil and guest of Episode 71, post-MODEX to talk about a recent article he wrote regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The article is called “Seeing Your Warehouse Operations Through Military Eyes” and takes a look at how some of the things he learned during his time as a US Navy Supply Corps Officer can be applied to our current situation. Key Takeaways First, I want to thank Don for his service and also all of those who have served and are currently serving. As well as all the front line workers that have been supporting us through the current situation. Don served as a US Navy Supply Corps Officer which means he worked on the Navy’s supply chain to help monitor and administer it. Being that the supply chain has its roots in the military, the parallels that Don draws between the Navy and our current situation are great points to share. The first Navy statement that Don discusses is “Every sailor a firefighter.” I love this concept for warehouses because everyone should be ready to fill in when needed. Your operation should work as a whole no matter who is on-site. This is especially true during these times because of the large attendance issues that can be experienced whether you have unexpected workers testing positive or others taking leave to care for the family. You never want to be in a situation where one job cannot get done because there is only one person that knows how to do it and they called out sick. Always ensure your team is cross-trained on all functions. The second statement is “Fight the ship.” This idea centers around the idea of staying mission-focused. On your ship the mission of the ship is to fight so no matter what hardships you endure you must ensure that the ship can still fight and does so. Bringing this concept into the warehouse, you need to look at your mission which is to ship and you need to stay focused on that. Experiencing reduced labor, higher demand, and other factors need to be taken into consideration when looking at what critical tasks need to be done today and now. In most cases, shipping will be your critical task so you need to focus on putting all your resources towards that mission. Listen to the episode below and let us know in the comments how you are handling the COVID-19 situation in your warehouse. The New Warehouse Podcast EP 76: Military Eyes in the Warehouse
Moving learning online? You can’t just change mediums – You need a strategy
So now that we live in a virtual world, almost everything has moved online. Zoom meetings and webinars have now become the norm. Many organizations are also translating their educational programming and training (whether internal or external) online. However, it’s not as easy as taking what you do today and simply doing it “digital”. Creating an effective and truly results-generating digital training program requires a unique approach. Firstly, training that was traditionally presented in a classroom setting is highly dependent on interaction and audience participation.Q&A if you will. Along with this, larger, longer segments of information can be conveyed, because you’re not simply verbally communicating it but also showing it visually. You can have multiple conversational examples, and “students” will also have small interactions between each other. It’s much more interactive by nature. On the other hand, online courses require consistent, constant attention from the “student”.You can’t wander off or get distracted or you miss a lot. This means that information must be presented much more simply concise, and in “digestible bites” – meaning small segments versus long lectures. Also, there needs to be much more variety, between lecture, reading, and mini-quizzes. Things need to be repeated more frequently and re-presented in a wider variety of “flavors” – tell them, illustrate it, and then show it in action. So how do you take your current programs and make them suitable for effective online education? Here’s a quick primer: 1) Don’t make any lecture segment longer than 10 minutes Think TED Talks – people will pay attention deeply for about 10-15 minutes. Beyond that, you lose them. 2) Create a mix of mediums Just because you are digital, doesn’t mean you have to have a PPT or talking head the whole time. Break your program into small segments, where “students” change from PPT to lecture to reading to a refresher quiz. 3) Break everything into small chunks Remote learners will continually be distracted by email, phone calls, kids, and life in general. Divide your training into small modules where the learner can go back and review a small segment or simply devote 15 minutes to knock out a segment and come back later. 4) Eliminate fluff Many educational programs waste a lot of time talking about historical information, information about the company/institution, or simply unrelated content to the subject matter being conveyed. Get rid of any content or information that doesn’t tie directly and support the subject or topic that you’re training on. 5) Don’t try to cram in too much The most effective online learning programs focus on small bits. For example, you shouldn’t have a course on “marketing strategy”. More specifically, have a series of courses on “social media communication”, “marketing plan development”, “competitive analysis techniques” and the like. It’s unreasonable and highly ineffective to try to take every element of a broad concept and stuff them into a 200-hour online course. Think of it as a multi-course meal, rather than everything at once on one plate. While we are all in a rush to move our materials online, don’t forget the old adage, “Garbage in, garbage out”. If your programs sucked before going online, they will suck even more in a digital format. Take the time to clean things up and make the investment – it will pay in dividends over the long term. If you’re looking for a good example, audit a course on https://www.edx.org/. You’ll see that there’s a better way than simply “putting it online”. About the Author: Andrea Olson is a strategist, speaker, author, and customer-centricity expert. As the CEO at 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.
Patented technology designed to stop tiny errors from crashing large health care, supply chain systems
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced public health, supply chain, transportation, government, economic and many other entities to interact in real-time. One of the challenges in large systems interacting in this way is that even tiny errors in one system can cause devastating effects across the entire system chain. Now, Purdue University innovators have come up with a possible solution: A set of patented algorithms that predict, identify, diagnose, and prevent abnormalities in large and complex systems. “It has been proven again and again that large and complex systems can and will fail and cause catastrophic impact,” said Shimon Y. Nof, a Purdue professor of industrial engineering and director of Purdue’s PRISM Center. “Our technology digests a large amount of data within and across systems and determines the sequence of resolving interconnected issues to minimize damage, prevent the maximum number of errors and conflicts from occurring, and achieve system objectives through interaction with decision-makers and experts.” Nof said the Purdue technology would be helpful for smart grids, health care systems, supply chains, transportation systems and other distributed systems that deal with ubiquitous abnormalities and exceptions, and are vulnerable to cascading or a large number of failures. This technology integrates constraint modeling, network science, adaptive algorithms, and state-of-the-art decision support systems. “Our algorithms and solution apply systems science and data science to solve problems that encompass time, space and disciplines, which is the core of industrial engineering,” said Xin Chen, a former graduate student in Nof’s lab who helped create the technology. Nof said the novelty of the technology lies in three main areas. First, analytical and data mining tools extract underlying network structures of a complex system and determine its unique features. A robust set of algorithms then are analyzed based on the objectives for system performance, structures, and features of fault networks in the system. Finally, algorithms with specific characteristics are applied to manage errors and conflicts to achieve desired system performance. The innovators are working with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to license this patented technology. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. The researchers are looking for partners to continue developing their technology. For more information on licensing and other opportunities, contact Dhananjay Sewak of OTC at dsewak@prf.org and mention track code 65241. This technology is part of the team’s work at Purdue’s PRISM Center, focused on production, robotics, and integration software for manufacturing and management.
Leaders: The Pandemic has revealed the truth about your heart. Do you like what you see?
Deb Boelkes says how you behaved during the coronavirus crisis reveals some essential truths about whether you lead with your head only or also with your heart. The good news? It’s not too late to switch to a more heartfelt leadership style. Here’s what that looks like A couple of months ago, a crisis hit the world—one that changed almost everything about how companies operate. We all know the details, so no need to enumerate them here. But as we continue to navigate this fearful, uncertain, emotionally charged stretch of history, Deb Boelkes wants leaders to ask themselves a big question: What has the pandemic taught you about the role your heart plays in your leadership style? “Times of crisis and extreme change have a way of revealing hidden truths,” 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). “It shows us what we’re made of. It shows the people around us what we’re made of. And while many leaders have had to make really tough decisions in the upheaval caused by COVID-19, the way they did those things speaks volumes.” In other words, if you had to lay people off, did you do it with love and concern? Were you patient as employees struggled to balance their newly remote jobs with home schooling and child care? Did you say thank you? Did you double-down on efforts to keep people engaged and inspired? Did you continue to nurture their growth and push them to live up to their potential? All these are the attributes of what Boelkes calls a “heartfelt leader.” They mean you don’t lead only with your head—always putting goals and profits ahead of people—but you also care deeply about employees’ well-being. (It’s not an either/or proposition, she says. People who truly believe you care work harder and are more engaged, making it a smart financial strategy.) In Heartfelt Leadership, Boelkes lays out the path to leading with the heart. Full of real stories and lessons from top heartfelt executives, the book will help you learn to transform from a person people follow because they have to, to one they want to follow. Now that the dust is starting to settle and businesses are—ever so slowly—starting back down the road to normalcy, Boelkes urges you to take a good hard look at your own “heartfelt quotient” and see how you stack up. Here are a few things heartfelt leaders regularly do: They give their personal best every moment “My first job working for a major corporation was at Disneyland,” says Boelkes. “My high school drill team auditioned and was selected to perform together throughout the winter holiday season. I was a ‘marching card,’ the ace of clubs with the Alice in Wonderland dance unit. Once we had the job, we each gave our personal best every single moment. We competed against ourselves to set new personal best records with each ensuing performance. If anyone of us made a wrong move, it impacted all of us, and it certainly impacted our ‘guests.’ We all depended on each other. Disneyland depended on us. The audience who had paid so dearly to attend depended on us. If anyone of us failed individually, we all failed. We had to work together at peak performance, in perfect unison, every single time. We had to be perfect. No excuses. Ever. Disneyland set a bar for job performance and work ethic against which I have measured every other career and customer service experience I have ever encountered throughout my life. My heartfelt thanks will forever go to Walt Disney and all the Disneyland cast and crew members for that incredibly important lesson.” They build a culture of love (That’s what draws the talent.) Tim Hindes, co-founder, and CEO of Stay Metrics, a provider of driver retention tools, believes that successful companies are the ones that lead with love from the top down. He says, “When we started with two of us in 2008, we basically grew the company to $30 million in under three-and-a-half years. It wasn’t the two of us who did it. By the time we were done, we had thirty-five team members. We constantly had people coming into our offices saying, ‘This guy is talented. He wants to be part of this.’ If you dare to create this type of environment, one so unorthodox, you’ll find talented people will come to you who don’t want to play the old game. So, not only is it the right thing to do, it’s a brilliant move. I do think a lot of the problems we have in business, if you root down to it, are an absence of love and culture at the top.” They live by the Golden Rule in good times and bad. It’s the foundation of trust Colleen Barrett, president emeritus of Southwest Airlines, says, “You just have to practice the Golden Rule, on or off the clock, with each other, with your customers, with anybody you come into contact with. It’s really simple. I’m not saying we never fight with our unions. You know, we’re 86 percent unionized. At Southwest, you could be in the middle of a ferocious negotiation over something or somebody or some work rule, whatever. But…if you walk into the room at the beginning of the day, when you walked in as a total stranger, you would not know who was who, because they’re not on one side versus the other. They’re intermingling. They’re talking. They know each other by their first names. They know their families. They know something about them because that’s who we are. Do we argue? Yes. But do families argue? Yes. Do we have disagreements? Yes. But there is such a trust there.” They use the magic words—”I don’t know”—and use them often Garry Ridge, Chairman, and CEO of the WD-40 Company shares the power of admitting that you don’t have all the answers. He says: “I love three words so much, ‘I.
Consumer organization and operating models for the next normal
Many consumer-goods companies and retailers have risen to the challenges presented by the pandemic. Seven core practices can help them keep what has worked and prepare for what lies ahead The COVID-19 pandemic is posing staggering health and humanitarian challenges. As the crisis evolves, companies must act on multiple fronts to protect their employees, customers, supply chains, and financial performance. Retail and consumer goods sectors have been particularly affected, with frontline employees directly at risk and companies struggling with the demand that is either rapidly evaporating or surging well past the available supply. These most trying of circumstances have forced organizations to adapt quickly. In the process, many have achieved what they had aspired but failed to deliver for years. Decisions are made faster. Innovation cycles have dropped from months to days. Working remotely, previously a benefit offered to a portion of workers at some companies, is now an imperative for most employees. Companies are putting a greater emphasis on employees’ physical and mental health than ever before, and they’re celebrating leadership capabilities that weren’t considered critical before the crisis. These shifts occurred out of necessity—and, without thoughtful action, many of the recent changes are likely to revert over time to more traditional approaches. Leading companies will use this moment as an opportunity to rethink and reset their operating models for the future. The seven shifts of the next normal As companies reconsider and reconfigure their operating models, they need to be sure to underpin them with seven core practices that will define the next normal1 (Exhibit 1). 1. Reset of operating model and rhythm based on fewer (and bigger) priorities In the past few weeks, we have seen a sharper focus on top priorities, while less critical initiatives have been paused or discontinued altogether. A recent McKinsey survey of more than 100 executives at consumer organizations2 revealed a desire for this sharpened prioritizing to continue and permeate into the next normal. As the fight-or-flight instincts triggered by the crisis relax, companies will be tempted to return to more familiar modes of employee engagement. Sustaining the type of focus and strategic clarity we see today will require deliberate process changes and leadership commitment. The most focused companies use a variety of practices to align their organizations with a clear set of priorities. One such practice is having disciplined management meetings, including structuring the executive-team calendar to explicitly support strategic priorities. Organizations are also establishing working norms that ensure the management team’s time together is focused on major decisions, avoiding tactical discussions, and leaving ample time to ensure team alignment with company priorities. Most companies also find that frequently—and formally—revisiting strategic priorities, a necessity during the COVID-19 crisis, is beneficial. This review can take the form of quarterly executive-team check-ins to assess existing initiatives and to determine whether to accelerate, evolve, or stop them or to address more structural elements, such as shifting from a three-year strategic-planning process to a more dynamic resource-allocation model. Finally, aligning with fewer (and bigger) priorities may also enable an organization to reset organizational and operating structures. Narrowing down priorities can afford organizations a chance to realign their business segments with the top priorities, rather than with more traditional category or geographic segments, by elevating key brands, countries, or information to the CEO in a much more deliberate way. Moreover, it may allow the senior leadership team to incorporate new roles, both permanent and temporary, that reflect the new priorities: M&A, business building, and transformation. 2. Comprehensive cost reset To recapture pre-COVID-19 margins, many consumer-facing organizations will need to reset their cost structures (Exhibit 2). Disrupted categories (for example, white goods and apparel) are suffering, but even surge categories such as grocery will be adversely affected in the long term because of shifting consumer sentiment and models of consumer interaction, such as curbside pickup. Our preliminary impact assessment found that retailers that don’t proactively adapt to changing conditions could see their margins fall 200 to 400 basis points because of increased labor and fulfillment costs. The short- to the medium-term impact of shifts in costs and revenues is equivalent to 20 to 30 percent of general and administrative costs. This reduction doesn’t include the additional investment necessary to build capabilities that will enable growth. The story for consumer-goods companies is more nuanced; some categories have flourished thanks to near-term stock-ups while other, more discretionary consumer goods have been affected adversely. Although the margin implications will vary by subsector, the need to invest in new and emerging capabilities, such as digital, data, and analytics (DD&A), is universal. Focused priorities and streamlined decision making naturally create an opportunity to reset the cost structure. Cost resets are known commodities to most established organizations, but the coronavirus offers a twist on the traditional approach. Physical footprints will change to accommodate people coming back to work. Physical-distancing protocols will likely need to be put in place, at least in the near term, to make sure that employees feel safe. New flexible work options will have immense HR and IT implications. These and other changes will compel companies to adapt their organizational structures and operating models. 3. Significant resource distortion to must-win capabilities Many of the shifts in recent months represent a substantial acceleration of consumer trends that had already been in progress for some time. For instance, online shopping is up by 20 to 70 percent since the pandemic began, and supply chains are adapting rapidly. Store economics have been strained for some time, and we expect store footprints to continue to shrink. In the next normal, many stores could become nodes in a retailer’s supply chain. These stores could also increasingly reflect the tastes of local consumers as they adapt the product, pricing, and promotions to each market. Finally, the international spread of the coronavirus has accelerated the premium on flexibility in supply chains, including in partner terms and sourcing (particularly nearshoring). We have observed other shifts that are much newer but likely to be similarly long-lasting. For example, the unprecedented focus on hygiene
Maintenance Fluids – Dirty or Clean they’re a hazard!
This edition of MHW is all about safety. The aftermarket departments of the dealership are rife with safety concerns. There are so many safety “policy” issues I could have chosen to comment on, but many of these topics are only applicable to a portion of the dealers that read this publication. There is one area however that is common to all dealerships. Every time a dealership puts a service van on the road, they stock the vehicle with a myriad of parts. Belts, hoses, cables, fittings, wire, light bulbs, controllers, spark plugs, alternators, starters, and filters are all neatly arranged for expeditious storage and retrieval. There are other parts however that are much more difficult, not only to store and retrieve, but also to account for accurately, and to dispose of properly. I’m talking about maintenance fluids. Each one, even when brand new, carries with them a contamination risk. This risk is either heightened or mitigated based on how you store, handle and dispose of this material. Every dealer has this issue, and many have invested heavily in both systems and machinery to properly handle these fluids. Bulk or Packaged? As a dealer, the first question that must be addressed is whether the dealership will operate with bulk oil or oil that has been prepackaged for resale. It’s a topic of much debate, but the argument ultimately comes down to the dealership’s commitment to unify their processes, and invest in the infrastructure needed to deal with both new lubricants and waste oil. Most bulk oil purchases are made through a local fuel and lubricant wholesaler. This supplier estimates the volume of the product needed and installs the tanks, stands, piping, pumps and measuring equipment necessary to properly dispense the fluids. If the volume of oil purchased is substantial (and usually it is), the supplier rents this storage and handling equipment to the dealer at no cost, provided that the dealer will continue to purchase their fluids from the wholesaler. The benefits of this arrangement are as follows: The oil can be significantly less expensive than the prepackaged alternative. The oil dispensed is not limited by a pre-packaged container. There are no concerns regarding the disposal of the oil packaging (normally plastic containers). The one obstacle of dealing with bulk oil is storage and handling. Bulk oil works extremely well when the majority of the work performed takes place at the dealership. Things get more complicated however when we have to service units at the customer’s location. In most dealerships, the vast majority of the maintenance work takes place in the field, where handling bulk oil is more cumbersome. The picture below illustrates what many dealers have invested in, especially for their technicians who specialize in completing PM’s. The entire standalone machine sits on a removable skid that can be taken in and out of the service van by a forklift. The skid-mounted unit can then be transported to the oil storage area where waste oil is pumped out, and fresh clean oil is pumped into separated tanks. The pumping mechanism is driven by the vehicles’ electric power, and the hose reels allow for oil to be pumped directly from the tanks into the equipment, or into a premeasured container. Another way that dealers have integrated bulk oil into field service situations is by installing onboard tanks on the service vans themselves. The photo below illustrates an example of a tank of this type. With the advent of wide-body service vehicles like the MB Sprinter, Ford Transit, and Dodge Promaster, multiple tanks can be bolted to the undercarriage of the vehicle in order to dispense or receive motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, and waste oil. Of course, there are less expensive ways of dealing with bulk oil. Some dealers simply carry multiple nominal size containers for both clean and waste oil and have their technicians dump or refill these containers on a regular basis. Packaged Oil The other option, of course, is purchasing pre-packaged oil. The benefit to packaged oil is that you don’t have to find a way to transport, store and dispense fluids. Packaged oil is also easier to account for from an inventory perspective. The oil is usually more expensive, but truth be told, I never heard of anyone losing a customer over the price of motor oil. The one thing that is cumbersome however is the disposal of the containers. If you have 12 technicians, performing 6 PM’s in a given day, this creates 72 individual gallon jugs heading into your garbage dumpster every day. If you use quarts instead of gallons that number jumps to 288! Some municipalities will allow you to recycle these containers, but they first must be COMPLETELY drained. There is always a residue of oil remaining in the bottom of the container. Getting this oil out of the bottom of the jug is not a simple task. The photo below shows a device I have seen dealers use to “drain” these containers prior to recycling. Some states won’t even let you throw them in the dumpster without ensuring that they have been fully drained. This can turn into a logistical and safety nightmare. The cost of investing in the equipment to handle bulk oil may seem expensive. But depending on your location, it may pale in comparison to the costs of handling and draining jugs, and/or increasing your waste stream. Partial containers are also difficult to deal with in a packaged oil setting. What if the crankcase holds 5 quarts of oil instead of 4? Will you carry gallons AND quarts? Will you carry only gallons and then use ¼ of the 2nd gallon for the 5th quart? How do you account for the inventory? These are all issues that make the investment in bulk oil worth considering, especially as your service department grows. Whether you are dealing in bulk oil or packaged, risks are abundant. Be sure you assess and are aware of all of the pitfalls of going
Industrial Truck Association National Forklift Safety Day goes virtual
On June 9th the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) will host our 7th National Forklift Safety Day. The impact of COVID-19 remains to pose challenges for our nation. Due to these challenges, this year ITA’s National Forklift Safety Day (NFSD) 2020 will be held as a virtual event on the same date and time: June 9, 2020, starting at 9:00 AM (east coast time) and can be viewed by visiting the ITA’s web site www.indtrk.org. COVID-19 continues to have a major impact on our country and on the safety and health of the nation’s workforce. ITA members, as manufacturers, employers, and members of their communities, are doing their part to help the country through these unprecedented times. The use of forklifts and other powered industrial trucks (PITs) is integral to virtually every supply chain in every industry. ITA members’ products operate in all 50 states in over 300 industries. The top industries include warehousing, grocery wholesaling, and general freight trucking. Every critically needed supply category (medicine, medical devices, personal protective equipment, food & beverage, etc.) is moved by a forklift at one or more points in the supply chain. Therefore, it has never been more important to highlight and reinforce the message of forklift safety and operator training. Safety remains one of ITA’s top priorities as a national trade association. ITA works closely with OSHA, through our alliance partnership, in conducting ITA’s popular compliance officer training seminars on forklift safety. The OSHA-ITA Alliance is now in its 16th year and our training program is in its 14th year. We have trained hundreds of OSHA compliance officers and consultation personnel on the safe use of our products, supplying them with workplace safety materials, and communicating specialized forklift safety information. In the area of safety standards, ITA has for many years partnered with the American National Standards Institute, the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation, and the International Organization for Standardization to develop critical safety standards and work towards harmonizing those standards for the global marketplace. What is National Forklift Safety Day Creating awareness regarding safety and the need for operator training has been one of the fundamental pillars of National Forklift Safety Day and that remains true today. In fact, the number of forklift accidents each year is about one-half of what it was 20 years ago, even though the number of forklifts in use has increased. Most of that decline followed OSHA’s adoption of a vastly improved operator training regulation in 1998. After completing forklift operator training, operator performance scores improved by 61 percent, according to OSHA. We are working to continue that progress with National Forklift Safety Day (NFSD) by. Holding (NFSD) annually, on the second Tuesday of June, to serve as a focal point for manufacturers to highlight the safe use of forklifts and the importance of operator training. Providing an opportunity for the industry to educate customers, policymakers, and the Administration on forklift safe operating practices. Addressing critical priorities concerning forklift operator safety through improved education and training. COVID – 19 and the Essential Business of Forklift Manufacturers and Suppliers Powered industrial trucks play an indispensable role in virtually every production facility, warehouse, and distribution facility used to get products to the market for sale. Powered industrial trucks, both new and old, are essential to ensure that the public can get food, hospitals their medical supplies and other necessities of life continue to move through the supply chain. The continued production, sale, rental, replacement parts distribution, component suppliers, and servicing of powered industrial trucks are essential to enabling the nation’s economy to continue to meet the demand for products and services that the public relies on upon their day-to-day life. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified several “Critical Infrastructure Sectors,” including the Critical Manufacturing Sector, of which Machinery Manufacture is a sub-sector, Food and Agriculture Sector, Healthcare and Public Health. As DHS notes, the sectors are often interdependent for “continuity of operations and service delivery.” For example, aspects of the Food and Agriculture, Defense Industrial Base, Government Facilities, Healthcare, and Transportation sectors are dependent on products in the Critical Manufacturing Sector, specifically powered industrial trucks. The industry at large has played a vital role in maintaining the continuity of operations during the coronavirus outbreak and also an integral component in keeping the economy moving. The industry has been able to respond to the challenges associated with COVID-19 through the dedication and commitment of all of the employees throughout the supply chain. COVID – 19 has forced the industry to evaluate existing business practices and adopt protocols that ensure safety. How the industry incorporates some of these new practices in the future remains to be seen, however, efficiencies in operations, enhanced communications strategies and further embracing technology will no doubt find a way to make permanent improvements. ITA’s 26 Regular Members manufacture PITs and its 38 Associate Members manufacture PIT components, attachments, and accessories. ITA’s membership accounts for approximately 90% of the PITs sold in America. We stand ready to support the continuity of operations and service delivery for essential products and services this country needs during the COVID-19 outbreak. I hope that you can join us virtually on June 9, 2020. Thank you and stay safe. Be sure to listen to Brian with Kevin Lawton on the June Cover Story podcast. Click here to listen. Brian J. Feehan the president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) in Washington D.C. E-mail editorial@mhwmag.com to contact Brian
Is your maintenance staff better managed than your sales staff?
If your company’s maintenance person bought $500 of supplies to repair a specific problem, you would pay the bill with little question. But what if the maintenance person spent $500 every day, you would have questions like: WHOA!! Do I know exactly what it’s for? Who authorized it? Is there a priority list? What’s the payback? How do I know the expenditure will solve the problem? Do I need to spend at all? Should I be spending it on something else? You would put together a spending plan and schedule to make sure Maintenance was spending their budget correctly, getting on-time deliveries and doing preventative things to avoid future catastrophes. It would be regulated and managed to the nth degree. If you’re so smart about controlling Maintenance, how come you don’t ask the same questions about the Business Maintenance Department: Your Sales Department? No maintenance group is more important than this one. It maintains the current business and maintains the business rate of growth. It also may be spending as much as $500 a day per person. What is the cost of a sales call? Annual compensation is only a fraction of the real cost of selling. Surveys of large companies show that the cost of each sales call varies from $100 to $750. The low end of industrial sales calls is about $200. And if air travel is involved, the cost per call can be much more. Some companies report costs of $750 per sales call. Sales costs per call are determined by summing all direct sales expenses per individual salesperson (salary, benefit allocations, travel cost, entertainment, supplies, proposals, promotion, etc.) and dividing by the average number of calls made by that person in the same period of time. Let’s start real conservatively. A salesperson “on the road” working as an employee with a $35,000 compensation, has $7,000 in benefits (insurance, taxes, pension, holiday pay, etc.), turns in a $12,000 annual expense reimbursement (travel, entertainment) and uses $3,000 in promotional materials and sales literature. That’s a total of $57,000 for one person. With three face-to-face calls per day, 4 days per week, 48 weeks a year, that’s 576 calls. So, it costs you $100 per sales call. WOW. And that’s a low number by most industry statistics. Here’s your challenge: Go back to the seven questions you just asked the Maintenance Department spending $500 a day. If you can’t answer the same questions for your Sales Department, your costs may outweigh your profit. The “Head in the Sand” Syndrome “My Sales Team is top drawer!” (you are correct). “They are Pros” (absolutely). “They know what to do in the field!” (I agree). “They know what I need them to accomplish” (maybe). Take the challenge. Divide their wage plus their other costs by the number of sales calls they make, then gasp! Now pull your head out of the sand. (I’m being polite). It’s 2 PM. Do you know where your Sales Force is? Of course, you’ve got the best and most loyal salespeople. Of course, they’re working hard for you. It’s 2 PM: Are they in front of the right customers? Are they at your best customers too frequently? Not frequently enough? Not at all? Are they balancing business maintenance with business development? Are they seeing enough customers in a day, week, month to fill their pipeline (exceed their goals)? Do you know if they have a chance of making their budgets (without the advent of a windfall sale)? Are they spending your money the way you expect them to spend it? It’s 2 PM. Do you know where you are? Have you worked as hard for your salespeople as you expect them to work for you? Do you have a feedback, control, and monitoring system? Do you track each salesperson’s activities and performance so you know when and where to help them? Are you confident you will meet your sales goals? Have you provided your sales team with efficient contact management software? Do you utilize the latest technologies (laptop computers, pagers, car phones)? Are you at Maximum sales efficiency and minimum cost per sales call? Do you know many of your people are in trouble making goals? Do you know how to help them if they are in trouble? The road to success is a two-way street Do you have a plan that breeds successful salespeople and minimizes your costs? Management (that’s both Sales Management and Senior Management) needs to plan, not just set goals and budgets, for the Sales Department. Management is responsible for their salespeople to be calling on the right markets and customers with the optimum frequency of calls. There needs to be a detailed plan for filling the sales pipeline. (How many of your salespeople tell you in the fourth quarter: “Don’t worry, I’ll find the business.”) Success Tactic: There is no moral to this story there is only morale. That of your Sales Team. So, when you prepare them for battle, but take off their armor and unlock their handcuffs. Train them. Support them. Encourage them to succeed by giving them success tools. Lead them. Make them mobile and agile not hostile! 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.
Are you ready for business in a Post-COVID-19 world?
How your HVAC system can help protect you, your employees and your customers The World Health Organization has determined that environmental factors such as poor indoor air quality, poor water quality, and noise pollution are detrimental to the overall health of the world’s population. The CDC Interim Guidance to Businesses and Employers recommends all businesses “increase the number of air exchanges in the common work areas and other rooms employees share,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield during the April 8, 2020 White House Corona Virus Briefing. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the dangers of stale indoor air, poor air quality, and the environmental dangers that disproportionately impact workplaces across the nation. These dangers impact workers who work from home during the pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, and quarantines. It is imperative that every workplace (and home) follow the recommendations of the CDC for frequent fresh air exchanges with outside air. To limit liability and be competitive in a post-COVID-19 economy, employers must provide for the care and safety of employees, customers, and their families by optimizing workplace indoor air quality and minimizing airborne viruses. Using your HVAC System to minimize Airborne Viruses and Optimize Indoor Air Quality Fortunately, there are proven ways to use your HVAC system to minimize airborne viruses and optimize indoor air quality. But if the wrong type of device is chosen, or the wrong size is installed, the science shows they just don’t work. Here are the benefits and limitations of each: 1) HVAC UVC Coil Sanitizers Much has been written and discussed in the press about the use of ultraviolet (UV) light to sanitize hard surfaces and even masks for healthcare workers. UV light comes in three distinct wavelengths with three very different functions, UVA, UVB, and UVC light. UVA is the art and party wavelength also referred to as “black light.” This is the light that causes fluorescent paints and dyes to glow. UVB is the light in tanning beds and medical skin treatments. While UVB can sanitize hard surfaces, it takes a long time and a very bright UVB bulb. UVC is the wavelength of choice for sanitizing surfaces, water, and even air. Benefits * UVC light kills viruses, bacteria, and mold on surfaces like the HVAC condenser coil and drip pan as well as sanitizing the air flowing over the UVC bulbs and any water in the drip pan or on the coil. * Eliminates viruses, mold, and bacteria in ducts by removing the source on the coil * Must meet three criteria to be effective: 1) MUST be Type C UV light (aka UVC) 2) MUST provide 30 watts of UVC light power per square inch. This requires that the UVC light source be a 40-watt bulb (or equivalent) located no further than 18 inches from the furthest part of the coil to be sanitized. 3) MUST SHINE UVC light on all sides of the coil (at least two bulbs, top & bottom). Limitations * Most DIY and even professionally installed UV sanitizers fail to meet all three criteria. For instance, most only have one 20-watt bulb, which is too little to be effective as a sanitizer. * UVC light is DANGEROUS and an automatic shut off switch must be installed on the air handler access door to ensure the UVC light does NOT come on while the access door is open. UVC light works by damaging DNA and can cause skin cancer and even cataracts with unprotected exposure to UVC light. 2) Ozone Generators Ozone has long been used by municipal water departments, public swimming pools, commercial aquariums, and even fish farms to sanitize water for decades. It is cheap and easy to produce but can be hazardous if breathed in overtime. In copy centers and office buildings, ozone is an indoor air pollutant. However small amounts can be introduced into the HVAC system to sanitize the air handler and ducts and then dissipate back to plain oxygen before entering the living or workspaces. Benefits * Introduce charged ozone molecules into the air INSIDE the device, which in turn creates a charge on airborne particles of viruses, dust, pollen, mold, bacterial spores, and smoke particles. These charged particles become trapped in a removable filter or degrade due to the damage caused by the ozone. * Must be professionally installed to ensure the unit is properly sized for the HVAC system so that no ozone enters the living or workspace. Limitations * Most DIY ozone generators do not provide enough ozone to sanitize the coil and ducts. In addition, DIY ozone systems often allow ozone to leave the HVAC system mixed with the “cleaned” air. This ozone contributes to poor indoor air quality – essentially trading one problem for another one. 3) Whole Building SMART Ventilation Systems SMART Technology now exists for HVAC systems, and it’s emerging as not only an extremely efficient way of saving energy, and in turn money, but also as a way of reducing airborne viruses and enhancing health for employees and customers alike. SMART ventilation systems improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) by using outside air to exchange for indoor air when the outdoor air quality is better than the indoor air quality. This is accomplished by a SMART controller that uses a system of sensors to determine when to open dampers that allow outside air to be drawn into the building and stale indoor air to be expelled. By optimizing indoor air quality the environmental stress caused by exposure to poor air quality is reduced/minimized thus reducing the overall annual risk of heart attack, stroke, and viral infection. Artificial Intelligence analysis of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) found that the relative risk for death by heart attack or stroke increases 14% when you live and work breathing poor quality indoor and outdoor air. Similarly, the risk of developing a serious infection after exposure to COVID-19 is significantly increased when you live and work breathing poor quality indoor and outdoor air. Benefits * Monitors
Communicate like a New Yorker
It’s a crazy time. However, we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, some amazing leaders who have done an effective job in communication. Politics aside, one thing that’s clear is great communication is the hallmark of good leaders. As organizational leaders, we can learn some key lessons and use them to move forward with our teams and improve our ability to communicate change. We often struggle with communicating and implementing change within companies, and frequently we couch our message, minimize the information shared, or simply communicate the change as an “immovable object” that we just have to deal with. However, we can do better. I say this because my mother is a New Yorker. She was born in Brooklyn. Even though she is relocated to the midwest, her communication style is still very “east coast”. It’s a unique style, that some may find harsh and blunt. But there are a few distinct elements that are excellent traits every leader should consider utilizing: Base your communication on logic. Many leaders have to make tough decisions with limited information. Explain the decision and what logic was used to get there. Even more importantly, share your thought process in order on how you got to your conclusion. Repeat with consistency. And repeat again. And again. Just because you are a leader and you shared a message with your team, doesn’t mean it sunk in. It’s critical to repeat the message consistently and as often as possible. If you feel it’s been repeated enough, repeat it again. Admit what you don’t know, defer to those that do. Just because you are in charge, doesn’t mean you have all the answers to every detail. Show your deference to your expert colleagues and let them shine in their strength areas. It also shows that you have confidence and believe in them. Put information in the context of who’s receiving it. It’s not about you. Frame your communication in a way that your audience can understand from their perspective and point of view. You’re trying to get them to understand something new, so it has to relate to their situation and circumstances. Be transparent, but make it simple to digest. Explain complicated things in simple terms and use analogies that everyone can understand. You don’t have to share all the dirty details, but let people have all the information they need to truly “get it”. Be decisive, with support from data. It’s not about waffling or turning to where the wind blows. Committing to your decisions as a leader is critical – but not without explaining and sharing what information and data you used to get to that decision. Use simple visuals and relatable analogies. Don’t lean on a long PPT or just verbal content – use simple bar charts, pie graphs, or whatever you need to help visually articulate the message. People digest information in different ways, so it’s also helpful to weave in stories, analogies, and real-world examples to help illustrate your message. Clearly separate facts from your opinions. While as leaders we have to communicate information, there’s a difference between what is and how we individually feel about the decision, message, or the change itself. You don’t have to avoid sharing your personal opinions but do it clearly. State that it is your opinion, separate from the facts, and make sure you don’t let your opinions undermine the message or your credibility. Be genuine, relatable, and candid. They say honesty is the best policy. This is also true when communicating change. Share your vulnerabilities. Deliver the message in your own personal style. Be humorous where appropriate. In short, be human. People relate to other people, and it’s a great way to build trust. Be upfront about both good news and bad. We all want to try to boost the good news and minimize the bad. However, we also know that squelching the bad news doesn’t eliminate it from still being common knowledge throughout the organization. Be upfront about the bad news. Admit the reality of the situation. But then be clear about what’s being done about it, and what to expect next. Take control by owning the bad and the good. This approach isn’t exclusive to New Yorkers, nor is it only an east coast trait. But many of us tend to try to soften the message to avoid conflict and push back. Be more like a New Yorker and get your message out in a way that’s not only effective but helps support and drive change through your organization. You’ll be better off for it. 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.
Cover Story podcast Episode 74: National Forklift Safety Day
Episode 74 – National Forklift Safety Day In this episode, I was joined by Brian Feehan who is the president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). This episode is very special as it is the first in a partnership with Material Handling Wholesaler magazine. Brian discusses the Industrial Truck Association, forklift safety, and the upcoming National Forklift Safety Day. Material Handling Wholesaler Magazine Partnership As mentioned above, this episode is the very first in the partnership between The New Warehouse and MHW Magazine. The partnership will bring new and different content to each of our audiences. For each monthly cover story that MHW publishes, The New Warehouse will be providing a corresponding podcast focusing on the same topic. This episode is a component of the June issue which is the Annual Safety Issue. Its cover story is written by Brian Feehan, this episode’s guest, and talks about the upcoming National Forklift Safety Day which was founded by ITA. The Industrial Truck Association The Industrial Truck Association or ITA has been around for more than 60 years and is the leading organization for industrial truck manufacturers and suppliers of components, parts, and accessories. As you will hear in this episode, the Industrial Truck Association’s membership base is compromised of all of the major forklift manufacturers that you have most likely heard of. For these members, they provide statistical reporting, industry engineering practices, market development, networking, and most importantly, training. Safety is Top of Mind As we all know, powered industrial trucks like forklifts can be dangerous due to the nature of the work that they do. The Industrial Truck Association works closely with OSHA to be able to provide the latest safety practices and ensure that the industry is following these best practices. They also develop and distribute safety materials for the workplace. Brian and I talk to some extent about the importance of safety and as we mention in this episode safety should always be the number one priority in any workplace, especially one where powered industrial trucks are present. Due to the importance of creating awareness around this, the ITA started National Forklift Safety Day as a way to increase awareness around proper safety standards. National Forklift Safety Day National Forklift Safety Day has become a highlight of National Safety Month which is during the month of June. Happening on June 9th this year, it will be the 7th National Forklift Safety Day since it has begun. Typically held in person, due to the COVID-19 restrictions and for everyone’s safety, this year’s event will be held virtually and can be found on ITA’s website here. The focus of this event is to create awareness around forklift safety and it has had great success in doing that. Brian mentions the incredible increasing media reach that has come out of each annual event. Additionally, if you look at the number of forklift accidents each year it has come down about half of what it was 20 years ago while the number of forklifts purchased each year has steadily increased. The key to this is increased awareness and more rigorous training regulations. Even though the event will be virtual this year, it is sure to be packed with lots of great information from industry leaders discussing the very important topic of forklift safety. Watch the video below for more information. Episode 74 Be sure to listen to this episode featuring Brian Feehan below. Let us know in the comments what you are doing for National Forklift Safety Day at your facility. The New Warehouse Podcast MHW June 2020 Cover Story
Weekly Census Bureau Survey provides near-Real-Time info on Businesses
The first results from the new U.S. Census Bureau Small Business Pulse Survey released today show a large negative effect from COVID-19 for the majority (51.4%) of respondents and an expectation that it will take more than six months for their businesses to return to normal. The survey, conducted by email, is intended to provide crucial weekly data on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the nation’s businesses. Results are displayed as data visualizations. The survey was delivered to 100,915 small businesses in Week 1. Key findings from the 22,449 who responded from April 26-May 2: Overall, how has this business been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Of the U.S. businesses surveyed in the accommodation and food services sector, 83.5% experienced a negative effect from the COVID-19 pandemic. In your opinion, how much time do you think will pass before this business returns to its usual level of operations? An average 31.4% expect more than six months will pass before their business returns to its usual level of operations. In the last week, did this business temporarily close any of its locations for at least one day? An average 41.4% temporarily closed a location for at least one day. Of note, an average 72.2% of businesses in the educational services sector, 62.4% in the healthcare and social assistance sector, and 70.8% in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector temporarily closed a location for at least one day. In the last week, did the business have disruptions in its supply chain? An average of 44.9% reported ‘yes,’ there were disruptions in the supply chain. In the retail trade sector, an average 65.8% reported disruptions in its supply chain as did 49.6% of the manufacturing sector and 61.4% in the health care and social assistance sector. Survey Updated Weekly Data will continue to be posted every Thursday. Beginning this week, we are releasing data showing the impact on sectors at the national and state level including data for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In future weeks, the results will show the impact on sectors by state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the 50 most populous metropolitan areas. The Small Business Pulse Survey is one of two new weekly experimental data products fielded by the Census Bureau in April 2020 as a rapid response to the pandemic. The two surveys, as well as the recently launched weekly Business Formation Statistics, represent the Census Bureau’s response to the urgent need for accurate, real-time data on the U.S economy and population. The Small Business Pulse Survey includes information on location closings, changes in employment, disruptions in the supply chain, the use of federal assistance programs, and expectations concerning future operations. For the duration of the survey, each week, over 100,000 small businesses will be invited to respond to a short, 16-checkbox survey estimated to take five minutes or less to complete. It is expected to reach approximately 885,000 small businesses over nine weeks with an expected end date of July 9, 2020. Collaborators on the Small Business Pulse Survey included the Small Business Administration and Minority Business Development Agency, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, among others. The Census Bureau defines small businesses as single business locations with one to 499 employees and at least $1,000 in annual revenue. More Surveys Provide Near Real-time Data The Household Pulse Survey is the second weekly product fielded by the Census Bureau in response to COVID-19. It will gauge the impact of the pandemic on employment status, consumer spending, food security, housing, education disruptions, and dimensions of physical and mental wellness. In addition to emailing respondents, the Census Bureau will also utilize texting for Household Pulse. Results from that survey are expected in the third week of May 2020. In addition, last month the Census Bureau rolled out a weekly, more localized version of its Business Formation Statistics (BFS) to address the nation’s need for accurate, current information on the health of U.S. businesses. Initially released as a quarterly, experimental product in February 2018, BFS tracks trends in business applications and formations at the state, regional, and national levels. The new weekly data provide timely and granular information on the state of the economy. The ability to understand how individuals and businesses are weathering the current crisis is critical given business disruption, stay-at-home orders, school closures, changes in the availability of consumer goods and consumer patterns, and other abrupt and significant changes to American life. With the new weekly Pulse and BFS surveys, the Census Bureau is answering the call for relevant, reliable, and timely data at this crucial moment in America’s history. More information on Census Bureau announcements relating to COVID-19 is available. Jane Callen is the senior writer/editor in the Census Bureau’s Communications Directorate.
Prepare for a Post-COVID-19 Business Sea Change
Few businesses have been left unscathed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Unfortunately, many have been mortally wounded. Some may be living on life support thanks to financial help from the government, but their long-term survival is in doubt. That may not be inevitable, however, particularly for businesses that are proactive. Business advisors are instructing companies to be resilient and nimble to come out on top. What does that mean for your business? Having deep pockets is one form of resilience. It gives you the ability to endure a sustained revenue drought while still keeping employees on board and your vendors, your landlord, and other creditors on good terms. But resilience is also a state of mind: that is, being able to have faith in the future, think and act creatively under duress to make a better future possible. Agility and Resilience Agility is a cousin of resilience. It’s the ability to turn on a dime, perhaps on a regular basis, to act promptly to adopt new tactics. Think of an Olympic gold medalist. Or the former Vogt Coach Lace Company, which was founded as a manufacturer of buggy whips in Rochester, New York, in the late 19th or early 20th century. Vogt pivoted and became Voplex Corp. which sold plastic parts to the auto industry. Armed with resilience and agility, how do you gear up for a new business world? First, think about anticipated lasting changes being brought about by the pandemic. Here are a few scenarios that could arise in the consumer sector and affect your business: Depleted financial capacity. Some people who lost their jobs during the pandemic may come out the other end with no savings and greater debt loads. Their willingness and capacity to make non-essential purchases, particularly including any that require financing, will be limited. Newly cautious and frugal consumers. Even people who haven’t lost their jobs (which is a large majority of the working population) are potentially fearful they could be without a source of income during the pandemic. That can have a lasting effect on people. After watching their investments bounce around wildly in volatile securities markets, they may become zealous savers and limit their discretionary spending. Many people who have been forced into early retirement by job loss, and others who were already retired when the pandemic hit, were rattled by the financial market upheaval and the death toll caused by the pandemic. As a result, some may cut spending to the bare essentials. Not all of these people will stay away from restaurants, nail salons, jewelry stores, and similar businesses entirely. But they’ll visit them less often and be more price-sensitive when they do visit. New Supply Chains What about your sources of supply and the cost of items you need to operate your business? Even before the pandemic hit, the heated trade relationship between the U.S. and China was prompting many U.S. companies to diversify their supply chains to include other countries. And now vulnerability to disruption if a company’s supply chain is dominated by one country is even more evident. However, replacing low-cost offshore suppliers, possibly with U.S. manufacturers, is likely to raise costs. That, in turn, would put pressure on prices. If buyers of your goods are unwilling to pay higher prices, you’re in for a financial squeeze. Alternatively, it’s possible that rising prices for consumer goods could become the norm. That may increase pressure to raise wages so that workers can maintain purchasing power, and the U.S. might be due for a jump in inflation rates. Outside of the financial realm is the social impact of the pandemic and its possible implications for your business. People who became much more highly sensitized to the risk of being infected by strangers may not drop their guard even after the health risk posed by the current virus is diminished. That means they may avoid businesses where customers must be close together, such as crowded restaurants, theaters, and the like. Cost-Saving Opportunity? So much for the negatives — unless you’re in the travel and hospitality business. Expectations are emerging that when air travel is less medically hazardous and restrictions are eased, business travel won’t jump. Why not? Because video conferencing has become standard operating procedure and many face-to-face meetings aren’t considered essential anymore. Your reduced travel budget can stay that way, or so the theory goes. And while not every job can be done at home, many can. Employees who aren’t missing their commute and are able to be productive working from home may insist on spending less time at the office. That, in turn, could cause you to rethink how much office space you need to rent, heat, and cool. Or not. Regardless, the best person to anticipate how your business will change or need to change in the months and years ahead is you. The point is to think about it in a comprehensive and systematic way — and be prepared to act. And don’t limit your forecasting to a single expected “new normal.” “With so much uncertainty around so many fundamental issues, scenario planning feels like the most sensible option,” according to one commentator. Tamar Kasriel is a well-known business and social commentator and author of the book “Futurescaping.” Planning for scenarios, Kasriel says, requires trying to “distill the many uncertainties your business faces into two or three which are most likely and would have the biggest impact on your business.” If the scenarios are mutually exclusive, you’ll need to pick the one you consider most likely and impactful. And if future conditions for your business appear to be unfolding in another way, ideally it will be one of the alternative scenarios you had considered. If so, changing course accordingly will reveal the kind of resilience and agility that will carry you successfully into an uncertain future. While it’s too soon to predict with accuracy when the post-pandemic era will begin and whether we’ll recognize the business landscape when it gets here, It seems wise to consider the
Seven signs your team isn’t ready for change
It was a typical Monday morning staff meeting. The team gathered in the conference room to hear the usual reminders from the manager about the importance of following procedures. The team listened politely but responded with silence when the manager asked if they had any questions. The following week the whole scene was repeated as if it were Groundhog Day. Business was booming and the team was working hard to keep up with customer demand so the reminders were largely ignored and errors continued. Then everything changed. An economic downturn caused revenue to dry up, seemingly overnight. Suddenly, every customer, every dollar, and every skilled employee counted. The old problems were exposed and now they had new problems to deal with. The manager knew things needed to change but he didn’t know where to start. Identifying and solving underlying problems is the key to helping your team prepare for change. These seven signs can alert you to problems in the workplace that affect your team’s ability to successfully pivot to a changing environment: Silence Don’t assume that silence means agreement or is an indication of compliance. If your team rarely asks questions, voices issues, or offers ideas it could be a sign of a disengaged workforce. Employee disengagement costs companies billions of dollars in lost productivity each year. According to research, 70% of the American workforce is disengaged which means employees are not motivated to share input and ideas. Lack of collaboration makes long-lasting change nearly impossible. Breaking the silence is a problem worth digging into. No Change in Behavior At one major hospital in the Midwest, a health care assistant (HCA) had a habit of frequently disappearing during their shift. To correct the behavior the nursing supervisor sent a generic email blast to the entire team reminding them that they were required to stay on their floor during their shift. The guilty party’s behavior didn’t change but the supervisor’s email did offend the HCAs who weren’t violating the rule. When individuals don’t respond to reminders to adhere to policies and procedures, it can be a sign of an accountability problem. Roller Coaster Performance Sometimes leaders get so fed up with people not doing their job that they call an emergency staff meeting and lay down the law. The team finally responds to their demands and things improve for a while but then they go back to the way they were. The hard part is that the team thinks they are doing a good job and are meeting expectations only to find out at the next staff meeting that they aren’t. The surprising truth is that only 50% of employees know what is expected of them on the job. Roller coaster performance is an indicator that expectations haven’t been established or communicated. Employee Turnover Turnover is inevitable but excessive turnover is a red flag. Knowing what your industry average is will help you establish a baseline of what to expect. For example, the average annual turnover in a customer contact center is 30 – 45%. It’s important information because high turnover is an expensive problem. As a general rule of thumb, it costs 1x the annual wages to replace a non-exempt employee. A 40% turnover rate in a department of 20 equates to 8 employees a year. At $38,000 a year that comes out to $304,000. Turnover, even when the employee moves to another department internally, is a problem worth looking into. Excessive Overtime Intermittent overtime is a reality for many businesses due to fluctuating customer demands. One customer service department spent in excess of $100,000 annually in overtime pay because they maintained the same staffing levels Monday – Friday even though 47% of their volume came in during the first two days of the week. When employees aren’t able to complete their work in the normal hours on a regular and ongoing basis it could indicate a staff utilization problem. Broken Record They’re tired of hearing about it. You’re tired of talking about it but nothing changes. When the accounting manager has to remind the team every week to enter the customer purchase order number on the order form that’s a problem that impacts the customer. Absorbing a million or more dollars in uncharged shipping costs is a direct hit to the bottom line. When the same information is repeated over and over with no change it could indicate a training or accountability issue. Recurring Issues A large employer in Iowa gave its employees bonus checks at the same time every year. Every year the employer’s credit union would get overwhelmed by hundreds of employees coming in to cash their checks. Until one year the credit union’s branch manager proactively implemented process improvements to ensure the extra volume could be handled with ease. Infrequent, yet recurring events that take people by surprise can signal an opportunity to implement process improvement. The leader who develops the skill of problem-solving will be able to help their team quickly pivot to the new normal because they can focus on innovation instead of dealing with old problems that are costing them customers, profits, and employees. Nobody knows what the future holds but the highly competent leader won’t sit around and wait to find out. They will actively seek out and resolve problems during good times so they are prepared to survive the downturns. The organizations that not only survive but thrive, will be led by future-thinking leaders who are able to pivot and embrace new realities. About the Author: Liz Uram is a nationally-recognized speaker, trainer, consultant, and author. As a result of her work, leaders are prepared to anticipate and solve problems, develop and empower others to embrace change, and attract and retain top talent. With 20 years of experience, she’s developed systems that work. Uram’s written four books packed full of strategies leaders can implement to get real results, real fast. For more information, please visit: www.lizuram.com
Why you should advertise during a downturn, and how to do it right
The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic means most nonessential companies are experiencing furloughs and deep cuts throughout their departments. One strategy to save money may be to cut advertising spending while revenue is down. In fact, ad spending dropped 13% during the 2008 recession. But as tempting as it may be, in the long run, your company will lose ground while others pick up your market share. Consider the Great Depression in the early 20th century — one of, if not the most severe economic downturns in American history — and the advertising response by the cereal business. Post Consumer Brands largely cut back on advertising, while Kellogg’s doubled its spending. As a result, Kellogg’s profits increased by 30%. How to advertise effectively 1. Examine how you can (or already do) meet the new needs of your audience Giving up your share of voice means giving up your share of the market. If you don’t advertise at all, then consumers will not be poised to return to your brand once the economic gears begin turning again. What services do you offer that are pertinent right now? Could your business offer pick-up and delivery? Does your business offer nontangible services that can be used while many are working remotely? Assess your audience for their needs right now, and let them know that you can fill them. 2. If you can’t advertise your products, advertise your brand Even if your sales numbers have fallen and your products may lean more toward “discretionary,” you have something highly important to promote: yourself. Continuing to advertise will present a stable image to consumers during unstable times, and if other companies pull back on advertising, you won’t have to fight through the “noise” of category advertising. Promote your company and brand by creating campaigns reflective of your business values, and you will stay top of mind among the consumers who will eventually return to your company. You may even gain some new ones. 3. Emphasize humanity and generosity We’re all facing trying times, and consumers need your brand to strike a positive leadership note. Ask yourself, “What can we do?” — and then do it. Customers will remember which company filled food pantries in their community, donated supplies to hospitals, fed truckers, or helped construction workers or farmers. 4. Revisit your messaging mix Now is the time to adjust your media mix of brand, product, and promotional messaging. Lean on-brand messaging more heavily. If you have retail locations, clearly communicate changes in hours as well as measures being taken to ensure the safety of store visitors. Product and promotional messaging are still important: Remember that even if some consumers are not buying right now, they are researching for future purchases. Don’t go dark when it’s an opportunity for your brand to shine while your competitors fade. Conclusion It’s time to think long-term. Invest in your brand to maintain business momentum. By continuing to advertise, you’ll keep top of mind among consumers, especially when other companies may choose not to advertise. Helping impacted communities will not only make the lives of many people easier during this difficult time, but customers will remember your brand with a positive association that will facilitate long-term growth and will be with you far longer than the downturn caused by the coronavirus.
Episode 57 – Live from SEE Conference
Episode 53 – SEE Conference & Mavpak In this week’s episode I was able to connect with Laura Hayes and former guest Lora Steele to discuss the upcoming SEE Conference. You may remember Lora Steele from Episode 29 where we discussed all the great things that are happening for the logistics world in the Hendricks County area of Indiana. Now she is organizing the SEE Conference which is happening next week! Laura Hayes is the Director of MAVPAK Leadership at MAVPAK and will also be a speaker at the conference. Laura Hayes of MAVPAK Laura discusses how MAVPAK came to be and the different types of products and services they offer. They are primarily a packaging supply company but over time they had customers starting to ask them about their leadership and culture. Their mission is to serve and from that, they developed a training arm of their business which Laura leads. The training is all about leadership and developing a culture that continues to grow leaders. Key Takeaways Building trust with your team is key to having a solid team that can communicate and works well together. Part of this is understanding your teammates and learning how to communicate with them. Learning to understand your teammate is all about understanding how their personality works. Through the training with Laura, employees’ personality types are identified so others can understand why they behave in a certain way and also understand how to effectively interact with that person. Being able to understand how to communicate with your team is key to building trust but also a key to being successful as a team. Ask intentional questions to employees. Ask what was your best day of work in the last 3 months or what was your worst day in the last 3 months? This can tell you a lot of things about that employee. Laura’s classes are over the course of 6 months which makes them much more effective because there is more reinforcement and accountability. This is a big contrast to a lot of the one day or two-day training that often does not stick. She also uses peer pressure to help influence those that might be resistant to the concepts to participate and eventually embrace the concepts. Overall, the growth of not only the leaders being trained but the employees that work under those leaders helps to build a culture that will truly make a difference in your operation. Pallet Games MAVPAK is also the brains behind the Pallet Games which Hendricks County Economic Development and others have partnered with her to host the last few years in Central Indiana. It brings teams from local logistics companies together to compete against each other. They compete on games that are centered around all the activities we do within the warehouse. Think racing through obstacle courses with pallet jacks. This is a really great team-building event they put together and has gotten very big with over 60 teams competing this year. I love the way the logistics community has been built up in this area and think it is a great example of how you can enrich your area as well. SEE Conference The SEE Conference is being hosted by the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership and is going to be a supply chain focused event bringing the Hendricks Count community together as well as others from across the country (I will be there myself on Friday). It is two days on March 12th and 13th in Plainfield, Indiana. SEE stands for Supply chain education & exposure which is incredibly important in our rapidly growing industry. For the education portion, there will be multiple speakers from across the industry representing companies like Hyster Yale, FedEx and Bastian Solutions as well as academics from Butler University and Purdue. For the exposure portion of the conference, they will be having multiple companies exhibiting their solutions, and probably the most exciting thing is that they will have a robotics playground. The robotics playground will be a chance for attendees to be up close and personal with some robotic solutions. Really looking forward to the first SEE Conference and cannot wait to see how it grows over the next few years. If you can make it to the conference I would highly recommend it. Listen to the episode below and leave a comment on a creative way that you engage with your employees. The New Warehouse Podcast EP 53: SEE Conference & Mavpak
MHEDA joins Talent Exchange powered by Eightfold AI to help Covid-19 impacted individuals and companies
Eightfold.ai ®, the inventor of the Talent Intelligence Platform™, together with MHEDA – The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association, has announced the sponsorship of Talent Exchange powered by Eightfold, a nationwide marketplace connecting HR and business leaders to immediately employ associates whose jobs are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform serves as a bridge between organizations that need to quickly hire and their counterparts with employees who have been furloughed or laid off, allowing business leaders to collaborate across corporate and industry boundaries to fulfill the tremendous swings in labor needs. MHEDA members represent the nation’s major material handling distributors, as well as the leading manufacturers of storage and handling products, lift trucks, conveyor equipment, and technologies and play a vital role in maintaining the nation’s supply chain infrastructure. During this national emergency we are witness to the unprecedented demand challenges – from products and services to labor,” said MHEDA CEO Liz Richards. “This Talent Exchange will help many unemployed and furloughed workers in their time of need.” “With more than 700,000 open roles spanning more than 1,000 unique positions, the Talent Exchange is able to quickly and easily match people across industries so together we can help flatten the unemployment curve,” said Ashutosh Garg, Co-founder, and CEO of Eightfold.ai. “With the historic number of unemployment claims filed since April, we all need to move faster to help connect people with open roles and that is exactly what the Talent Exchange can do at scale. The more people we have on the Exchange, the more open roles can be filled.” Talent Exchange uses AI algorithms that match candidates with available roles, based on each individual’s skills and previous experience. This is how it works: For Employers Current employers can invite furloughed or laid-off employees to participate in the program. Employers will be able to add lists of impacted employees and send them a link to register for Talent Exchange. These employers can view their entire impacted workforce in a single dashboard and can filter by role, department, or location to see details about the talent needs from hiring companies and how their impacted employees are getting placed in new roles. For Employees Impacted employees can create or update profiles and answer questions about their job preferences, information that is readily available for hiring companies to see. For Hiring Companies Hiring companies see candidate matches generated by Talent Exchange, so they can contact these prospects or immediately offer them new jobs. Eightfold.ai can automate and personalize this contact as well, expediting the process even further. Hiring companies can add onboarding instructions to allow new hires to start as soon as they are ready. Interested employers should go to https://eightfold.ai/talent-exchange/ or email talentexchange@eightfold.ai.