SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA – The Fastener Training Institute (FTI), the leading nonprofit provider of fastener training opportunities, announced the appointment of Greg Rawlings as its newest Board of Directors member.

Rawlings is the current president of Nylok LLC, a Marmon Holdings company that is part of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. group. Nylok is a value-added solutions provider of resin, adhesive and lubricant coatings for threaded fastener applications with five facilities in North America and business partners in 31 different countries across the globe. He has served in various roles at the company over the past 12 years including sales, engineering and management positions.

From the NAW Blog:

As companies build their plans for growth in this new year, it’s a good time to leverage sales analytics to build actionable sales goals. Sadly, for many distributors, sales planning has historically been anecdotal, intuitive and virtually data-free. Aside from knowing what a customer (or group of customers) bought last year, and then guessing at how that might change this year, there is painfully little insight to identify, organize, drive and measure the daily activities that actually accelerate profitable, organic growth.

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From the NAW Blog:

Pricing is one of the most complex day-to-day decisions in any business environment, and the distribution industry is no exception. In fact, pricing is the most critical profitability lever for wholesaler-distributors due to their position in the supply chain, ever-increasing competition, and other business forces like commoditization and globalization.

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From Link Magazine:

For decades there has been the argument that much of the work taking place in large office spaces could be accomplished from home. Businesses were loath to test the theory for fear that there would be a reduction in employee productivity, but now, out of necessity, more and more businesses are realizing that the opposite is true. Employees are embracing the challenge; with Covid here for the foreseeable future, working from home effectively is one way to help your business survive.

EFC International is pleased to announce the addition of air filter clips and specialty air filter fasteners, manufactured by Springfield Spring & Stamping, to their product line.

Springfield Spring & Stamping is a manufacturer of standard and custom air filter holding frame clips in the United States. The product line is complementary to EFC’s current HVACR product offerings including wire routing components, caps, plugs, clamps, rivet-nuts, panel fasteners, specialty nuts, bolts and screws.

From the NAW Blog:

It’s 2019 and more than 197 million people visit Amazon each month to browse more than 12 million products, according to BigCommerce. The numbers go up every day. But distributors don’t need to be afraid of Amazon. They need to innovate and sell to customers the way today’s customers want to buy. It’s that simple.

A Caliper Talent Management Article:

Did you know that 64% of job applicants don’t respond to bad Job Descriptions? Learn how Caliper says to write job descriptions that work:

A Caliper Talent Management Article:

Are you still relying on annual reviews to manage Employee Development? Caliper shows you why coaching is the way to go.

EFC International is pleased to announce the addition of a new product line, Normont Motion Technology. Normont products include gas springs, dampers, and custom motion control solutions. The product line is complementary to EFC’s current motion control product offerings including components from ITW Motion such as rotary dampers, linear dampers, air dampers, hinge dampers and latches.

Normont is a leading manufacturer of industrial, automotive, and aerospace gas spring & hydraulic dampening solutions. These products can be found in numerous applications for automotive, truck, bus, heavy machinery, ATM machines, riding mowers, emergency vehicles, recreational vehicles and many other industries.  

NAW’s archive of past webinars provides you with the best content from distribution's leading business and supply chain experts! 

Discover these two on-demand webinars that feature first looks at NAW's brand-new study:
Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change® Series

Welcome to the Age of B2B Innovation

News from NAW:

In another of our many efforts to restore sound labor policy after years of pro-labor activism, NAW has joined in another amicus brief in a case before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  In this case, the Board is considering whether inappropriate employee activity and conduct should forfeit the protection of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and whether handbook rules that prohibit that behavior should be permissible.  Specifically, the Board is considering whether employee activity/behavior that is – among other things – profane, sexually explicit, racially insensitive, degrading, repugnant, bullying, uncivil, etc., should be considered protected activity.  Click here to view the brief.

From the NAW Blog:

Over the last many years, distributors have faced down one challenge after another including the emergence of big-box retailers, disintermediation by manufacturers, the financial crisis of 2008 and more. Distribution survived because of the strength of their customer relationships and an ongoing commitment to gain efficiencies by investing in business systems and information technology. Faced with new disruptive threats, this trend is continuing as distributors invest in e-commerce platforms and a wide range of digital tools.

A new season of hiring means welcoming lots of new members to the team. Change can be challenging, so it’s important to focus on creating a long-term plan for your new hire’s success within your organization. This helps build an employee development framework for both you and the individual so they can make a smooth transition and feel empowered to take on their new role, while working toward their career goals and meeting organizational needs.

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The summer and holiday months are a busy time of year for many employers. Many companies ramp up their hiring during this time to accommodate the influx of demand from consumers and travelers. As such, hiring managers receive a deluge of applications, and they need to have a strategy in place in order to get through the high volume of resumes in a timely and effective manner, while remaining thorough and without sacrificing standards. This year, for example, UPS estimates that they will bring on an additional 100,000 employees for the holiday season. The challenge becomes, how do you manage a high volume of candidates while maintaining the integrity of your hiring process? How do you think about and frame the conversation of professional development when it’s seasonal work?

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An Update from NAW:

Last week the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued their notice of proposed rulemaking on updates to the current hours of service rules.  Based on NAW’s initial assessment it appears that FMCSA agreed with many of the points NAW made in our submitted comments on October 9, 2018 (click here to read NAW’s comments). 

We were all shocked and saddened to learn that Joe Greenslade passed away suddenly on Wednesday, October 23, at age 71.

Joe served as IFI’s Technical Director from 2007 until 2015. He was a fastener industry icon and highly respected and admired. Joe had a refreshing “can do” approach, an ability to build consensus, a knack for simple solutions, and a gentle, kind and jovial personality that endeared him to all. Joe thoroughly enjoyed working in the fastener industry and was always fully committed to completing anything he set out to accomplish.

NORWALK, CT - Fastener Fair USA, North America’s fastest-growing exposition for the fastener industry, will hold its third annual trade show and conference in May in Charlotte, NC, a major manufacturing hub. The event for the entire fastener supply chain runs May 18-20, 2020 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

We were shocked and saddened to learn last week that Joe Greenslade passed away suddenly on Wednesday, October 23.

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