On the pages of USGlass News Forum I wrote the top ten list of statements you don't want to hear from a temperer, so let's take a serious look at tempering suppliers.
In creating a list of characteristics of tempering suppliers, there are 75 features that came to mind. Some are petty and some are extremely important.
Number a page 1-25, and write in the numbers of those characteristics from the most important to those of lesser importance. E-mail your list to paulbaseball@msn.com, or fax to 603-242-3527. We'll post a summary of your replies in three weeks.
1. Can do 1/8.
2. Can do 5/8.
3. Can do 3/4.
4. Can do as small as 6 x 6.
5. Can do as small as 12 x 12.
6. Capacity up to 72 wide.
7. Capacity up to 84 wide.
8. Capacity up to 96 wide.
9. Capacity up to 120 wide.
10. Capacity up to 168 long.
11. Capacity up to 180 long.
12. Capacity up to 200 long.
13. Can mitre and bevel front and back.
14. Can polish and mitre shaped glass.
15. Cuts shapes with a water jet.
16. Has automated and consistent shape catalog.
17. Stocks all standard colors.
18. Stocks 3 or more patterns of obscure glass.
19. Stocks 3/8 pattern glass for shower doors.
20. Is also a laminator.
21. Is also an insulator.
22. Sells only to the glass trade on a wholesale basis.
23. Does ceramic frit spandrel.
24. Does opaci-coat(tm) spandrel.
25. Does silk screen patterns for spandrel or vision.
26. Manufactures all glass entrance systems.
27. Stocks door hardware for resale.
28. Provides engineering services for all glass doors.
29. Stocks shower door hardware for resale.
30. Helps with designs for shower doors for free.
31. Helps with designs for shower doors for a fee.
32. Meets ASTM standards for quality.
33. Exceeds ASTM standards for quality.
34. All glass marked with accurate shipping labels.
35. Shower doors are wrapped and protected.
36. On time exceeds 90%.
37. On time exceeds 95%.
38. On time exceeds 98%.
39. Remakes are next day.
40. Remakes are 3 days.
41. Design help for wind load, thermal stress, weight.
42. Union shop.
43. Non-union shop.
44. Crane equipped flat bed trucks.
45. Ability to hoist above first floor.
46. Minimum pricing of 5 sq ft.
47. Minimum pricing of 7 sq ft.
48. Minimum pricing of 10 sq ft.
49. Pricing based on size of particular order.
50. Consistent pricing regardless of order size.
51. Open account terms.
52. Cash discount for prompt payment.
53. Accepts credit card payments.
54. Friendly telephone support.
55. Knowledgeable telephone support.
56. Friendly field sales support.
57. Knowledgeable field sales support.
58. Independent company.
59. Part of large national company.
60. Does advertising that helps your shop.
61. Communicates well on problems.
62. Communicates well on down-time.
63. Protects you if your customer calls for pricing.
64. Company has and follows ethical standards.
65. Boxes glass according to schedules.
66. Will ship to job sites.
67. Will ship to secure job sites, like airports.
68. Has useful web site.
69. Allows direct ordering via web site.
70. Gives order status via web site.
71. Sends samples for free.
72. Charges for samples.
73. Understands heat soaking.
74. Does heat soaking.
75. Anything else you want_____________.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Load Up The Car...It's Vacation Time
How often do you truly get to take a vacation? If you are like most of us, including me, vacations as youngster were spent visiting grandparents and other assorted relatives. Vacations were not for fun, be on your best behavior, OR ELSE!
When my family starts I will never let that happen to my kids.
Except we lived on Long Island while Elaine's parents lived on Cape Cod, and mine in Sarasota, Florida. You guessed it. And when we went to Florida, we couldn't go to Disney because Grandma and Grandpa wanted to spend every day visiting their friends showing off the two most beautiful and smartest grand kids in the world. Even though my Mom was right, it sure was boring.
On the Cape we would take all morning to pack lunches and sunscreens to go the three miles to the beach getting there by three in the afternoon. The saving grace was evening baseball at the Cape Cod League.
What does this have to do with the glass industry? Well, Even though I was having all the fun in the world, I called in every day. Whether it was CRL, Floral Glass or Oldcastle Glass. When I was just a rookie, I couldn't afford to miss a single call from a customer. When I was a rookie manager, I couldn't miss a single call from an employee to help solve a problem. Becoming the top dog, I would spend an hour a day on vacation calling to hear messages, and of course, shape the world.
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a young manager was thinking that I was the only person who could solve a problem or make a deal. I wanted my staffs to find me, even on vacation, rather then stick their necks out.
I thought this was a benefit to them...they wouldn't have to make the wrong choices.
Finally, about fifteen years ago I learned the magic question to ask when an employee tracked me down--what would you do if you couldn't find me? It turns out my people were a heck of lot better than I had given them credit for, because they could and did begin to make the right calls.
Call ins became short and shorter as people began to make and implement their own decisions. Finally realizing my people were great allowed me more time to grow and move into new ideas and products as our people successfully did the day-to-day work.
The world of computers helped too. Reading a few minutes of e-mail is better than an hour of phone calls.
Here is my advice to every manager. Train your people to handle all but the most significant problems. Praise them for making decisions rather than letting indecision rule. If you disagree with their decision, teach them in a positive way what might have been done differently. Leave clear lines of authority that should be accessed before calling you on vacation. When this works out, you will have trained a great staff.
Also, turn off your cell phone, your Blackberry and your pager. Enjoy your vacation. Remember...hot dogs taste better at the ballpark.
When my family starts I will never let that happen to my kids.
Except we lived on Long Island while Elaine's parents lived on Cape Cod, and mine in Sarasota, Florida. You guessed it. And when we went to Florida, we couldn't go to Disney because Grandma and Grandpa wanted to spend every day visiting their friends showing off the two most beautiful and smartest grand kids in the world. Even though my Mom was right, it sure was boring.
On the Cape we would take all morning to pack lunches and sunscreens to go the three miles to the beach getting there by three in the afternoon. The saving grace was evening baseball at the Cape Cod League.
What does this have to do with the glass industry? Well, Even though I was having all the fun in the world, I called in every day. Whether it was CRL, Floral Glass or Oldcastle Glass. When I was just a rookie, I couldn't afford to miss a single call from a customer. When I was a rookie manager, I couldn't miss a single call from an employee to help solve a problem. Becoming the top dog, I would spend an hour a day on vacation calling to hear messages, and of course, shape the world.
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a young manager was thinking that I was the only person who could solve a problem or make a deal. I wanted my staffs to find me, even on vacation, rather then stick their necks out.
I thought this was a benefit to them...they wouldn't have to make the wrong choices.
Finally, about fifteen years ago I learned the magic question to ask when an employee tracked me down--what would you do if you couldn't find me? It turns out my people were a heck of lot better than I had given them credit for, because they could and did begin to make the right calls.
Call ins became short and shorter as people began to make and implement their own decisions. Finally realizing my people were great allowed me more time to grow and move into new ideas and products as our people successfully did the day-to-day work.
The world of computers helped too. Reading a few minutes of e-mail is better than an hour of phone calls.
Here is my advice to every manager. Train your people to handle all but the most significant problems. Praise them for making decisions rather than letting indecision rule. If you disagree with their decision, teach them in a positive way what might have been done differently. Leave clear lines of authority that should be accessed before calling you on vacation. When this works out, you will have trained a great staff.
Also, turn off your cell phone, your Blackberry and your pager. Enjoy your vacation. Remember...hot dogs taste better at the ballpark.
Monday, June 11, 2007
It's Father's Day, of Course
Of course it is, it is the one day a year that Fathers don't have ten thumbs, can dance smoothly and in the eyes of their kids are smart.
My Dad came home from four years in the Army in WWII, and suddenly my Brother and I were in the family. I cried a lot from colic, and my Dad used to say 'Baby Boomers' was created based on my voice. He was not home too much as we grew up because my Dad held a variety of traveling sales jobs.
My Dad, Lester, with his schedule, didn't help me with homework, and really didn't teach me business. He did better. His lessons to me were based on religion and caring about people, especially family. In all of his travelings around Ohio, he would always make it home for Friday night and Saturday morning synagogue services. To this day, I'm not sure that I agree with his firmness in the history of the Bible, but I share his beliefs that respect for all people is the number one goal of all people. My Dad respected all people, with the broad exception of our enemies in World War II. He was a medical corpsman in Africa and Italy and saw the killing and wounding of his friends. Up to his death four years ago, he would not buy a Japanese or German car.
The only business concept I remember from Him is: never lie to a customer. It is better to tell the truth, that something will be late, or broken, rather than wait and keep putting off the phone call. He said this practice kept his customers respecting him, even though he might have lost the sale.
The other life-long love I received from my Dad was his love of baseball. He didn't like to tell war stories, so when we were together, he would tell me about baseball games he had gone to as a child. Ball games in Cleveland were never about championships, but about the champions that came to play in Cleveland. He told me of Ruth and Gehrig, Tris Speaker and Cy Young and many other greats now living in Cooperstown. What a wonderful education this was.
Our son is not going into the business world. He is a history and archeology student in college, and will go into teaching. Right now he is in Macedonia, one of the former Yugoslavian Republics, on an archaeological dig. He has done this for a couple of summers now and just loves it. When he was packing for this years trip he packed his baseball glove and a ball. I asked him about it. He said that he will find someone to play catch with. Philip said "that baseball was a universal language. You can play catch with anyone, you don't have to speak any language, you don't have to discuss politics, you just toss the ball. There is no hatred among people with a baseball in their hands. "
I am proud that my Father taught me, and that this love of the game was passed through to my son.
On the US Glass Forum I am asking people to share a quick story about their Father. We'll see you there.
My Dad came home from four years in the Army in WWII, and suddenly my Brother and I were in the family. I cried a lot from colic, and my Dad used to say 'Baby Boomers' was created based on my voice. He was not home too much as we grew up because my Dad held a variety of traveling sales jobs.
My Dad, Lester, with his schedule, didn't help me with homework, and really didn't teach me business. He did better. His lessons to me were based on religion and caring about people, especially family. In all of his travelings around Ohio, he would always make it home for Friday night and Saturday morning synagogue services. To this day, I'm not sure that I agree with his firmness in the history of the Bible, but I share his beliefs that respect for all people is the number one goal of all people. My Dad respected all people, with the broad exception of our enemies in World War II. He was a medical corpsman in Africa and Italy and saw the killing and wounding of his friends. Up to his death four years ago, he would not buy a Japanese or German car.
The only business concept I remember from Him is: never lie to a customer. It is better to tell the truth, that something will be late, or broken, rather than wait and keep putting off the phone call. He said this practice kept his customers respecting him, even though he might have lost the sale.
The other life-long love I received from my Dad was his love of baseball. He didn't like to tell war stories, so when we were together, he would tell me about baseball games he had gone to as a child. Ball games in Cleveland were never about championships, but about the champions that came to play in Cleveland. He told me of Ruth and Gehrig, Tris Speaker and Cy Young and many other greats now living in Cooperstown. What a wonderful education this was.
Our son is not going into the business world. He is a history and archeology student in college, and will go into teaching. Right now he is in Macedonia, one of the former Yugoslavian Republics, on an archaeological dig. He has done this for a couple of summers now and just loves it. When he was packing for this years trip he packed his baseball glove and a ball. I asked him about it. He said that he will find someone to play catch with. Philip said "that baseball was a universal language. You can play catch with anyone, you don't have to speak any language, you don't have to discuss politics, you just toss the ball. There is no hatred among people with a baseball in their hands. "
I am proud that my Father taught me, and that this love of the game was passed through to my son.
On the US Glass Forum I am asking people to share a quick story about their Father. We'll see you there.
Monday, June 4, 2007
We get letters
A couple of weeks ago Max Perilstein answered questions sent to his blog. I loved his column, so we are going to do the same thing today!
A gentleman from the Midwest asked what I thought the future of the glass shops would be.
Well, this could be a book by itself, but in one paragraph here goes. Glass shops need to become experts in quotations and installations. More and more glass is custom tempered, hi-performance IG, and lami. The day of the 'plate glass replacement' is gone. Glass shops will be stocking less products, depending on fabricators for manufactured products. Preparing job estimates that create profitable sales and giving outstanding customer service when the order comes in will separate the winners from the losers.
A lady from the Northeast asks "How can she compete with the large buying power of the auto chains who are slowly beginning to do flat glass?"
To me this is an easy one...great service beats pricing in just about every part of our industry. I never want to be the cheapest guy on the block. You may loose a job or two if price is the only criteria, but then realize that the person who buys on price only will never be a repeat customer. You'll loose the next job for a dollar. The real money can be made from repeat business with a good paying customer.
The same is true in how you spend your money as well. Give your repeat business to the fabricators and distributors who give you the best service.
There was a hit-me-in-the-face note from a former employee at Floral Glass..."Paul, how can you tell everyone how important employee reviews are when you forgot to do mine one year?"
Oops! You have to set goals. And reach them just about all of the time. If you don't reach every goal, learn from it. Look at your time management and make sure that if you can't reach every goal, that you do the prioritizing, not the ringing phone. When you can't do something, make sure you communicate the change to all concerned.
A glass shop owner from New York asked, "What should I concentrate my efforts on, managing my current business or getting more business?" I told him it was too broad a topic without doing a couple of days there to study his business, but, it is better to run what you have efficiently, rather than reach for the pot of gold. I also told him to make his shop the safest shop he could...the dollars spent on worker's comp plus lost productivity from an accident can strain an otherwise successful glass business.
My last letter to share with you was from a glass shop in the Midwest. He stated that we are spending too much time and effort discussing low-e. He doesn't push it in his shop because customers don't ask for it. He stated that low-e is fine in high rises but will never catch on in middle America.
I politely asked him if he had a good shop and some decent equipment, because sooner rather than later, there will be an auction of his shop.
A gentleman from the Midwest asked what I thought the future of the glass shops would be.
Well, this could be a book by itself, but in one paragraph here goes. Glass shops need to become experts in quotations and installations. More and more glass is custom tempered, hi-performance IG, and lami. The day of the 'plate glass replacement' is gone. Glass shops will be stocking less products, depending on fabricators for manufactured products. Preparing job estimates that create profitable sales and giving outstanding customer service when the order comes in will separate the winners from the losers.
A lady from the Northeast asks "How can she compete with the large buying power of the auto chains who are slowly beginning to do flat glass?"
To me this is an easy one...great service beats pricing in just about every part of our industry. I never want to be the cheapest guy on the block. You may loose a job or two if price is the only criteria, but then realize that the person who buys on price only will never be a repeat customer. You'll loose the next job for a dollar. The real money can be made from repeat business with a good paying customer.
The same is true in how you spend your money as well. Give your repeat business to the fabricators and distributors who give you the best service.
There was a hit-me-in-the-face note from a former employee at Floral Glass..."Paul, how can you tell everyone how important employee reviews are when you forgot to do mine one year?"
Oops! You have to set goals. And reach them just about all of the time. If you don't reach every goal, learn from it. Look at your time management and make sure that if you can't reach every goal, that you do the prioritizing, not the ringing phone. When you can't do something, make sure you communicate the change to all concerned.
A glass shop owner from New York asked, "What should I concentrate my efforts on, managing my current business or getting more business?" I told him it was too broad a topic without doing a couple of days there to study his business, but, it is better to run what you have efficiently, rather than reach for the pot of gold. I also told him to make his shop the safest shop he could...the dollars spent on worker's comp plus lost productivity from an accident can strain an otherwise successful glass business.
My last letter to share with you was from a glass shop in the Midwest. He stated that we are spending too much time and effort discussing low-e. He doesn't push it in his shop because customers don't ask for it. He stated that low-e is fine in high rises but will never catch on in middle America.
I politely asked him if he had a good shop and some decent equipment, because sooner rather than later, there will be an auction of his shop.
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