| A Semi-Monthly Newsletter for Material Handling Equipment Distributors |
September
1, 2003
|
| MHEDA welcomes new Distributor Members Towlift, Inc. of Cleveland, OH and Capital Industrial Sales & Service Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, Canada. FCC DELAYS FAX RULE In response to intense petitioning, the FCC stayed the effective date of its new unsolicited fax rule until January 1, 2005. This rule, which prohibits businesses from faxing promotional information to customers without written permission, was originally scheduled to take effect August 25. The FCC indicated it may reconsider the elimination of the existing business relationship exemption, but made no commitments. For more information, click here. SMALL BUSINESS DRIVES ECONOMY The importance of small businesses to the nation's economy is revealed in the 2003 State Small Business Profiles, a new report by the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. According to the report, more than 99% of all U.S. businesses are small, they create 75% of net new jobs, and they employ half of the nation's non-farming private employees. Most MHEDA members fall under the SBA's definition of a small business as one that employs less than 500. Using the latest federal government statistics, the report shows how small businesses dominate several sectors of the economy, including construction and professional, scientific and technical services. CELEBRATE LABOR DAY! Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada to pay tribute to the achievements of workers who have helped create the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known. MHEDA salutes the employees of our member companies who work each day to keep our country strong. INDUSTRY
BEAT
Brown Announces Retirement (Charlotte, NC) • Ken Brown, CEO of Barloworld Industrial Distribution, will retire effective September 30 after 36 years of service. Brown joined the company in 1967 as salesperson for Barlow Handling Ltd., rising quickly through the ranks before transferring to the U.S. in 1980. A past board member for MHEDA and the Hyster Dealer Council, Brown also was chairman of the Charlotte Area Employers Association. He received the Counsel General's Award of the British American Business Council of North Carolina in 2003. Brandon Diamond will serve as Barloworld's new CEO. Atlas Opens San Bernardino Location (Schiller Park, IL) • In order to increase service to its West Coast dealer network, Atlas Material Handling and Atlas Lift Truck opened a facility in San Bernardino, CA. The facility joins 3 other national distribution centers in Northern California, Dallas and Chicago.
Southeast Opens New Facility (Charlotte, NC) • Southeast Industrial Equipment opened a 15,000 sq. ft. facility in Ladson, SC to service the Charleston area. Having outgrown its previous facility, the company reports the new facility has plenty of space for current operations as well as room for expected expansion. The company also plans to hire new service technicians. Bama to Expand (Trussville, AL) • Citing a lack of distributors and a need for material handling services in Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas, E.L. (Butch) Inman, president of Bama Handling Services, will expand his business, possibly to a Glendo, WY location. A final decision about where the new office will be built will come in 2004. Inman plans to staff the new operation with a manager and sales associate. Ingersoll-Rand Makes Acquisitions (Hamilton, Bermuda) • Ingersoll-Rand Company acquired the stock of Integrated Access Systems (IAS) and its subsidiary Geoffrey Industries, based in Parsippany, NJ. IAS provides specialty security systems integration and will become part of Ingersoll-Rand's Security and Safety Solutions unit. Geoffrey Industries manufactures card access, alarm monitoring and CCTV systems and will join IR's Interflex business unit. JLG Industries Purchases OmniQuip (McConnellsburg, PA) • JLG Industries completed the purchase of Textron's OmniQuip business unit, including Trak International, Inc. and the telehandler brands Sky Trak and Lull, for $100 million. As part of the integration process, OmniQuip's Port Washington, WI and Mendota Heights, MN facilities will be closed. JLG will retain OmniQuip's best engineering and military contract staff. "From a revenue mix standpoint, the impact of this purchase on JLG is significant, reducing the dependency on aerial work platforms with a better balance between aerials and telehandlers," said Jim Woodward, JLG executive vice president and CFO. BEING PREPARED FOR ANY BUSINESS EVENTUALITY PAYS OFF Recently, Jim Schofield, account manager for Cisco Inc. in Saginaw, MI, a division of Morrison Industrial Equipment Company (Grand Rapids, MI), met with customer Dana DeMello, specifically to discuss forklift trucks. DeMello is distribution manager for Quebecor World Midland Inc. "It was during routine fact finding that Dana brought up the plant's critical storage space problem," Schofield says. "He asked if we could help." DeMello explained that Quebecor's growth in the printing business had all but eliminated available floor space at the local plant where both the production and warehousing functions share the factory floor. DeMello believed his only options were building an extension to the plant or acquiring offsite storage facilities, both of which were costly. He was also considering a mezzanine storage option because of the plant's high ceilings, but was concerned since the mezzanines he was looking at could support 150 lbs./sq. ft., not the 460 lbs./sq. ft. that Quebecor required. Schofield regularly reviews his company's product lines before sales calls, and he was confident that Cogan Wire & Metal Products' Instant-Space mezzanines could do the job. He took measurements and photographs, and forwarded them to John Lambert, Cogan's national sales manager. Within 48 hours, a Cogan engineer joined Schofield onsite to review the complete project logistics, including the most economical and suitable flooring that could handle the weight. The project came in on time and on budget, and turned out to be the perfect solution for the customer. Quebecor's DeMello is delighted. "It was a long-term goal of his to utilize the existing space effectively and our mezzanine solution worked perfectly," Schofield says, "thanks to the close working relationship with the team at Cogan."
How
to Increase Sales Through Real Opportunity Management The
Expense and Margin Squeeze Managing
the Sales Professional Parts
& Service Management
MHEDA Members Receive PERC Discount • MHEDA members are entitled to a 10% discount off the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)'s Forklift Technician Maintenance & Training Program for Class 4 and 5 large spark ignition propane-fueled forklifts. For more information on this program, see the August 15 issue of The MHEDA Connection or click here. Convention Workshops Available FREE for 2003 Attendees • Did you attend MHEDA's 2003 Convention in San Antonio? If so, you are eligible to receive online links to the three workshops recorded during the convention. From the convenience and comfort of your office, you can watch and listen to: "Effective Distributor Marketing" by Gary T. Moore, "How to Utilize the DiSC Report" by Dr. Al Bates and "Leadership & Teambuilding" by Doug Cartland. For more details, call MHEDA at 847-680-3500. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
The MHEDA Connection is distributed on the 1st
and 15th of each month to all MHEDA members. As the official If
you no longer wish to receive The MHEDA Connection, please
click
here.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
