November 2015 Newsletter
Posted: November 17, 2015 Filed under: AWMI, DPA, Manufacturing Day, MarketShift, SBA Emerging Leaders, Supply chain - manufacturing Leave a commentNewsletter
Volume 17
November 17, 2015
NOVEMBER NEWS
It’s been a few months since our last update, but I am back and ready to finish the year strong! With less than 45 days left before we welcome in 2016, we have a lot to do and many exciting updates to share.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- SBA EMERGING LEADERS
- NJ MARKETSHIFT
- AWMI – NUCOR STEEL MILL TOUR
- RECAP OF MFG DAY
- MF SUPPLY JOINS DPA
- COMIC RELIEF
In our last issue, I discussed some of MF Supply’s current initiatives, including 1) Building upon our business relationships; 2) Growing our business through referrals & alliance partners and 3) Thought leadership and helping the American manufacturing community grow.
Today, I am reaching out regarding initiative #3.
On October 27, along with 17 other NJ business leaders, I graduated from the NJ SBA Emerging Leaders class of 2015. Woo hoo! What a great accomplishment. I learned so much, including how to read and use financial statements and ratios, the difference between a prime and a subcontractor, ways to market to each and much much more! If you are interested, I am happy to share my 3 year growth plan and program highlights with you.
If you are curious to know more about the program or think you or someone you know might benefit from participating, please check out these two articles about the program in NJBIZ and American Entrepreneurship Today to find out more.
Are you part of the Aerospace & Defense Industry supply chain? If so, I recommend you get to know the NJMarketShift program. If you haven’t heard, NJIT was awarded a $5.67M (not a typo!!) grant to create MarketShift. Under the leadership of the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), they will use the money to change the face of the New Jersey Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry. How, you ask? By helping members to:
- Build new alliances
- Find new customers
- Create new products
- Explore new markets
Since I was curious to see the program in action, on September 17, I attended the MarketShift NE NJ Design Forum at Sandvik Coromant in Fairlawn. Along with a group of about 50 attendees, I was introduced to MarketShift Intelligence, a database being developed to help fulfill NJ MarketShift’s mission. The application mines the New Jersey A&D supplier network for intelligence tailored to answer specific questions and drive action regarding potential alternative customers, partners, suppliers, markets, and technologies.
My key take away from this event was that the team at MarketShift is creatively looking to help the A&D Supply chain grow and there are many ways they can help. The Sandvik event was just one of the ways MarketShift delivers on its goal to increase the strength of NJ’s A&D economy in the global marketplace. So exciting!
If I’ve piqued your interest, let me know. I can hook you up with the right people to talk to. And by the way, Sandvik Coromant is an amazing company with extensive training and knowledge resources for manufacturers. Check out the training offered at their Fairlawn location.
I’d also love to hear from you if you have attended any of the Sandvik trainings.
Have you ever thought about how steel bar is made? On September 10, I visited my first steel mill (Nucor), along with 22 associates from the AWMI (The Association of Women in Metal – yes, it’s a real group). What an eye-opening experience! Nucor, a family of 200 facilities, is the largest manufacturer of steel products in North America. So awesome! GM Doyle Hopper talked with us about Nucor way (safety first!) and Nucor’s position in the global steel market.
The highlight for me was the tour of Nucor’s Wallingford, CT plant where they manufacture up to 300,000 tons of wire rod and rebar and 85,000 tons of wire and structural mesh a year. Wowser! I watched in fascination as superhot glowing metal traveled along a conveyor system beneath and then next to us, changing its size and shape as it went.
If you would like to find out more about AWMI (which is 40% men by the way!), please contact Marianne Steiner @ marianne@steinerind.com.
Did you participate in National Manufacturing Day on October 2nd? Here in New Jersey, 400+ attendees gathered at The Palace in Somerset, NJ for the annual Made in New Jersey event.
The celebration is designed to expand knowledge about and improve the general public’s perception of manufacturing careers and the industry’s value to the economy. Get the full recap and meet the winners, presented on the NJMEP website. Manufacturing is 8% of NJs GDP after all!
On November 1, 2015 we were officially welcomed into the DPA Industrial family. What does this mean for our customers? We can now help you with more product categories and pass along fabulous savings on many more items including:
- Industrial
- Safety Equipment & Clothing
- Packaging
- Janitorial
Please contact me to set up a meeting to see if we can help save you time and money by becoming a single source for more of your industrial needs.
COMIC RELIEF
Regards,
Robin Lieberman
President
P.S. We are closed on November 26-27 in observance of Thanksgiving. Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday from the entire team here at MF Supply.