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     Registration Ends
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Quality Nickel and Stainless Welding Wires and Electrodes

BREAKING NEWS

Early Convention Registration Ends Today

Early registration to GAWDA's 60th Annual Convention, October 3-7 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, ends at midnight. Today is your last chance to register early and receive $50 off each full delegate registration. Click here to register now.

GAWDA Members Face Down Hurricane

Hurricane Charlie Friday, August 13, 2004

GAWDA is happy to report that members in the path of Hurricane Charley are OK, despite being hit by the worst storm to strike the state since 1992. Charley caused the most damage to Charlotte County on Florida's southwest coast. Crumpton Welding Supply has a store in Port Charlotte that was hit significantly hard. The bay doors were blown out and moisture got inside the building, but little product was destroyed. The store was secured, running on generator power, and managers were offering recovery assistance to neighbors. The company's headquarters in Tampa supplies medical oxygen to Sunstar Emergency Medical Services, which implements service for disaster shelters activated in Pinellas County. "When the hurricane originally was designated to come into the Tampa Bay area, Sunstar was the first one to respond with our cylinders," said Lee Clemens, vice president of operations. "We then responded with extra cylinders because they were getting a lot of people in the shelters." Crumpton Welding Supply responded so fast that they arrived at the shelters before Sunstar. At the time, 11 shelters had been activated. The Distributor's employees helped to make deliveries to the shelters, dodging downed trees and wires. To view a slide show of damage caused by the storm throughout the area, click here or on the picture of the hurricane above.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Compressed Gas!

This is the time of year when the baseball pennant races typically heat up. USA Today's Rhonda Abrams provides some lessons about running our businesses that we can learn from what we see on diamonds across the country.

	It's a long season. Like baseball, business takes patience. It takes a while for your concept, marketing, planning and operations to gel.	After his playing days, former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine led a successful business career as an insurance agent, president of STAR Financial Bank in Indianapolis and chairman of the Indiana Bankers Association. Meet him at GAWDA's 60th Annual Convention on October 5.
	Stick in there. In business you're going to have setbacks. If you learn from your mistakes, sooner or later things will turn your way.
	You need management. You can't just go out there and play; you need a strategy.
	Don't depend on one star for success. You can't rely on your one star customer, supplier or channel for your success. Strengthen your lineup.
	It takes teamwork. Business, like baseball, requires individuals to work together for the common good. You need a good team supporting you—suppliers, accountants, family, friends, etc.
	Swing for the fences. Occasionally, you need to try for a home run—a big new customer, product or advertising campaign.
	Depend on "small ball." Baseball games are typically won one base at a time, much as you build a business one customer, one sale at a time.
	Have faith. You must believe in yourself, over and over and over again.
	Have fun. In business, you need to make a profit, but you also must enjoy going to work.
	Play Ball!

Several people responded to last issue's trivia question: "Which U.S. Democratic Senator is a welder?" Answer to Trivia Question: West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd was a welder. After graduating from high school, Byrd learned how to weld and worked in shipyards during World War II along the East Coast. He helped build the "Liberty" and "Victory" ships in Baltimore, MD, and Tampa, FL. The money he earned was used to pay for his college education. He is a ranking minority member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been president pro tempore of the Senate and is a former majority leader. Byrd is the author of a new book called Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant President and also of a four-volume history of the Senate. To read more about Senator Byrd, click here. U.S. history buffs Bill Ellen of Arcet Equipment Company (Richmond, VA) and Lloyd Robinson of AWISCO (Maspeth, NY) correctly identified Senator Robert C. Byrd.

SAFETY & COMPLIANCE NEWS

Executives Should Push Safety • In a speech last month to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., National Safety Council President Alan McMillan said safety leadership starts with CEOs, who must address motor vehicle and home safety. They should provide periodic driver training to employees who drive as part of their job and establish policies requiring them to wear seat belts. Nine times more workers died last year of injuries suffered off the job rather than on the job. "Employers have a regulatory and moral imperative to reduce these injuries and deaths, but they also have a business imperative," McMillan said. "It is good business to address off-the-job safety issues because injuries and deaths to employees and their family members affect absenteeism, productivity and the enormous health care costs." The bottom line is managers who support safety might only give speeches; managers who are engaged in safety talk the talk and walk the walk. —Submitted by GAWDA OSHA and EPA Consultant Tom Eynon.

MAKING THE SALE

The Price Is Right

Driver Jody LeBlanc uses the Symbol SPT1800 handheld computer to lookup pricing by scanning an item's barcode.

When Welding Supply House (Lafayette, LA) delivered products to customers such as Frank's Casing Crew, route drivers provided them with hand-written receipts. Any distributor who sells products off his trucks will tell you that because drivers often rely on memory to price the invoices, they are prone to errors and customers can be charged incorrectly. If a driver did quote and write down the correct price, there was still room for error if the back office manually typed in the wrong figures. Again the customer is charged the wrong price. When customers realize this, they call the distributor, and the accounting office staff then has to spend time researching why an invoice was not priced properly and issue credit memos. This can put stress on the relationship between the distributor and the customer. When Welding Supply House's customers said they wanted printed copies of their receipts because they were concerned about accuracy, President Bill Delcambre needed a solution.

Drivers leave their customers a full-sized, easy-to-read invoice that is accurately priced and taxed along with the delivered products.

Delcambre wanted to automate the selling process on the trucks and completely eliminate handwritten tickets. The goal was to provide customers with accurate, full-sized, easy-to-read invoices, similar to the ones printed up at the sales counter. He turned to DataWeld Incorporated for help and together they came up with a solution. Since Welding Supply House was already using DataWeld's CylTech II software to automate its accounting system, Delcambre was confident that DataWeld would have a solution. It did; the Palm Order Pad, Mobile Order Processing System.

Customers immediately noticed a difference. They are pleased with the full-size, professional invoices that are accurately and completely priced and taxed. Prices are now always the same as quoted because the information is computerized. "That tops their lists of what they like about our service every time," Delcambre says. Instead of carrying around bulky paperwork, drivers pick up their handheld computers, slide them into a pocket and go on the daily run. Pricing mistakes are eliminated because invoices are created electronically, as information is transferred from the Palm Order Pads to the main computer at the end of the day.

President Bill Delcambre hands driver Jody LeBlanc a freshly loaded handheld computer.

In addition to basic pricing information stored in the handheld computers, each driver has a complete list of what their customers have been buying. If a customer tells the driver, "I liked that tip you sold me last month. I need another dozen," the driver simply presses a button on the Palm Order Pad, reviews the previous purchases from that customer, selects the item and adds it to the order. "We know our customers' time is valuable and we want to provide them with the product they need and the information they need as quickly as possible," Delcambre says.

Overall, the solution that Welding Supply House and DataWeld provided to customers is a win-win-win situation: the drivers, the office and, most importantly, the customers are happy. "When I do something that our customers really like," Delcambre says, "that is the biggest win for us as a company." Frank's Casing Crew relied on Welding Supply House to provide accurate invoices, and Welding Supply House relied on DataWeld to provide a system to do that. Modern technology raised the bar of customer service, and Welding Supply House exceeded its customers' expectations.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

GAWDA welcomes new Distributor Member Valley Gas and Gear LLC of Glendale, AZ, and new Associate Member RDB Enterprises, Inc. of Lumberton, NC.

INDUSTRY BEAT
(what people are talking about)

FDA to Issue Report in September • In September, the FDA will release its progress report on the initiative for modernizing GMP regulations for the 21st century. In addition to reporting on progress achieved to date, the report is expected to lay out a road map for completing the project and specific areas of focus for FDA initiatives yet to come. Topics in this report that will be of interest to medical gas firms include progress in adopting the risk-based approach to inspections, FDA's new dispute resolution process, changes to FDA guidance on process validation and changes to FDA regulations for electronic records (Part 11).

President Brad Peterson, left, and Store Manager Aaron Wolfe

Mississippi Welders Expands (Winona, MN) • Mississippi Welders Supply Company celebrated the grand opening of its seventh store in Marshfield, WI, on August 5. The 5,500-sq. ft. location officially opened in June. Live demonstrations were featured throughout the day, including a torch cutting contest by Smith Equipment, wire welding and soldering demonstrations by Harris Welco, and stainless steel and mild steel finishing by Walter. In other company news, completion of a new 5,000-sq. ft. store in Decorah, IA, to replace the current 2,000-sq. ft. building, is expected this fall. "We're trying to keep up with the growth that we've experienced and continue providing superior service to our valued customers," said Operations Manager Scott Myran.

Orange County Choppers Rides with Airgas (Radnor, PA) • Airgas entered a two-year agreement with Orange County Choppers (OCC) to supply the world-famous customized motorcycle shop in Rock Tavern, NY, with cutting and welding gases, welding consumables, safety products and other supplies. Airgas Rutland Tool & Supply will outfit OCC with a full-service machine. OCC makes theme and custom-made choppers, such as a patriotic bike in honor of the Statue of Liberty called "The Liberty Bike."

Central McGowan Hosts Open House (Saint Cloud, MN) • Central McGowan hosted 1,200 guests at its open house and welding show August 4-5. The event featured 40 vendors, including Miller Electric, Thermal Dynamics and Lincoln Electric, who offered product information and hands-on demonstrations. Eight technical seminars were attended by 320 people. Highlights included three robots that were set up and running, micro bulk tanks with Perma-Cyl technology and a pig roast. "People were exposed to the latest and greatest technology that's out there in the welding industry," said Vice President of Operations Peter Breer.

Tom Dunn

Cee Kay Supports a Good Cause (St. Louis, MO) • Cee Kay Supply attracted over 500 people to a blood drive at two of its Missouri retail locations by featuring Miller Electric's 75th Anniversary Chopper, designed and built by the Orange County Choppers. The goal of the two-day event was to help Miller celebrate its anniversary and give back to the community at the same time. "We collected 54 units of blood and donated a portion of our Chopper T-shirt and poster sales to the American Red Cross's Disaster Relief Fund," said CEO Tom Dunn.

Bill Kroll, right, and Gary Orlando

Matheson Tri-Gas Receives Award (Parsippany, NJ) • Matheson Tri-Gas was awarded the Gases and Technology Product Innovation Award in Abatement/Recycling for its ULTIMA -Sorb Dry Abatement Media. The award was presented to Chairman, President and CEO Bill Kroll at the SEMICON West Exhibition in San Francisco, CA. Gary Orlando, Matheson's business development director, led the commercialization team effort. The Gases and Technology Product Innovation Awards recognize product innovation and excellence in gas handling technology.

Taylor-Wharton Price Increases (Mechanicsburg, PA) • Effective September 1, Taylor-Wharton will increase its RDF (Refrigerators, Dewars and Freezers) line prices an average of 10%. "The continued escalation in both stainless steel and aluminum base prices, plus the cost of transporting raw materials from the mills to our factories, make it necessary for us to increase prices," said Scott W. Boyd, vice president of sales and marketing.

Mahaley Joins Harsco GasServ (Mechanicsburg, PA) • Harsco GasServ named Martin Mahaley western region sales manager. He is responsible for selling Taylor-Wharton high pressure and acetylene cylinders, cryogenic storage and dispensing cylinders, and packaged shielding gas systems. He also represents Sherwood's line of precision valve products and Harsco GasServ's Alternative Fuel Technologies. Mahaley, whose sales territory comprises 11 western states, is based in Sacramento, CA.

Hydrogen Research Project (Wallingford, CT) • Proton Energy Systems signed a three-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy for a potential $3.8 M research project to develop methods to reduce the cost of high-pressure hydrogen generation from Proton Exchange Membrane electrolysis. Air Products has been selected by Proton as a subcontractor to optimize the compression, storage and dispensing module for systems intended to supply hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles. Proton and Air Products will perform research and development activities on a low-cost, electrolysis-based hydrogen generation system capable of delivering hydrogen at 5,000 psi and greater for automotive fueling. Both companies will evaluate different system designs, including various renewable technology inputs. Performance against objectives in the first budget period will determine if additional periods will be funded.

ITW Appoints President (Glenview, IL) • David B. Speer was elected president of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) by the company's board of directors. He will play a role in the succession planning that will take place in anticipation of Chairman and CEO James Farrell's retirement in May 2006. Speer's 26 years with ITW have been spent in various selling, marketing and general management responsibilities within the construction products group. In 1995, he was named executive vice president of the global construction products business.

Scott-Gross Opens New Stores (Lexington, KY) • Scott-Gross Company opened two new retail stores in Elizabethtown and Frankfort, KY. Both locations offer a complete line of industrial, medical and specialty gases, and welding equipment and supplies. The company currently has 15 retail locations servicing all of Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, and gas distribution hubs in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas.

GAWDA NEWS

60th Annual Convention Update Discounts for Full Delegates of Distributors • GAWDA'S 60th Annual Convention, "Betting on Better Times," is drawing near. GAWDA is discounting multiple Convention registrations of full distributor delegates as follows: $0 discount for delegates 1 and 2 -$150 for delegates 3-7 -$250 for delegates 8 and above. In other words, if a distributor has 9 full delegates attending the Convention, GAWDA will refund: $150 x 5 = $750 (delegates 3-7) and $250 x 2 = $500 (delegates 8 and 9), for a total of $1,250. The discount will be given after the Convention when all registrations and cancellations have been processed. Join us October 3-7 at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for GAWDA's 60th Annual Convention. Please click here to register now. Click here to make hotel reservations. Casablanca Revisited • The famous An family of San Francisco has a restaurant in Las Vegas, the Crustacean, where the Convention's Closing Gala Reception will be held 6-10 p.m. October 7. The Crustacean will be transformed into GAWDA's personal Casablanca, so please dress accordingly. We hope to see Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman enjoying themselves at the Gala. The food will be exquisite and you can dance the night away. Carl Erskine Baseball Great to Speak at Convention • Baseball pitching star Carl Erskine will present "Stories and Lessons from My Years with the Dodgers" at GAWDA's 60th Annual Convention. Erskine pitched 12 seasons with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and holds a lifetime record of 122-78. He threw two no-hitters and appeared in 11 World Series games, amassing a 2-2 record. In 1953, Erskine led the National League with a 20-6 record. While Erskine was a star on the baseball diamond, he shined off the field as well. Upon his retirement from baseball, Erskine was a licensed insurance agent at American United Life Insurance Company. He served as president of STAR Financial Bank in Indianapolis from 1982-93 and was chairman of the Indiana Bankers Association from 1991-92. His leadership capabilities made him successful both on and off the field. Erskine is a Navy Veteran, represents the Special Olympics, and serves as a trustee for his alma mater, Anderson University, and St. John's Medical Center. Hear Carl Erskine speak from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Tuesday October 5. A book signing of Erskine's Tales from the Dodger Dugout will follow from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

New Welding Fume Litigation Information Posted • Please click here to read new articles that have been posted to GAWDA's Welding Fume Litigation Library.

GAWDA Executive Director Rick Doyle, left, and GAWDA president- elect Bob Thornton, president of South Jersey Welding Supply

GAWDA Represented • At the invitation of Miller Electric's Gary Chandler, GAWDA President-Elect Bob Thornton Jr., president of South Jersey Welding Supply, and GAWDA Executive Director Rick Doyle manned a booth promoting GAWDA membership to several hundred distributors who attended a Miller Welding Expo in southern New Jersey July 27-28. Thornton and Doyle were joined in the booth by Ed Henne, also of South Jersey Welding Supply. As a result of the booth, they met eight new prospects to join GAWDA. Chandler serves on GAWDA's Membership Committee and is host of the GAWDA Regional Meeting at the Outdoor Country Club in York, PA, September 27.

Southern California Regional Meeting • Join Paul Cramer of Cramer-Decker Industries as he hosts the Southern California Regional Meeting and Golf Tournament August 26 at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine, CA. It's the perfect place for GAWDA members to meet industry vendors and local welding distributors in a casual atmosphere to exchange ideas, offer advice, make new friends and just have fun. For more information, contact Cramer at 949-461-5900 or paulcramer@cramerdecker.com.

Regional Meeting Photos • The Northern California Regional Meeting was held on July 30 at the Lockeford Springs Golf Course in Lodi, CA, and hosted by Regional Chairman Rob Kinney of Airgas NCN. Kinney said there were three major contributors to the event's success: Airgas NCN President Jim McCarthy and his company assisted with funding; Ronnie Thompson of Norris Cylinder worked hard during the meeting; and most important, all of the returning members and new member participants.

Another regional meeting was held in Birmingham, AL. It was hosted by Frank Sartain of Airgas, and Robert Shepherd of Miller Electric, Dan Sims of PROFAX and Gregg Waltman of Linde Gas August 8-9 at the Birmingham Marriott in Birmingham, AL. Speakers included Tom Ballou, director of Carbon Rolled and Tubing Products for O'Neal Steel, and John Stropki, president and CEO of Lincoln Electric Company. To view photos from both meetings, please click here.

Spotted in Vineland, New Jersey! GAWDA DOT & Security Consultant Mike Dodd nears the end of his east coast "Safari" on August 2 with a visit to South Jersey Welding Supply. (r-l) Tom Bramhall, Bob Thornton Jr., Mike Dodd, Matt Lawlor, Gary Fogg and Dave Thornton

GAWDA Member Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS Online) Did you know GAWDA maintains links to member Web sites for MSDS? Many companies have moved this detailed product information online, although paper files are still required by law. GAWDA's MSDS page makes it easy find detailed product information by having multiple links in one place. MSDS are produced by the product's manufacturer and are distributed throughout the supply channel. Any company that handles a hazardous product requiring an MSDS must have an MSDS on file at the warehousing location. Having MSDS available online does not relieve the vendor from the requirement to send an MSDS with the first shipment of hazardous material, and again with the first shipment after an MSDS has been materially revised. MSDS should always be available from the product supplier or the manufacturer. To find out more about this section of the Web site, simply go to www.gawda.org and look under the RESOURCES heading, or click here to check out GAWDA's MSDS page. You will need your user name and password to access this area of the site, so if you don't have one or have forgotten yours, please contact gawda@gawda.org for a new login. To add your company's MSDS to the GAWDA Web site, send your information to GAWDA's Technology Consultant Scott Ehrnschwender at scottea444@aol.com.

    WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS

Learning About Credit Card Merchant Processing and Fees—
How Much Are You Being Overcharged?
Teri Nock, Global Payments
September 14, 11 a.m. ET
This one-hour webinar will make you an expert in understanding the nomenclature and confusing fee structures associated with credit card transactions. Learn how to avoid being overcharged for credit card transactions, improve your current processing system and ensure your credit card transactions will be secure. Bank card processing is an integral part of business accounting systems customarily consisting of one-third of payment remittance. Credit card fees often cost firms tens of thousands of dollars per year, yet are rarely reviewed in the budgetary process. For more information, please click here.

Future Channel Trends and Strategies
Mark Dancer, Vice President and Principal, Pembroke Consulting
September 14, 12-1:30 p.m. ET
Channels are evolving at a breakneck pace fueled by a combination of ever-increasing customer demands, technological innovation and emerging competitors. Join this executive-level webinar co-sponsored by GAWDA to review the latest market-leading research and learn practical strategy implications for wholesaler-distributors. To register now, please click here.