Inflation Is Coming; What’s Your Plan?
The other day I heard that gas prices in parts of LA had reached $5.00/gallon. I didn’t believe it until I checked. The Contra Costa Times reported gas prices up $0.23 in a single week, with more increases coming as Memorial Day approaches. Real or imaged, the latest showdown withIranis spiking oil and gas prices (again). And tighter supply chains around the world mean raw materials will increase as will component supplier prices. Add to this an improving economy signaled by the Dow’s return to 13,000 and wage inflation, held in check by the recession, will also start to effect supplier prices. How will this affect you?
In Search of Good Customer Service
In our continuing quest to define remarkable customer service I am amazed by how much bad service I notice when I am looking for good customer service. This week alone I experienced four examples of bad service – the kind you want to complain about but it won’t do anything type of bad service. The world is not picking on me. Bad service is commonplace to everyone, including our customers. If it is hard to find examples of good service, there are plenty of examples of bad service to learn from.
Working On The ”What” Instead Of The “How”
Here at ETM we spend a lot of time working on the “How”; how to improve customer service, how to improve lead times, how to lower costs, but Tom and Soma reminded me to focus on the “What” as well. Tom and Soma are both supply chain experts who work with a lot of companies here in New England. “What have you done for me lately?” is the question their clients ask suppliers most often. In many cases, they don’t really care about how the suppliers pull it off. Tom in particular has me shifting our approach.
Sometimes Being a Good Supplier Means Saying “No”
This past week I had to say “no” to two customers and it always feels uncomfortable even though I know it is the right thing to do. After all, ETM has made a reputation with our best customers for saying “yes” when others say “no.” Saying “no” is not something we are used to and we certainly don’t take it lightly. So why, this week, have I said “no” twice?
Unsung Heroes
We have a manager here, Steve, who doesn’t really manage anyone and doesn’t really manage any projects, but he is one of the most valuable people we have. I used to think of Steve as a “filler” because he has a knack for spotting the holes in our processes or systems and helping “fill” them. More recently, I have been thinking of him as a “leveler” and, like floor leveler, we can “pour” him into any situation and he’ll even things out. For a high mix, low volume business like ours, a steady flow makes all the difference.
Lucky by Design
I recently got to reading a holiday present from a past advisor, Beth Goldstein. Beth and I first met when she taught a Business Accelerator class hosted by the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. It was an eight week intensive program with homework included that provided me the push to accelerate our growth at ETM. Beth really helped me start to craft a unique message which eventually evolved into the web-site you see today. Her latest book, “Lucky By Design”, caught me by surprise.
How My Customers Are Teaching Me To Be A Better Manager
Lately I have been thinking about how much skill it takes to maintain an employee’s spirit while at the same time ask him or her to improve. We face this challenge every day as managers, but we also face this every day from our customers. Our customers are challenged with telling us how great a job we’ve done, now can we do it again only faster, cheaper, better. How can we accomplish this without leaving the other person feeling defeated?
If We Have 0 Defect Goals, Why Don’t We Have $0 Logistics Goals?
In the past few weeks I have been shocked by some of the logistics expenses I have heard. Thomas approached us the other week with a project imported to Canada from China; the transportation cost from Canada to the US alone was 18% of the product cost. Just this week we met with a customer and the shipping charges to a remote location in the western US was almost 50% of the product cost. We, too, have seen the impact when we price compare our landed cost vs. importing from China. In one case, our import costs were 20% of the product cost and that alone killed the project. In the 1980’s there was huge push by American companies towards 0 defects through ambitious six sigma programs. Why don’t we challenge logistics costs in the same manner?
What I Learned From Our Fall Intern
This year, for the first time in ETM’s history, we hired college interns this past semester and they are now headed home for the holidays. I thought it would be a great learning experience for one of them to help manage a $500K building renovation. After working together daily for the past three months, I find myself missing Ryan and reflecting on the lessons I learned from him. Here are the lessons he reminded me of:
Goodbye Norm! Thanks for the Life Lesson.
Last week, Thanksgiving week, we said goodbye to one of our favorite suppliers. Norm was a formerVietnam paratrooper known for his humor and business savvy. He supplied us daily, delivering on-time over 98%. In fact we set our break times promptly at 9:15 so we could help unload his truck. His quality was so good that we actually increased our orders over the years. Even his costs, while they did increase, stayed steady with the market and our demand. So why did we help put him out of business?