Lumber Briefs: Trucking Shortage: Lumber’s Summer Nightmare Matt Layman We lumber types have come to expect the unexpected. Hence, there is great value when we can identify, well in advance, what the next price manipulating phenomenon might be. 2018 has been a year of looking for an elusive lumber market top. Early in the year I went so far as to call 2018 a bear... Read More May 2018 Issue #10226 Page 77
How the DMAIC Lean Method Can Be Applied to the Sales Process Keith Parker Last month’s article, Using the DMAIC Lean Method to Accomplish Improvement and Take the First Steps to New Goals, used a case study to explore the DMAIC Lean method. This month another case study will be used to demonstrate how this process can be implemented in your... Read More April 2018 Issue #10225 Page 66
Change Your Pricing Formula for 2018 and Make More Net Profit Todd Drummond Let us assume that you are having problems with a truck’s transmission and it must be repaired or replaced. The local mechanic explains the hourly rate for service and that the cost of any parts needed to fix the transmission is extra. The hourly charge he is billing is to cover his... Read More January 2018 Issue #10222 Page 30
Skills Play a Vital Role in Lean Management Ben Hershey Part 8 in our TIMWOODS Series Our journey through the various waste topics in Lean brings us to the final letter in our series on TIMWOODS: Skills. Many companies, managers, and supervisors forget when improving their operations to look at their team and review how their skills are being... Read More November 2017 Issue #10220 Page 44
Production Scheduling Problems? Todd Drummond There is nothing like the scheduling of orders to bring out the worst in people. Timely delivery of orders naturally creates a division between salespeople on one side of the issue and production on the other. Management normally plays the role of referee, with a tendency to favor the... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 24
Three Practical Ideas for Better Margins and Net Profits Todd Drummond Too often a repeated mantra within our industry is that everyone sells components at too-low margins. The blame is always on the other guy, meaning the competitor, for selling at a lower margin than what should be market pricing. Well, what can your company do to raise margin pricing? During... Read More June 2017 Issue #10215 Page 24
Design, Sales, and Admin Labor Shortages? – Give Them More Time by Automating Your Communications! Todd Drummond The call for more designers, salespeople and just about every other admin personnel is getting louder by the day. There are not enough hours in the week to meet sales demands. What if you could provide your team with tools that would give them more time? This way, you could save money by having... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 26
Off–site Designing and Sales: The Three Biggest Obstacles Todd Drummond What once was frowned upon has now become very common. Off-site designing and off-site sales individuals or teams can be a very good way to expand your company’s capabilities. The biggest driver of its emerging acceptability is the fact that the pool of talent is larger when looking... Read More February 2017 Issue #10211 Page 24
The Last Word: Sales Lessons from the Election Joe Kannapell Watching Trump versus Clinton taught us some lasting lessons in sales. We witnessed the classic competitive duel – two large organizations (political parties) raising loads of money to hype their national brands (the candidates themselves) to make the sale (win the election) on November... Read More January 2017 Issue #10210 Page 85
How to Conduct a Tour of Your Building Product Plant That Will Grow Your Sales Mark Mitchell I have been on many building product plant tours. Most of them are not very effective and are really missing an opportunity to gain new customers and more sales. Why Most Plant Tours Are Not Effective Plant tours are too often taken matter of factly and not as a serious marketing tool.... Read More December 2016 Issue #09209 Page 77