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"The
Development Authority of the North Country was awarded $350,000
toward a $1.36 million project to help gasket paper manufacturer
Interface Solutions, of Beaver Falls, in the purchase of a
Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) system and a heat exchanger,
which will reduce discharges to the Beaver River, facilitate
reuse of water and energy at its Beaver Falls facility and
increase its production capabilities."
"The
success of this project will yield energy waste reduction savings
of over $350,000 per year, allow for the reuse of 37.6 million
gallons of process water per year, retain 1,030 tons per year
of recycled paper capacity and allow for a 35 percent increase
in production. The project will greatly improve the competitiveness
of the mill and help retain 87 jobs."
February
2002 Press Release
GEORGE E. PATAKI, GOVERNOR
If
you are planning projects at your facility that will result in
environmental improvements, you may be eligible for funding under
the Environmental Investment Program (EIP).
EIP is
administered by Empire State Development's Environmental Services
Unit (ESU), which invests funding from the Environmental Protection
Fund (EPF) as part of the State's ongoing effort to improve environmental
quality. Matching funds under the EIP are awarded for
capital projects; research, development and demonstration of
new products and technologies; and technical assistance to help
companies prevent pollution and boost recycling.
Applications
are now being accepted for funding in 2003 to help qualified
businesses improve their environmental performance.
EIP awards
funds to qualified New York businesses, non-profit organizations
and municipalities on behalf of businesses. The program invests
in projects that produce measurable and verifiable economic development
and environmental results, including increased productivity and
competitiveness, job creation, job retention, recycling capacity,
and pollution prevention.
Three
categories of funding under the EIP include:
Capital
Projects: physical
assets (land, buildings, machinery & equipment, etc.);
improvements, alterations, or repair to real property owned
by the applicant (site prep, demolition, infrastructure); and
consulting engineering costs related directly to the project.
RD&D
Projects: projects that have high promise for leading directly
to commercialization or use. Typically R&D funds are used
for consulting services, analytical expenses, and leasing equipment
(to determine if it is appropriate) are eligible.
Technical
Assistance Projects: those projects in which NYS non-profit
organizations or municipalities directly assist New York State
businesses and institutions to achieve pollution prevention,
reuse or recycling results.
For details
on this and other funding opportunities, follow the "Hot
Topics" link, or contact
CITEC's Financial Analyst Anne
Simmons for assistance today:
simmons@citec.org or
315-268-3778 x25
It's
a fact of business life. To keep your competitive edge, you must
constantly upgrade the quality of the service you offer. There's
no getting to a certain point and then stopping. If you do that,
your competition will quickly pass you by. But how do you continuously
achieve service improvement? If you follow this list of the Top
10 Commandments of Customer Service, you can achieve a level
of service that will help you outdistance the competition:
- Care
about your employees and treat them well: Employee relations
mirror your customer relations. If your employees do not feel
that they are treated well, they will not treat your customers
well. And of course the opposite is true.
- Praise
and recognize your employees often: The more, the better. You
need to have both formal and informal programs in place. Don't
just leave it to "employee of the month" programs;
have lots of awards that are achievable by anyone who wants
to try. Train your managers in praising techniques and reward
them when they implement them.
- Know
and listen to your customers: If you don't really know your
customers, how can you know what they value? And if you don't
give them what they value, they will soon take their business
elsewhere. Develop several methods for listening to your customers,
like focus groups, questionnaires, customer panels and just
plain one-on-one listening.
- Believe
that customer service drives profit: Truly believe. There are
many statistics and case studies that support this fact. Your
bottom line can be positively impacted if your service is good
enough.
- Train
and empower your people: How can you expect your employees
to handle irate customers very well if you've never taught
them how to do it? If they constantly have to turn to their
manager for every little decision, how can you ever expect
to have customers believe that your service is exceptional?
- Clarify
your service strategy: What level of service do you want to
offer and how are you going to accomplish it? Are you going
to be a Ritz Carlton or a McDonald's as far as service is concerned?
How far are you willing to go in achieving the level of service
you want? All of this must be clarified from the very start.
- Ruthlessly
weed out all policies and procedures that are customer unfriendly:
Many companies put up numerous barriers to good customer service.
For instance, is your return policy easy to understand and
implement? Get rid of all your "rupoles" (rules,
policies and procedures) that stand between you and your customer.
- The
company culture must be totally fanatical about customer service:
Everything must be focused on serving the customer. Be like
Home Depot: "If you're not serving the customer, you'd
better be serving someone who is."
- Continually
improve your service levels: Be perpetually dissatisfied with
your level of service. Everyone in your organization needs
to continually look for ways to improve your service. Develop
systems to capture everyone's ideas in this area and then implement
the best of them.
- Remember
that everyone has customers: Internal customer service is just
as important as service to the external customer. Do not allow
different departments, divisions or organizations to deliver
poor service to each other.
Source:
Inc Magazine, "Top 10 Commandments of Customer Service,"
Peggy Morrow: March 21, 2002
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Training
for training's sake is certainly not your intention, but
often companies feel limited to sending their personnel
to what is being offered. CITEC will work with you to identify
the training your employees need to have the impact on
improvements you seek. We'll assist you in uncovering the
root cause of the challenges you face, and help find the
training to address them. And, because we are familiar
with a variety of State and regional sources, we can help
you with costs, too.
In
addition, CITEC offers a variety of training opportunities
that are conducted with the schedule constraints of North
Country companies in mind. Training courses are scheduled
at the convenience of the company... on site or off, over
multiple shifts, etc. Training courses are available in
such areas as Lean Manufacturing, Safety, Human Resources
and Training Within Industries (see related story below).
For a list of available courses, visit the Training page.
Registrations
of interest are now being requested for the following special
events, designed specifically for top decision-makers...
Lean
Manufacturing "Taste Test" Workshop
If you want to learn about Lean Manufacturing and whether
it is right for your company, you should plan on joining
us for dinner and a workshop
on "Lean Manufacturing Basics: Eliminating the 8 Kinds of Waste."
Training
Within Industry "Taste Test" Workshop
This dinner and workshop will provide you with information on the Training
Within Industry program and address how we can bring it to your region
(see related story below).
Succession
Planning "Taste Test" Workshop
Join us for dinner and a workshop to discuss
the steps you need to take now to ease into retirement,
such as improving the value of your company and choosing
and training the right individuals to replace you.
Schedule
and location for these workshops will be based on the availability
of attendees, so please register
your interest and best evening to attend.
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According
to an August 16th report from Manufacturing News Daily, BOEING
has started producing its 757s on a moving assembly line at its
factory in Renton, Washington. The line moves an airplane 24
feet a day through the final assembly stage. The 100-ton jetliners
are pulled by an automatic self-guided tug. The production method
is expected to reduce flow time and inventory to 30%.
If
Boeing can implement lean for 757 production, your company can
too. Call one of our experts for your no obligation lean meeting
today...
Eric
Myers 518-563-7565, myers@citec.org
Jeff Vincent 315-782-3444, vincent@citec.org
Jim Myers 315-268-3778 x30, jmyers@citec.org
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Companies
in the construction, timber, oil drilling, water drilling,
utilities, tower erectors, equipment leasing or mining
industries should be aware that a proposed IRS rule change
would mean an end to the tax exemption for all mobile machinery
vehicles.
On
June 6th, the IRS proposed a rule that would end the mobile
machinery vehicle exemption for any non-farm equipment
that can be used on the roads. Thus, equipment like mobile
drilling units, digger derricks, concrete pumpers, mobile
cranes, and aerial lift trucks would be taxed at purchase,
at the fuel pump, at the tire dealer and annually on weight.
Under the proposed rule, non-licensed equipment will not
be subject to these taxes under the proposed rule change.
Theoretically,
motor vehicles that use highways are taxed to build and
maintain the roads. As such, taxes are assessed and funneled
into the federal Highway Trust Fund from the sale of motor
fuels, the first retail sale of certain heavy vehicles,
and the sale of tires used on highway vehicles, among other
sources.
The
original tax regulations exempted certain licensed off-road
machinery under the assumption that those vehicles make
minimal use of the highways. The IRS recently concluded,
however, that the "minimal use" assumption was
incorrect.
In
the June 6th memorandum, IRS officials state, "Mobile
machinery vehicles carry their load -- typically heavy
job site machinery -- from job site to job site over the
public highway, and their ability to use the public highway
is in no way limited or impaired. Therefore, they derive
the same benefit from -- and cause the same damage to --
the public highway as other highway vehicles, and for tax
purposes should be treated the same as other highway vehicles."
Trailers
that are used as enclosed, stationary shelters would still
be excluded from the tax, according to the IRS. Exclusions
would also apply to vehicles specifically designed for
transporting a load over areas other than a public highway.
The
deadline for comments to the IRS is 12/4/02. For more
information on the proposed changes and comment submission,
go to www.irs.gov/pub/irs-regs/10382999.pdf.
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Training Within
Industry is emerging as the answer to North Country companies
that are still searching for a way to strengthen the role of
their supervisors. With proven success in manufacturing, construction,
medical services and the hospitality industry, this specialized
training program leverages the role of supervisors and team leaders.
Developed
to support U.S. industry during World War II, the TWI program
follows a proven four-step process: (1) preparation, (2) presentation,
(3) application, and (4) testing (or inspection).
The "J" Programs...
As true today as it was in the 1940's, five critical needs of all supervisors
were identified: Knowledge of the Work, Knowledge of Responsibility, Skill
in Instructing, Skill in Improving Methods, and Skill in Leading. While
the company is responsible for the first two, TWI training addresses
the remaining three.
Job
Methods teaches
supervisors how to improve the way jobs are done.
Job
Instructions teaches them how to quickly train
employees to do the job correctly, safely and conscientiously.
Job
Relations teaches supervisors how to build positive
employee relations, increase cooperation and motivation,
and effectively resolve conflicts.
Companies
using TWI report dramatic improvement in the role of their
supervisors and in their subsequent performance on the job. Using
TWI,
they claim at least a 10-fold return vs. the cost of the training.
By the end of the one-week Job Methods training, it usually pays
for itself through process improvements using only the people,
equipment, and materials currently available.
If
your company wants to improve the role of your supervisors, or
if you are searching for the missing link to implementing Lean
Manufacturing, contact CITEC's Lean Manufacturing Analyst Jim
Myers -- Northern New York's only TWI Master Trainer.
315-268-3778
x34
jmyers@citec.org
More
information on TWI can be found here. |
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