Using communication tools correctly is more important than ever before.
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Posts By Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
The U.S. might want to take a more direct approach to encouraging innovation.
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Failure can play a key role in innovation & identifying what needs to change.
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p>Regardless of how “American” your company is, odds are that you are feeling the impact of recent global events on your business. From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that left a wake of destruction to the political unrest in the Middle East, events on the other side of the globe are highlighting how small our world really has become.
For example, GM recently announced it would suspend operations …
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CEO: U.S. still has ‘tremendous growth opportunity’ for the MRO distributor.
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Recent NFIB post serves as a guide for businesses to ensure stable growth as economy returns.
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A lot of the talk around lean in distribution has revolved around determining how a concept used primarily in manufacturing can be applied elsewhere in the supply chain. But the reality, according to lean expert Chuck Emery, is that lean has always worked with distribution in mind. In a recent MDM webcast, Emery provided a practical approach to implementing and measuring the returns of lean in distribution.
This is an exclusive summary of the webcast, Lean for Distributors: Improve Process, Eliminate Waste.
Lean is not about manufacturing more efficiently; lean is about making the supply chain work more effectively, according to lean expert Chuck Emery. “It’s always been about distribution,” he says in a recent MDM webcast.
Emery spent 16 years working with Toyota – the generally accepted leader in lean – before founding Lean Quest, a consulting firm focused on lean.
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Adding more resources without evaluating processes can add unnecessary waste.
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The complexity of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 – the two statutes which made up the health care reform of 2010 – has led to confusion and misunderstanding about the impact of passage on small businesses.
Lars Parkin, an employee benefits broker with Bliley Insurance Group in Boulder, CO, and former president of the Front Range Association of Health Underwriters, recently spoke with MDM about common misconceptions and the impact of health care reform. He also addressed how small businesses can offset the impact of rising health insurance costs.
With so many moving parts, the Affordable Care Act – more commonly referred to as the health care reform act or Obamacare – can be difficult to understand.
“The legislation itself has something like 2,700 pages,” says Lars Parkin, an employee benefits broker and former president of Colorado’s Front Range Association of Health Underwriters. And experts estimate that the final regulations will be nearly 30,000 …
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Focusing on the foundation of lean culture, rather than process, provides long-term results.
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Robert W. Baird & Co., in partnership with Modern Distribution Management, conducted a survey of more than 600 distributors and manufacturers to gauge business trends and the outlook for the distribution industry in diverse sectors.
On average, respondents to the latest quarterly MDM/Baird survey said fourth-quarter revenues were up 10.3 percent year-over-year. When compared to the third quarter of 2010, respondent sales increased 6 percent.
Optimism is beginning to return in most sectors, with forecasts turning toward conservative growth. For 2011, the average forecast for respondents is revenue growth of 8.3 percent when compared to 2010.
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VIDEO: Respondents across industries expect 8.3% average growth in 2011.
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Availability of product and raw materials has become a challenge for some distributors as demand continues to improve. This article looks at the sources of the problem, the outlook for 2011, and how companies can improve forecasting in a volatile environment.
Manufacturers that had to make significant cuts to operations during the Great Recession are now struggling to ramp up, and some distributors are finding themselves unable to locate the product necessary to meet spiking demand.
“It takes time for companies who had to scale back to get back to the breadth of their product lines,” says Norbert J. Ore, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “As a result, some companies have had spot shortages, particularly of components.”
Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents to the annual MDM Reader Survey in November …
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Jade West of NAW spoke to MDM about what distributors can do to protect their companies.
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Is there a better way to approach employee motivation?
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Tax reform, health care legislation, and other issues that could have a significant impact on how business is done in the U.S. likely will be brought before the new Congress that opened its session earlier this month. Jade West, senior vice president – government relations for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, recently spoke with MDM about the top issues for distributors.
After a contentious legislative session in 2010, a changing of the guard in the U.S. House of Representatives presents a new slate of questions about the direction of legislation and regulation in 2011. What does it mean for business? “Nobody really knows for sure,” says Jade West, senior vice president – government relations for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
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While the recent recession exceeded all others in recent history, several of the issues companies are now dealing with are the same concerns they faced just nine years ago as the country was pulling out of the industrial slowdown of 2001.
Looking back at issues on Modern Distribution Management at that time provides a clear reminder that we’ve been here before, and due to the cyclical nature of business, we may face similar issues in the future.
Here are some excerpts from articles that appeared in 2002, providing perspective and thoughts to consider as you formulate your strategy for 2011 and beyond. The full copy of these articles from the MDM Archives are linked below.
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Rollercoaster economy evident in the most read stories of 2010.
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For 3M, 2010 was a good year. Revenues surpassed pre-recession levels, with organic volume growth expected to be near 14 percent for the year. But even with all the positive news, executives at the diversified manufacturer see opportunity to do better.
At 3M’s 2011 Outlook Meeting, George Buckley, president and CEO, addressed applauded the progress made on the strategic initiative introduced five years ago, but advised the company needs to stay on that path to continue strengthening its foundation going forward.
But the place any company should begin, Buckley advises, is with the core. “Unless the core is actually dead … it’s always the place where you’re likely to get the …
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In HBR blog, John Kotter says that productive conflict highlights concerns that should be addressed.
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