Once a company has been established and is profitable it may be the target of a corporate takeover. Having acquired a number of assets and equipment the value of the company must be determined before it can be sold. In some cases the owner of the company might want to sell their interest in the business and retire, at other times business that have never considered being sold might be open to discuss an offer by a competitor or corporation that is expanding its operations. With any sale, merger, or acquisition the actual value of the company in question must be qualified.

Given the type of business being sold and the number of clients it has, as well as accounting for the equipment and other assets of the firm, Georgia business brokers can determine the asking price of the company. Helping both those that are interested in selling off their corporation and those that have been approached by an outside entity the Georgia business brokers are able to identify potential buyers and assist in the negotiation of the sale. Managing every aspect of the transaction the Georgia business brokers are trained in evaluating the fair market value of an organization and setting a price that is agreeable to both parties. With the resources available to search for businesses that are for sale in addition to delivering with the valuation of a company, the individuals and organizations that are in the market to expand their offerings or diversify into other lucrative fields are able to use the services of the brokerage to find and purchase businesses that have a proven record of success. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Coisson

Industrial property is the entry point for many property investors to the commercial property industry. As a property type, industrial property is relatively straightforward with little complexity. The property owner just needs to target and strategise the following issues when looking for a property to buy:

• Stable tenants
• Achievable rentals
• Good property location
• Industrial property precinct
• Growth of the local community and business sector
• Vibrant industrial community supplying services, products, and raw materials
• Access to transport links, ports, airports, and railheads

So now let’s look at the industrial property needed today by tenants.

What do Industrial Tenants Need?

Traditional warehouses will include quality height, size, loading and unloading facilities, quality office space to support industrial operations, ample car parking for staff and customers, hardstand areas for operational flexibility, and high levels of security to protect the tenant’s goods and their operation.

Industrial tenants today are far more sophisticated and demanding when it comes to selecting a property to lease or buy. The investor should therefore select a property that has all the elements of property usage that tenants expect in the local market. Tenants know that the property will impact operational costs and eventually the bottom line of their business. Tenants will choose their property well as a consequence.

Taking the First Step to Investment in Industrial Property

Industrial warehouses are simple to construct and have a long economic life hence the investor sees it as an entry-level investment vehicle and popular. Providing they select a sound and strong tenant, and apply a good lease, the stable future of the property for investors is normally achievable.

There is very little management required on industrial property, and as direct result many private investors will manage industrial property themselves. Unfortunately this does have negative connotations, in that the first time investor sometimes has little awareness of the specialist terms and operational conditions that is supported by lease documentation on their property.

These first time investors can then overlook critical matters and make mistakes. To the experienced commercial property specialist and commercial real estate agent, it is easy to see these ‘first time’ landlord managed properties as you drive through a town or city. The errors of ownership are visually obvious. These errors can even reflect in the ultimate levels of rent and price on the property.

Invariably and importantly this self management problem will surface at final sale or rent review time when the investor has overlooked something or transacted it incorrectly. The buyers of property today will conduct a due diligence period and investigation of any property prior to settlement.

Those property owners that manage their own investments should only do so only when and if they completely understand the complexity of the task at hand. If the investors have only a basic understanding of property performance and function, then they should not self manage the property. The matter is plain and simple.

Critical property knowledge will involve key functional elements such as:

• Types of rental
• The lease clauses and provisions
• Property maintenance strategies
• Property operational costs
• Contractor management
• Vacancy resolution and strategy
• Incentive use and strategy
• Tenant negotiation skills

A good property solicitor is invaluable when it comes to Investment Property. The same should be said for a property experienced accountant. Even the most basic industrial property needs carefully prepared lease documentation and financial guidance. It is interesting to note that many first time property investors will sometimes choose cheaper lease documentation that is ‘generic’ and available off the shelf. Cheap is not a good option when it comes to documentation in investment property. You get what you pay for and so why would you take this risk?

Given that you are endeavouring to protect and stabilize cash flow, a few dollars saved on lease documentation preparation at the start of any occupancy can eventually lead to property instability or downfall, loss of tenant, higher property operational costs, and uncertainty when it comes to exercising the critical terms and conditions of the document of lease.

A good property solicitor will understand the occupancy needs of the particular property and reflect that into the document used by the landlord to protect occupancy and cash flow. The same solicitor can create a standard lease document and strategy that targets the landlord’s cash flow plans and investment targets. You will not get this advantage from ‘generic’ leases.

Industrial Properties Outgoings Advantage

Many Investors seek to purchase and to lease industrial property to major industrial businesses under long term net leases. In long term net leases, these larger tenants would normally control and pay the property outgoings direct.

The property outgoings in an industrial property are normally simple although there is an essential checking process needed here to see that the tenant is correctly paying the outgoings in a timely fashion. In many circumstances and in this market, we have seen some tenants avoid the payment of outgoings without the full awareness of the landlord. This then creates unnecessary fines and legal disputes for outstanding outgoings accounts. The landlord must not assume that the tenant has discharged or paid the outgoings; the landlord can later find that the matter is still outstanding and about to go to court for non-payment. Rates and taxes (statutory charges) are usually a charge on the land and will ultimately fall on the landlord for payment.

So whilst this process of tenant paying outgoings direct is convenient and simple for the landlord, such leases have little substantial increase in rental return which may not necessarily support the investor’s growth plans. Investors of this ‘basic’ nature typically hold a number of properties of this type over the long term to allow them to achieve portfolio growth.

With industrial property it pays to recognise that the property may be uniquely and specially suited to a particular tenant. This means that the vacancy threat in industrial property must be carefully monitored as any lease reaches the end of term. It is not unusual for industrial property to remain vacant for a lengthy period in the current market.

Mortgage Lenders and Industrial Property

Mortgage lenders for fully leased warehouses occupied on the long leases see them as being good collateral for loans. Long-term financing is typically available for industrial investors at competitive interest rates. The investors of industrial probably find it easy to refinance an expanding portfolio on the back of their established industrial and well leased property.

The secret to success in industrial property investment is to have:

• Good leases
• Good tenants
• Good vacancy awareness and minimisation strategies
• Sound recovery of property operational costs
• Good maintenance controls
• Good insurance strategies
• Minimal exposure to risk from the property
• Well established permitted use and compliances
• Good income and expenditure budgets

Industrial property is the market segment that is normally suffering early in an economic downturn. That is due to the close integration between the industrial business community and the consumer. Fortunately, it is the industrial property market that responds quickly when the economy moves towards growth and stability. Landlords should respect this fact and monitor their way through the downtimes as they will always come and go.

Investment Property is cyclical and will on average move through a complete cycle every 7 to 10 years. In today’s market, many investors know that real opportunity exists today at the beginning of a new property cycle. This cycle is currently evident in most countries and major cities.

Today’s erratic economic conditions and incredible supply chain dynamics are causing manufacturing and distribution companies to increasingly turn to network design as a strategic solution to help them satisfy customer demand, improve overall corporate performance and remain relevant in the global marketplace. Being faced with continuous challenge to compete in today’s marketplace, companies can’t afford not to explore the potential of network design and optimisation.

Designing a supply chain network is a process of evaluating alternative strategies and selecting the one that maximizes profitability and helps improve performance at each link in the chain. If delivered successfully, a network re-design and optimisation project promises to drastically improve a company’s chain performance in a variety of areas, such as transportation costs, inventory levels, etc.

The optimisation process is done through network design modeling, which provides powerful decision support functionality to understand complex supply chain relationships.

Typical Network Design Problems

Does your supply chain network optimally support the business model and objectives? If you hesitate to answer this question, you might want to consider network re-design and optimisation as a way to tackle the most challenging supply chain dilemmas your organization may face.

Network design problems are concerned with determining logistics infrastructure over a multi-year strategic planning horizon. The strategic decisions may include location and capacity of facilities and warehouses along with the sourcing allocations between them and customers. The objective is to provide the most effective solution so as to minimise total costs while providing customers with the highest possible level of service.

By applying advanced mathematical technology, network design and optimisation can also help companies determine optimal answers to various types of questions from the most strategic in nature to the most tactical.

Optimisation opportunities occur at every stage along the supply chain. The extent of a particular re-design effort depends on business considerations and the need to balance effort versus value returned.

Could Network Design & Optimisation Help Your Business?

Companies can save millions of dollars and significantly improve their supply chain performance by applying network design modeling and expert consultant services. Supply chain efficiency has a fundamental impact on the bottom line of both income statements and balance sheets of organizations.

The nature of network optimisation allows for an initial assessment of potential benefits before a large-scale project is started. The objective for companies would be to embed the optimisation results into the day-to-day operations, creating a sustainable competitive advantage.

Supply chain network design projects are usually accomplished in a matter of weeks and the payback is often realised within the first few months of implementation. Companies that focus on their supply chain network are often rewarded with a cost efficient and customer-responsive supply chain.

Typical Supply Chain Network Modeling Approach

Network modeling is a powerful tool to improve overall supply chain performance. A network optimisation process usually involves modeling a subset of a company’s products across the supply chain to determine the inventory and customer service improvements that network design and optimisation will provide.

Whether your company is looking to reduce costs, improve customer service, or be positioned for future growth, network optimisation and modeling helps develop the implementation plans required to translate strategic decisions into reality. A typical approach for modeling the supply chain network generally involves the following phases:

• Phase 1 Gather data and establish current cost and service baseline
• Phase 2 Determine logistics scenarios
• Phase 3 Develop an implementation plan

In Phase 1 of network modeling it is essential to gain a thorough understanding of your company’s overall business requirements. Durring this phase, the project team commences with gathering, cleaning and validating operational and costs data on the current network. These baseline service levels and costs will be used as the benchmark against which all other options will be compared.

Phase 2 focuses on identifying the potential scenarios to model and conducting first level scenario analysis. In this phase it is also critical to clearly articulate the key constraints and key factors to be modeled in each scenario. High-level models are built to test the potential “what ifs” and calculate the appropriate cost and service levels. Each scenario is tested for ‘robustness’ and in so doing, serves to verify and validate the network model. Models are often estimated at the SKU level, with multiple time periods, and the entire end-to-end chains are evaluated.

It is important to note that the more precise a model must be, the greater the amount of data that must be collected, the greater the accuracy required of that data and the more challenging it may be to solve the model. Every effort should be made to create reusable models that may be re-applied for future studies.

Phase 3 in network modeling is the final selection and justification of the selected network. The results must now be compared with the baseline in order to build the business case for change. This includes defining specific operating procedures, material flow policies, inventory policies and load plans. We work together with each client to help develop a road map of how to change from the existing network to the desired future state and properly determine the one-time costs.

Supply Chain Network Design Software and Tools

The network design software and tools seek to optimise performance across an entire network. These tools help companies identify tradeoffs among cost, service and the amount of capital required to support the most efficient network.

The range of tools used to create a network model can vary dramatically in complexity and detail. Simple modeling problems can be solved using Microsoft Excel and Access based models. More complex problems may require a combination of linear programming and mixed integer linear programming models.

Depending on an organisation’s needs, either cost calculators or advanced supply chain network design software tools can be used. Larger organisations (and more complex supply chain problems) may justify investment in advanced network design software tools to address specific business challenges on their own timelines. The advantage of these software tools is that the modeling constructs are often very similar to the modeling used for day-to-day supply chain planning activities. These sophisticated network modeling tools can also enable a company to increase its market share by leveraging the lower costs of an optimised chain.

For many companies who may have no need to review their networks frequently or merely want to quickly test a number of distribution network options at a high level may want to rent the software and have a qualified consultant team run the network modeling tool. Choosing a skilled team responsible for development of meaningful supply chain model and conversion of its output into a strategic plan is equally important as selecting the optimal network modeling software for your company.

Effective strategy development requires a blend of “art” and “science.” “Art” is necessary for evaluating supply chain trends and prospects and designing a sustainable network structure. “Science” is applied in the effective use of network modeling tools to create and evaluate potential logistics strategies.

A highly trained consultant team experienced in the use of advanced network design software and able to research potential strategies and analyse the operational impacts of various decisions plays a critical role in the success of any supply chain restructuring process.

Introduction

Large companies have always had a number of options that they could depend on to raise capital for their businesses. The have always had access to a number of alternatives such as selling stock, issuing bonds, bank loans and accounts receivable financing among others. Looking at the other side of the coin, smaller companies, those that have between $20,000 and $500,000 of yearly revenues, have always had a challenge trying to find capital to operate their businesses.

The lack of access to capital has prevented many small businesses from growing and capitalizing on the many opportunities that are available to them. It is not uncommon for small companies to reject large deals or opportunities because they do not have the necessary capital to obtain the resources to service the account. However, even when small businesses do take on large contracts, they find that they are never paid immediately upon delivery of services. Most contract terms demand that the supplier provide 30 to 60 days for the customer to pay their invoice – in effect, forcing them to extend them with supplier credit. The lack of adequate capital resources, along with the necessity to offer commercial credit to clients, creates a “perfect storm” that prevents small businesses from growing and that is very difficult to avoid.

A number of these issues could be sidestepped if the company had immediate access to working capital. Working capital could enable the business to add employees and resources to serve new clients and larger contracts. It also enhances a company’s ability to extend 30 to 60 day payment terms to their customers.

This paper outlines the most common sources for working capital and provides an evaluation of each source. Each source has also been assigned a score, which summarizes the availability and flexibility of the source.

Scoring System

Each working capital source that has been evaluated has been given a score from 1 to 10. The following features where considered when assigning a score:

A higher score indicates that the source of capital has a positive outlook on a number of these criteria and is available to small businesses. A lower score indicates that a particular source of capital may not be best suited for most small businesses.

Financial Options

Many books and publications tout the benefits of obtaining venture capital to finance a new or ongoing operation. Venture capital is an option for small companies that have a seasoned management team and very aggressive growth plans, however, venture capitalists will rarely invest in small businesses that have no intention of going public. The venture capitalist objective is to invest in a company for a short period of time – say 5 years – and then cash out of the business while making a significant return on their investment.

An Angel investor is a wealthy individual or group of individuals that typically invest in pre-venture capital companies. That is, companies that don’t meet the current requirements of a venture capitalist but that could meet their requirements with a capital and management influx. However, you should not rule out angel investors completely since there are angel investment groups who focus on the growth of certain communities and will invest in small businesses. The best way to find an angel investment group near to you is to search them on the Internet using a search engine such as Google (www.google.com).

Most small businesses owners will first approach their bank to try and obtain a loan or line of working capital. However, unless the business has been in operation for a number of years, has substantial assets and all the appropriate financial records, their chances of obtaining any financing are minimal. Banks, however, can provide lines of credit if the business owner personally guarantees them. This means that the business owner will be personally liable for the repayment of these loans. These lines of credit can provide the business with the needed working capital; however they can be very risky, especially if the business does not produce the expected results and the owner is unable to repay the bank. Business owners should use this method of financing very cautiously.

Much like bank lines of credit, many business owners use their credit cards to fund their businesses. Credit cards offer the ability to make purchases or obtain cash advances and pay them at a later time. It should be noted that credit cards can be a very expensive source of funding. Although most credit cards have reasonably low interest rates for purchases, their cash advance rates can be as high as 17% to 19% due to greater delinquency rates. Furthermore, most credit cards will charge you 2% to 4% of the face value of a cash advance as a “fee”. Much like bank lines of credit, the business owner personally guarantees payment of a credit card. Thus, this method of financing can be very risky if the business does not produce the expected results and the business owner cannot repay the credit card company. Business owners should use this method of financing very cautiously.

Business owners who are also homeowners have the option of tapping into their home equity to finance their ongoing business operations. Home equity loans and lines of credit have many advantages, such as low interest rates and the possibility of having some portion of it deducted from taxes . This method of financing gained a lot of momentum between the years 2000 and 2004 when interest rates where at their lowest point in decades and real estate was appreciating in value. A major disadvantage if this financing method is that it directly places the business owner’s home at risk. In fact, the business owner is placing a bet – with their home as the potential wager – that the business will succeed and will be able to repay the loan. Much like lines of credit, business owners should use this method of financing very cautiously.

The US Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) provides a number of very viable options to finance business operations. Although the whole scope of SBA services is beyond the scope of this paper, the SBA provides a “Microloan” program. The program objective is to stimulate micro-enterprises and provides loans of up to $30,000 to small businesses. These loans are usually provided through a financial institution or a bank. They have higher interest rates than traditional loans, but their requirements are more flexible, making them more accessible to small business owners.

Friends and family are one of the most conventional ways of financing small businesses. Many entrepreneurs have been able to leverage existing relationships and obtain funding, either as a loan or as a capital investment, for their businesses. Although this source of funding can be easier to obtain that others, it does have some inherent problems. First, the business owner runs the risk of placing the relationship in jeopardy if things do not go as expected and the business defaults. Furthermore, these transactions are usually done with little formality and without written agreements, further complicating matters. If you elect to use this funding option, you should consult an attorney and draw some formal documents that describe the intent and responsibilities of each party.

Accounts receivable factoring, also known as invoice factoring, has been a source of working capital for large companies for many decades. It is now becoming mainstream and available to mid-size and small businesses. Factoring enables a company to sell their slow paying accounts receivable to a financial company, who in turn pays for the invoices within a day or two. After the sale, the financial company waits to be paid for the invoices. A key feature of factoring is that the factor will take the credit strength of the business’ customers, as it’s main consideration. Until recently, accounts receivable financing was out of the reach of the small business owner. However, enhancements in technology have now turned this method of financing into a viable alternative for small businesses. This means that a small company with little or no credit can leverage a strong roster of clients, sell their invoices and get funding very quickly. Factoring should be considered as an option for businesses that sell products or services to other businesses, rather than to consumers.

Conclusion

Obtaining working capital for their businesses is one of the most important decisions that a business owner can make. Like all important decisions, it should be carefully thought out and deliberately executed. The old adage that “the best time to look for capital is when you don’t need it” is still true. You should spend some time researching the all available options for your business ahead of time, so that you can be ready to “tap” your war chest when the right opportunity arrives.

DISCLAIMER

This paper is written to provide small business owners with an overview of the financial options that are available for their businesses. However, this paper does not intend to provide financial or legal advice as only qualified professionals can do so. The author and Commercial Capital LLC disclaim all liabilities arising from the use of the information on this paper. Please consult a professional before making an important decision about your personal or business finances. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marco_Terry

Computing is as much a necessity in manufacturing and industry as it is in the office sector. As well as the many automated manufacturing processes that have to be controlled by a computer, many applications such as stock control and dispatch are now far more efficiently achieved with the help of a processor. However, the needs of industry and manufacturing are far different than those required of an office PC.

Most office hardware runs in optimum conditions: nicely air-conditioned suites, free from dust, water and without the risk of being banged or knocked by heavy machinery. Unfortunately the demands of manufacturing and industry are quite different.

Many industrial environments are dusty, dirty and grimy. Often temperatures can exceed recommendations for most computer equipment (especially if the industrial environment contains a furnace or freezer where operating conditions could be described as extreme) and fork lift trucks and pallet trucks are zipping in and out of aisles.

The requirements of an industrial PC are therefore a lot different to that of the needs for an office computer. The needs of an industrial computer will also vary dramatically depending on the industry itself. Computers used in food manufacture may have to be waterproof and intrinsically sealed to prevent explosions in potentially explosive and dusty atmospheres whilst also being made of stainless steel or other easy to clean material; yet computers in heavy industry may have to also protect from dust and dirt but be able to withstand excessive temperatures, knocks and vibrations.

Demands are high for computing in industry. Industrial machines have to cope with many hostile elements whilst also providing reliable computing. Traditionally industrial computers have been specific, bespoke machines. These industrial computers tend to run old hardware and versions of software. Whilst this has the advantage of making the machines stable and reliable, the out-dated technology may mean the processes controlled by the machine are not done as efficiently. These machines are also very expensive and have to be replaced periodically as the hardware and software will eventually become obsolete.

A better solution to the varied and extreme demands of computing in industry is to use just a conventional PC but housed in an industrial PC enclosure. This has all the benefit of a traditional industrial computer such as being able to withstand dirt, grime, dust, gas, knocks, bangs, heat and cold whilst having the flexibility of a normal PC. Allowing you to choose, repair, replace or upgrade your machine rather than awaiting an engineer. These enclosures can also be reused and will last longer than an industrial PC which will eventually fail (as all PCs do). However, the enclosure can be reused long after the original computer will have expired.

With the demands of industrial computing so variable and extreme, industrial PC enclosures offer a flexibility that even conventional industrial computer can fail to match whilst also offering the same protection and reliability for a fraction of the cost. PC enclosures are ideal for even the most hostile industrial environment and while specialist PCs will always be required for certain tasks the majority of uses for an industrial computer can be achieved using a conventional PC housed in an enclosure. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_N_Williams

Any organisation that buys goods or services from a third party is at risk from disruption of that supply. The extent to which you can cope with a sudden loss of supply is a measure of your risk. This article looks at one way to measure this risk. Most approaches to identifying the most appropriate sourcing strategy (such as Peter Kraljic’s matrix) require you to assess the supply risk of the categories you buy. The question is how do you do this efficiently and effectively?

Supply risk is a factor of three things:

- The technical complexity of the product or service and your organisation’s ability to produce the product or deliver the service itself. The structure of the supply market

- for example whether the market is dominated by a few large organisations or is a fragmented collection of small companies; and

- your organisation’s position in the supply market in terms of its leverage and power to influence suppliers.

The way to establish the supply risk is to use a 15 question model. These are the questions.

1. Technical complexity of the product or service: if this is very complex, the skills required to deliver it may be rare and expensive which creates a greater supply risk

2. Degree of standardisation: the more specialised a product or service, the fewer capable suppliers there are likely to be and so the higher the risk

3. Cost of qualifying a new supplier: a new supplier costs you money to evaluate them to ensure that they are a capable supplier. In some instances, it may be necessary to make an investment to do this, for example tooling costs or testing equipment. If suppliers are unwilling to do make this investment it decreases the number of potential suppliers and so increases supply risk

4. In-house capability to perform the service or make the product: if your organisation is able to make the product or deliver the service (even if it doesn’t do so at present) it reduces the potential risk of using external suppliers. Consequently, when considering contracting out a service or product manufacture, it is important to assess whether your capability will atrophy over time so increasing risk

5. Degree of involvement needed from suppliers to achieve your corporate objectives: if your organisation needs to form alliances or partnerships with suppliers to achieve your objectives, the more dependent you become on those suppliers

6. Technical development of the product or service: if technology is changing fast, the risk is that your current suppliers may not keep up with the prevailing technology and so be less competitive than others

7. Future market demand: as demand for a product or service declines, suppliers may increasingly withdraw from that market segment. The risk is that this will create an oligopoly or even monopoly situation with reduced leverage and so increased risk for you

8. Supply market structure: the larger the number of capable suppliers in a market, the lower the supply risk as you will have choices. Conversely, the fewer the number of suppliers, the higher the risk. The risk may increase further with fewer suppliers if they adopt a strategy of not investing but “milk” the market instead

9. Capacity utilisation of major suppliers: if the capacity utilisation of the supply market as a whole is high, there will be a high degree of potential risk as, in effect, suppliers are not dependent in the short term on keeping a particular customer’s business

10. Entry barriers for new suppliers: some products or services may require a high investment from a new supplier to enter that market. For example, acquisition of knowledge and skills, new test equipment or other fixed assets. The higher these barriers, the higher the supply risk as it may deter new entrants, particularly in markets dominated by a few powerful suppliers

11. General profitability of suppliers: this is a similar question to question 9 (see part 2 of this article) in that the more profitable suppliers are, the less likely they are to do things you want as the potential short term loss of business is not crucial to them and so the higher the risk to you

12. Your spend versus the capacity of major suppliers: in effect, this is a measure of how valuable your business is to a supplier. The higher your spend, the more important you are to the supplier and so the lower the supply risk

13. Impact of supplier performance on your costs or service to your customers: the greater the spend on a product or service, the greater the impact on your costs should the purchase cost increase. This will impact your budgets if costs are passed on by the supplier which in turn may impact profitability (or your budget if you are a public sector or not for profit organisation) if it reduces your sales or reduces the service you can deliver

14. Cost of non-delivery by a supplier: if a product or service is not delivered on time or in the right quantity or quality it can impact your ability to deliver your service or product or increase your costs

15. Your demand growth versus supply market capacity growth: this is a measure of whether you are likely to become a bigger or smaller player in the supply market. The greater your growth in demand relative to the growth of the supply market, the lower the risk as your leverage will grow.

By scoring each answer on a scale of 1 (low risk) to 10 (high risk) and adding them up, you will arrive at an overall risk for the category of between 15 (all questions rated low risk) and 150 (all questions rated high risk). One way to interpret this is that an overall score of less than 50 means the category is low risk, a score of between 50 and 100 is medium risk and a score of more than 100 is high risk. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_C_Carter

How many times have you worked with a potential new customer for months, maybe even years and you finally land that coveted first order – only to find out that your company can’t deliver what you promised?

So you call up your Customer Service, Operations Manager or Plant Manager (and anyone else that will pick up the phone) and go into a tirade on how you “can’t believe” the company can’t deliver what you promised and “just how bad things have gotten”. You are convinced that “these people” are inept and should all be unceremoniously replaced or fired.

While I’m sure every companies supply chain has room for improvement, I’m here to tell you that the fault lies with you – the salesperson -because you didn’t know your companies supply chain capabilities, and maybe more importantly the limitations of your supply chain. Is it the supply chain organizations fault that you sold the customer a five day lead time when the manufacturing plant requires seven days to make the product? Is it the fault of the supply chain organization that you sold the customer flatbed trucking deliveries and your company only has the ability to deliver via van truckloads? Immediately the customer is put off ease, you are frustrated, and the supply chain organization is scrambling to rectify the situation.

Far too often, the sales professional is solely concentrated on selling the product/service. In order to completely service the customer you not only need to fully understand your product/service but it is essential to have a thorough knowledge of your internal supply chain. The phrase supply chain has different meanings to many people.

For the purpose of this article, the definition of supply chain is any event that occurs from the time a new order is placed by the customer until it is delivered to the end user and paid for by the customer.

Innovative and new products/services are very nice to have in ones selling portfolio but the reality is that they aren’t sustainable. New products/services will come and go. New competitors will emerge. Paradigm shifts will occur (i.e. telephones to cell phones). It is my contention that your companies supply chain is what you are actually selling. It will be the reason your customer stays with you, plain and simple.

It is your responsibility to have a complete and thorough knowledge of your customer’s expectations and how they relate to your companies supply chain competencies. It is also your responsibility to communicate the changing needs of your customer base so the supply chain organization can adapt quickly to maintain profitability.

Listed below are the supply chain essentials that each sales professional should be knowledgeable of:

o Customer Service Operations. The successful salesperson should be aware of how their company takes orders (i.e. phone, fax, EDI, web, email), what information is required to accurately input an order, hours of service, the business credit application process, and what kind of visibility (the ability to know when the customer order will be delivered and what current stage in the process the order is in) the customer service agent has to any particular customer order. Most notably, the salesperson needs to be aware of how long it takes for a new customer to be set-up. You would be surprised to know just how often the first order gets delayed because basic information isn’t gathered. I strongly suggest you spend an hour or two sitting with a customer service agent and input an order or two to appreciate the detailed information they require to satisfactorily place an order.

o Computer System. Whether you are taking orders with a simple spreadsheet or a complicated ERP systems such as SAP, the winning salesperson must have basic comprehension of how the companies computer system software infrastructure works – in specific what unit of measure (UOM) does it require for the order and the appropriate associated pricing, what currency does is require for the order, electronic data interchange (EDI) capability and simple yet vital information such as ship and bill to addresses and other basic contact information.

o Logistics. Logistics is often considered the most important piece of the supply chain because it delivers the “final mile” and as such is measured as the face of the company to the customer. The successful salesperson knows the different modes of transportation his logistics department has the ability to deliver such as van, flatbed, small parcel (LTL), air, rail, barge, vessel or even regular mail. It also needs to be aware of the visibility each one provides.

o Warehousing. If your product is warehoused, the astute sales professional grasps the basic principles of warehouse operations such as pallet height, pallet weight, inbound and outbound mode abilities and hours of operations.

o Manufacturing. Understanding the manufacturing plants lead time is critical in meeting customers’ expectations. Having a working knowledge of the manufacturing process is also essential to insure you don’t promise a square when the plant can only make circles. It is also significant to know if the customer insists upon having the product bar coded and to what level (on the individual unit, case pack, pallet, etc…).

o Competitions Supply Chain. It is imperative that the salesperson have a working knowledge of the competitors supply chain capabilities.

Armed with a thorough understanding of your companies supply chain and a working knowledge of your competitors supply chain will allow you to meet and exceed your customer expectations.

During your learning process, the chances are very likely you will discover at least one area of supply chain where your business performs at a higher level as compared to your competition – whether it be superior customer service, delivery options etc… and that provides you with great selling features. It will also provide the foundation to retain the customer for years to come.

In the next article, we will explain the link between defining customer expectations, better forecasting and improved Sales and Operations Planning (S & OP) process which leads to world class customer service, lower inventories and higher profits. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Fischer

Today’s changing industries are putting higher demands on manufacturers to produce high quality industrial supplies and apparel. Being fueled by government and industry regulations, standards are increasing for safe work practices and performance industrial supplies along with personal protective equipment (PPE) and apparel. As industries continue to grow and expand their scope of work, comprehensive solutions are required to meet business needs. In addition, science and industry continue to develop new type of industrial apparel to provide protection against newly recognized hazards.

Let us take a look at how these changing factors have spurred higher demand for quality apparel, tools, equipment, and supplies.

The Regulatory World

Regulations are constantly being created, revised, and implemented. Hazards are classified and ranked and then have mandates about the best method to mitigate and prevent them. Industrial supplies play a big part in maintaining federal, state, and industry compliance with best practices. Personal protective equipment is the cornerstone of safe jobsites after engineering solutions and work practices.

One example of new federal regulations coming into effect in the near future will cover road crews working on federal highways. Workers will be required to wear high visibility clothing and products to protect them from motorists and other construction hazards. As new chemicals and other products are examined by federal agencies, new safety measures are required to protect workers from exposure.

Hazard Identification

The basis for drafting regulations comes from an industry-wide survey of hazard identification. Obviously, problems have to be investigated before new rules or products can be created. However, with the growth of industry hygienists and safety commissions, and in light of recent disasters such as major refinery accidents, identifying potential hazards on the job has seen increased focus and attention from within the industry as well as by external groups. Classes of potential harm have been expanded and applied to more industries as well. Today, blood-borne pathogens and infectious diseases are present in every work environment, not just hospitals. Clothing, PPE, and supplies designed to prevent the spread of disease and pathogens have been one area of higher demand.

As new products and processes are invented and implemented, new regulatory bodies come into existence. Old chemicals that were once thought to be benign now need to be protected against. The Right to Know Program and resulting material safety data sheets have created additional demand for high quality apparel and equipment to mitigate dangers.

Offering Versatile Protection With Industrial Apparel

Industry operates in a wide array of conditions and environments, all requiring their own unique set of solutions. Whether it is highly dangerous environments that might have radiation or nuclear waste, all the way to common dangers such as extreme temperature, fire hazards, chemical exposure, and electrical arc, industrial supplies have to be up to the task at hand.

Fires will continue to be a major source of injuries and accidents. Industrial supplies are created with safeguards to prevent fires, but workers should also be wearing flame-resistant industrial apparel in any jobsite that has the potential for flash fires or electrical fires. Flame-resistant clothing is designed to flake away when exposed to high temperatures, rather than melt to the skin like polyester or continue to burn like cotton.

Insulation and protective barriers are essential in many industries. Waterproof clothing, splash suits, and other chemically resistant industrial apparel are used in wet working conditions and in every chemical industry. Insulation is also vital for outdoor jobsites. Work with energized equipment, meaning welder’s gloves or leather-work gloves should be standard issue on every jobsite.

Growth In Industry

Even in the face of a recession, industry is still growing; stimulus programs and cheap credit have spurred more construction jobs. Basic laws of supply and demand dictate that industrial supplies will rise in demand as new jobs are created. Construction, public safety, and public utilities are all expanding and generating demand for high performance supplies and protective industrial apparel. New jobs created with federal money also come with the stipulation that contractors adhere to government regulations on safety, further generating demand for products.

In the long term, demand is being created by a growth in industry, new regulations and compliance laws, the identification of new hazards and chemical agents, and a general increase in awareness in how high performance products, supplies, and personal protective equipment are necessary for safe jobsites and overall worker safety. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_A_Palmer

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