March, April, May Newsletter 2016

Newsletter

Volume 18

May 18, 2016

March, April, May News

Greetings and Happy Spring!  Can you believe we are almost one third into 2016!  On the business front, although the March PMI® index rose to 51.8% up from 48.2% in January, the April PMI®  fell to 50.8%, and the outlook in manufacturing remains mixed.

April’s PMI®  highlights are that new orders and production is growing, employment and inventories are contracting, and supplier deliveries are faster.

In this issue, we will cover some of the amazing resources available to the manufacturing and supply chain community.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1.    SBA EMERGING LEADERS-RUTGERS CASE STUDY

2.    MANUFACTURING RESOURCE ROUNDUP

3.    WHAT THE HECK IS A CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMANCE?

4     MF SUPPLY JOINS DPA

5.    GOING LEAN?

SBA EMERGING LEADERS-RUTGERS CASE STUDY

April 27 was my final presentation from The RCG (Rutgers Business School Consulting Group).  I received a 30 page report with a few strong recommendations for growth. The RCG recommends that MF Supply expands our web site and offers ecommerce for our top products, starting yesterday.  They also projected that we will have the best ROI with email marketing rather than Social Media programs like Facebook and Twitter.

So we have begun reworking our website and you will start seeing more emails from us.  Please let us know what topics turn you on vs. what tunes you out.  Check out our newly edited  About Us section and let us know what you think.

How important is e-commerce for you and your company as a buyer and as a seller? Do you prefer to shop online or by emailing in your Purchase Orders?  And how about on the sales side?  Do your customers want to buy your products on-line?  Are your main competitors online?  All the industry experts say that industrial buyers are starting to expect their work buying experience to resemble their personal buying experience.  I am curious to know your thoughts.

Interesting note for anyone working with buyers with “Set Aside” or “Diverse” buying requirements (hint: think the government)  – the RCG hit a dead end while exploring leveraging MF Supply’s WOSB and WBE Certification as a differentiator.  Too bad – the certification process was a ton of paperwork!  If anyone out there is finding success differentiating yourself as a Small, Women, Minority, Veteran or other Disadvantaged business, I’d love to know how!

And, a big thank you to the SBA for connecting me to Rutgers and many other resources.

 

MANUFACTURERS RESOURCE ROUNDUP

NJMEP Programs – Since I last wrote, I’ve attended 2 NJMEP workshops on Lean and Six Sigma.  I highly recommend connecting with your state MEP.  We also hired experts from the NJMEP to lead the MF team through their Destination Innovation program.  Funded in part by the DOD, this program is intended to help companies in the Defense Department Supply chain grow in commercial sectors as DOD spending has decreased. They gave us tools to help define our unique value proposition and spur product innovation. One idea that came up was the concept of inventory planning for our customers.  I will be reaching out to you to gauge your interest in having MF Supply help you do inventory forecasting as a value added service.

Free Employee Training – Did you know there is free training available to your employees through state funded Workforce Development programs?  During the first 2 weeks in May, we sent Dave & Andy to Excel training at Bergen Community College in Paramus, compliments of the NJ taxpayers! Thanks everyone for helping us learn and grow! Email us to create a pivot table for you (just kidding!).  For more info about available programs in NJ, email Louisa Emirzian at lemirzian@bergen.edu.

Commerce and Industry Manufacturing Roundtable – On March 14, I participated in the CIANJ sponsored Manufacturing Roundtable at Triangle Manufacturing in Saddle River.  It’s a super cool facility that makes custom prosthetics and many other precision parts.  We learned that the State of NJ is developing workforce programs and making investments in the following industries: Advanced manufacturing, Logistics and Supply Chain.  Check out their Manufacturing Resource book for some great info.

Women in Manufacturing – A new chapter of WIM is being launched right here in New Jersey!  The first meeting was held at Sandvik Coromant on April 27th. If you know any women in manufacturing, please send them my way, I’d love to recruit them to join me and the growing NJ chapter.

Amazon in NJ – Amazon is opening 2 distribution centers right here in NJ and is planning to hire over 2000 people.  It’s not manufacturing, but it is logistics, which is a growth industry in NJ.  Very exciting!

What is Aerogistics? – Did you know that aerospace is growing and so are their logistic needs and supply chains? Hence, a new term: “Aerogistics” is coined.  Check out the amazing resources available through UPS that help inform on market trends and solutions in the aerospace logistics world.

WHAT THE HECK IS A COC?

Do you or your customers require a COC for your products?  Do you know if they are asking for a Certificate of Compliance or a Certificate of Conformance?  In April we attended Webinar training from the Fastener Training Institute which clarified some of the most common concepts when it comes to Certifications, Test Reports and Lot Traceability. Here are a few definitions for your enjoyment:

Certificate of Conformance – a record affirming a fastener has met the requirements of the relevant specification, contract or regulation.

Certificate of Compliance – a Certification of Conformance signed by an authorized party.

Material Test Report – a record signed by an authorized party, attesting the raw material is in accordance with specified requirements, including the actual results of required chemical analysis tests and examinations.

Lot – a batch of one part number, submitted for inspection at one time. The “lot” has been made from the same batch of raw material and parts have been produced together under the same conditions and heat treatment process.

MF SUPPLY JOINS DPA

As a member of the DPA Industrial family, MF Supply can now help you with more product categories and pass along fabulous savings on many more items including:

  • Industrial
  • Tools
  • Safety Equipment & Clothing
  • Packaging
  • Janitorial/Sanitorial

Please email me at sales@mfsupply.com to request a full catalog. We’re eager to see if we can help save you time and money by becoming a single source for more of your industrial needs.

GOING LEAN REVISITED

So far this year I have attended informational training in the disciplines of Six Sigma, Lean Operations and Production and Inventory Management planning.  We are determining which area has the best ROI – for ourselves and our customers and are interested in your feedback.

Are the members of your team certified in any of these areas?  Have you gotten value from your continuing education and are you using it to make improvements in your company? I’d love to hear from you regarding this topic.

Regards,

Robin Lieberman

President

robin@mfsupply.com

 

 


November 2015 Newsletter

Newsletter

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

  1. SBA EMERGING LEADERS
  2. NJ MARKETSHIFT
  3. AWMI – NUCOR STEEL MILL TOUR
  4. RECAP OF MFG DAY
  5. MF SUPPLY JOINS DPA
  6. 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.

 SBA EMERGING LEADERS

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.

MARKETSHIFT NJ

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:

  1. Build new alliances
  2. Find new customers
  3. Create new products
  4. 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.

 AWMI – NUCOR STEEL MILL TOUR

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.

RECAP OF MANUFACTURING DAY

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!

 MF SUPPLY JOINS DPA

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

I’d like to close this Newsletter with some comic relief.  Enjoy the video by clicking here!

 

Regards,

Robin Lieberman

President

robin@mfsupply.com

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.