DisTribute

Customer Spotlight: Alex Wheelock, Connector Specialists Inc.

Tribute customer Alex Wheelock of Connector Specialists Inc. was featured in a recent article in Industrial Distribution on future leaders in Industrial Distribution. We've excerpted the article here.

By Joe Nowlan
Associate Editor, Industrial Distribution

Industrial Distribution's annual look at some promising young distribution leaders focuses on four individuals who, with one exception, didn't exactly plan their professional lives with industrial distribution in mind.

Pre-distribution careers in this year's group include a TV sports anchor, an Internet start-up owner and an (almost) school teacher. All four, though, retain the enthusiasm and passion of a newly minted college graduate for their work—despite being steeped in the industry for many years now.

This enthusiasm is not unusual, and may even be essential for successful distributors, says Don Envick, professor of industrial distribution at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. “[Successful distribution professionals] keep their own morale up,” Envick points out. “So they keep themselves and their staff jacked up.”

The four executives profiled this year also display an ongoing curiosity and eagerness for acquiring new skills. “They are constantly learning,” Envick agrees. “They easily adapt and reshape themselves to the new realities.”

Another trait young executives must possess: The ability to use their knowledge to move into new areas. “They are risk-takers, for sure,” Envick says. “Being born into an ambiguous and uncertain world, they're actually comfortable winging it…. [But] they hold themselves personally accountable for outcomes.”

Alex Wheelock
Connector Specialists Inc., St. Rose, La.

Alex Wheelock, Vice President of Connector Specialists Inc., can tell stories of the time he threw passes to Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. He can also tell you what it's like to be on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. In a previous career, the 31-year-old Wheelock was a weekend TV sports anchor after graduating with a bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from Mississippi State University.

A life-long sports fan, it seemed like the ideal job. At first. But the combination of low pay and crazy hours made Wheelock think about another career. At one point, sports itself became more work and less fun.

“The hours were driving me nuts,” he says, referring to the mostly weekend and late-night demands. “I'd get home at night and the last thing I'd want to do was turn on yet another game. Eventually, watching sports became work, like any other job.” He also evaluated his career path. “I didn't feel I was making anyone's life better,” he adds.

Wheelock grew up in the New Orleans area, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. His family was close friends with Edward Sutton and his family, founder of Connector Specialists. Based in St. Rose, La., Connector Specialists is a full-line Parker Fluid connector and automation house, Wheelock explains.

While Wheelock respected the company and Sutton's accomplishments, he didn't see it as a career. But as the appeal of being a sports reporter faded, he began to revise his viewpoint. He'd always had an informal standing offer to work at Connector Specialists and decided to give it a try.

“So I gave in and decided to see what the business was like,” Wheelock says. “I wasn't there for three months before I fell in love with [it]. I've been enjoying it ever since.

“Our motto is 'Your Solutions Partner.' From day one, that was the attraction. Even today, with a lot of my focus on operations and sales issues, the driving motivation is how we can be viewed as not just a vendor to our customers, but as a trusted solutions adviser and partner.”

The vast majority of his customers work in oil and gas exploration, Wheelock says. But neither he nor the company worries about putting too many eggs in that one industry's basket.

“We're kind of unique in that 80 to 85 percent of our business is in oil and gas,” he says. “We've been putting together record months because of what's going on in oil and gas. Much of what we do is in offshore drilling. Those dollars were invested long ago and they don't tend to react to the price fluctuations of the barrel price of oil the way land drilling does.”

Drilling into 6,000 feet of water, offshore oil rigs are expensive propositions, both because of the costs of the parts and machinery as well as insurance costs and other liabilities. “When you're talking about $500,000 a day just to stay up and running, you can't stop because of what they refer to as a 'blip in the radar' with oil prices,” Wheelock says.

Wheelock has stood on the rigs and it left a vivid impression. “To see one, to go out and actually see one of these deep-water, semi-submersible rigs is amazing,” he says. Sutton was among those whom Wheelock considers a mentor in his career. Sutton passed away six years ago and his wife, Joanne Sutton, continues to run Connector Specialists.

“She has always been a mentor to me, too,” he says. “Bill Eaton [former vice president of distribution at Connector Specialists], who was at Parker, was someone I'd turn to for advice and support. He's retired but I still call him sometimes.”

And while he may not have been an actual influence on his career, Wheelock does have that Jerry Rice story. During his sports reporting days, he was the weekend sports anchor and weekday sports reporter at WXVT, a CBS affiliate in Greenville, Miss.

Rice, considered by most football observers to have been the greatest receiver of all time, has family in the Greenville area. “He just happened to be in town visiting and I caught up with him at a high school track and we did a feature with him,” he recalls. “So I got to throw him some passes.”

Rice became a Hall of Fame player in large part because of his remarkable level of focus and motivation. It is a motivation that Wheelock tries to apply to his work in distribution. “The motivation is how we can help the customer better than our competition,” he says.

For the full article, click here.

The Benefits of Inventory Sharing

by Mark Tomalonis

Say you’ve just won the lottery and you’re ready to plunk down some of that hard earned money on your dream car - let’s just use a Ferrari California as an example –- and you want a specific color – the dark red Rosso Mugello. You head on over to your local dealer and find that he doesn’t have it on his lot. However, that’s not going to stop the dealer from relieving you of a portion of your new found wealth; he can quickly and easily find exactly what you’re looking for by searching the database of all available cars at Ferrari dealers across the country.

Car dealers can do that. How can independently owned wholesaler-distributors emulate that system for their inventory needs? By utilizing Inventory-Sharing.

What is Inventory-Sharing?

“Inventory-Sharing” is formal collaboration of a manufacturer and its franchised wholesaler-distributors. Separate collections of inventory are virtually combined, increasing channel efficiency. Demand by one party is fulfilled by available inventory owned by another party. Inventory-sharing is more than dumping dead inventory or living off others’ inventory investment - it is true synergy between peer wholesaler-distributors. For many independent wholesaler distributors, inventory-sharing can be a game-changer.

Win-Win-Win

Inventory-sharing benefits manufacturers, wholesaler-distributors and end-customers.

Benefits for a manufacturer:

• Improved brand reputation because of better product availability throughout the distribution channel
• Increased manufacturing efficiency due to fewer small quantity manufacturing runs and expedited delivery crises
• Reduction in unwanted inventory in the distribution channel, reducing the pressure to take it back and improving the financial health of the distribution channel

Benefits for a distributor:

• Fewer lost orders and backorders, increasing revenue and decreasing open order management time and costs
• Outlet for slow moving inventory for improved asset recovery and financial health
• Opportunity for incremental revenue from sales to like-franchised distributors

Benefits for customers:

• Improved product availability from a local source, reducing PO fulfillment delays and open PO management costs

WarehouseTWO Expands Beyond Original Scope

Since the creation of WarehouseTWO for its target group, other manufacturers and their communities of like-franchised distributors have discovered this easy-to-deploy tool. Integra Companies, Inc. of Devens, MA is a distributor of high purity and sanitary fluid-handling products. While there are only six members within the franchise sales channel Integra Companies participates in, these six hold 80% of the available inventory. Obviously, an inventory-sharing tool is of great benefit to these distributors.

WarehouseTWO is so easy to utilize, Integra was able to do the inventory upload from the TrulinX system on their own. Instrument Associates, Inc., a distributor of instrumentation, filtration, hose, piping, and industrial products also utilizes WarehouseTWO to expand its inventory capabilities.

Keys to Successful Inventory-Sharing

Successful inventory-sharing depends on getting to “critical mass” within a community of peer wholesaler-distributors. Factors that influence getting to “critical mass” include:

• Commitment by you to build your community to “critical mass” (i.e., active participation by multiple peer distributors within a franchise, buying group or trade association community)
• Active involvement by the manufacturer, or buying group, or trade association
• Inventory posted by at least five peer distributors; the more, the better
• Automated inventory postings; the more current the data is, the better
• Change in behavior among participants’ customer service / inside sales people; they must view backorders as something to fill quickly, by searching for available inventory among participating peer distributors
• Change in behavior among participants’ purchasing / inventory control people; use of WarehouseTWO’s “BARGAIN HUNT” feature to purchase stock items at distress sale prices
• Inventory-sharing as a standing topic at distributor advisory council meetings
• Expansion of inventory-sharing activity to multiple product lines and peer distributor communities

Is Inventory Sharing Right for You?

Not sure if inventory-sharing is viable for your company? WarehouseTWO has come up with a list of “eligibility factors” for you to consider. The more that apply to your business, the more you can gain from formalized inventory-sharing. Click Here for a handy list of eligibility factors.

Think outside your box!
Mark Tomalonis is the President of WarehouseTWO. For more information on WarehouseTWO and successful inventory-sharing contact him at:

Mark Tomalonis
WarehouseTWO
PO Box 1567
Palo Alto, CA 94302
650-329-1592
http://www.warehousetwo.com/

Customer Spotlight: Harry "Buzz" Hooper, Rubber & Accessories Inc.

We would like to congratulate long time customer Harry "Buzz" Hooper on receiving the George W. Carver award at the annual NAHAD meeting this past week in Tucson, Arizona. NAHAD celebrated their 25th anniversary by honoring Harry's long record of service as one of its founding members. 

The George W. Carver award is named for the association's third president, the late George W. Carver, and given in memory of "his spirit and his quiet, firm commitment to teamwork and excellence."

Hooper, the first president of NAHAD and vice president of Rubber & Accessories Inc. in Lakeland, Florida was recognized for "his critical role in the formation, development, leadership and continued support of NAHAD since its inception in 1984," NAHAD officials said.

Leadership in the industry runs in the family, as Hooper's daughter, Jackie Britt, president of Rubber and Accessories Inc., served as NIBA's (The Belting Association) president last year. 

We congratulate Buzz on this well deserved honor and salute his leadership in the industry.

How Sales Managers can Survive Price Warfare

By Robert Nadeau

The economic downturn has dramatically changed the spending environment in most industries.

Mandatory spending has come under much greater scrutiny and discretionary spending has all but dried up.

Hungry competitors chasing a shrinking dollar pot create a perfect recipe for price warfare.

Many sales managers face a choice: let their salespeople drop prices, or ask them to defend higher prices.

In the current issue of his newsletter, Robert Nadeau of the Industrial Performance Group describes the best way to survive in a tight spending environment.

Click here to read this informative article.

Trust is the New Competitive Advantage

By Tim Reynolds

Peter Bregman of the Harvard Business Review recently posted an article explaining Why Small Companies Will Win in This Economy – and stated that “Small is the New Big”. Bregman says that “small companies with low overhead, reliable owners, a small number of committed employees, personal client relationships, and sustainable business models that drive a reasonable profit are the great opportunity of our time.”

Decision makers are moving away from bigger companies as their service providers to smaller, more flexible companies. He argues that this ultimately comes down to trust between people. Clients want accountability – they want commitment to their companies and the ability to pick up the phone and know who to talk to if the work isn’t done to their satisfaction.

Bergman writes that “The gap of confidence between small companies and big ones is growing. We used to rely on the security of big companies … but with the virtual collapse of AIG, Lehman, Citibank, GM, Chrysler and many more, all that’s changed. We simply don’t trust companies anymore. We trust people.”

Bregman’s post brought to mind an article I wrote for Modern Distribution Management in May 2005 on consolidations in the software industry. At the time, the industry was in the midst of a merger and acquisitions frenzy. Smaller software companies that had not reinvested in technology were gobbled up by larger players in the business, usually backed by Private Equity Groups (PEG’s). These acquisitions were attractive to PEG’s because the user base of the acquired software company would continue to pay their annual maintenance fees, support fees, and other revenues related to maintaining the software, without the cost of continued investment in the acquired software package.

In the standard M&A strategy, the consolidating company continues basic support to the acquired clients but pushes them to migrate to their “bigger and better” application. That gives them the benefit of a new sale and the opportunity to increase their re-occurring revenue. While some argue that ERP consolidations have not been a bad deal and that companies end up with a vendor with deeper pockets and a broader geographic reach, many others disagree, citing reduction in the quality of support and the discontinuation of innovations for their particular product or industry.

It is not in the best interest of a PEG to invest in the old software’s redevelopment, so they will encourage their clients to migrate from their “legacy” systems to a new system. In fact, one of our competitors, Activant, states as much on their website. “With such a mix of different legacy ERP systems under Activant’s umbrella, customers might be concerned about how much support they would continue to receive. Activant won’t be abandoning anyone, but it also won’t be continuing development on all those systems.” They go on to say that future development will focus on two of their primary offerings. If you’re the owner of a legacy system under Activant, it’s easy to see what the future holds for you.

How forceful the PEG’s will be about pushing the migration depends upon the length of time since the acquisition. Many of these “legacy systems” are now coming up on the five year mark since acquisition and the PEG’s are drastically increasing support fees as a way to force orphaned customers to migrate to their "newer and better" system. Distributors on legacy systems today have the option to stay with the large Private Equity Group owned software companies and accept the higher support costs and lower quality service, or they can look to smaller, niche-oriented companies that value relationships, trust, and above all, customer service.

Bregman’s article had a paragraph that summarized my philosophy on business, which I suspect is the same as many other small business owners operating today.

“There are hundreds of thousands of … small companies that aren’t making millions but provide a good living for the people that work for them. Niche companies whose owners are trying to build sustainable businesses they love rather than fast-growing companies they can flip. They have no intention of retiring. They like working in them. And their clients know that. Which is why they have a loyal customer base willing to invest in the relationship.”

In 2005, I challenged distributors to think long term when choosing a software provider and to consider whether their software vendor would maintain a commitment to their industry. Smaller companies like mine can develop and maintain “domain expertise” – a much more difficult proposition for huge corporations with a large and diverse customer base. I urged distributors to talk to colleagues in the industry and refer to their trade associations and suppliers for recommendations.

Today these points are just as relevant and if you’re looking to make a change from your legacy system, think about the level of customer service you’re getting now. With all the layoffs occurring, what are the chances you’ll be talking to someone who understands your system, let alone your company? Think about your level of trust. Are you looking for glitz and glamour or are you looking for people you trust - for a CEO who picks up the phone when it rings?

Today, Small is the New Big, so look to the niche providers to give you the level of service you deserve and expect.

Tim Reynolds is the President of Tribute, Inc., a provider of management software for industrial distributors and the Chairman of COSE - the Cleveland Council of Smaller Enterprises.

Ten Signs Your Customer Is Tanking

A January 2009 article from CFO.com lists ten warning signs that your customer may be close to going out of business.

"Companies should be on the constant lookout for red flags -- signs that a customer is having serious financial problems. The following don't necessarily indicate that a client is in contingency mode. But any of them should trigger a warning bell for your credit department that the customer deserves close monitoring, and that perhaps their payment terms renegotiated."

Read the full article here.

Smart Phone Technology: Improving Communication to Your Sales Force

By Brian Kazmierczak

In this tough economy, getting information quickly to your sales force is critical. In fact, management guru Ram Charan lists communication as a top priority in managing your business during a downturn. In his article in Fortune Magazine, Charan makes the case that companies must get information to the operating people - fast.

He states, “Companies should do so routinely, of course. But they don't. It's counterintuitive but true that when the economy slows down, the pace of decision-making has to speed up, because you can't put off the tough choices anymore. The companies that are readiest to act on solid information are primed to shoot ahead of the business cycle.”

One of the most cost effective communication tools you can invest in is smart phone technology. However, investing in a smart phone solution for your employees can be a difficult and confusing process. Choosing from the large selection of devices, plans and carriers will eventually make your head spin. As a provider of sales force mobilization systems for distributors, I get the following questions from customers:

Which device is the best?
Which plan is the best value?
What carrier has the best coverage?
Where is my return?

The answers to these questions will be dramatically different for each company based on employee skill set and geographic area, but I will give you a little guidance to help you determine your optimum solution.

Which device is best?

All of them. Yes, I know that doesn’t help, but which you choose depends on the data that the user needs and the user’s skill set. I have categorized them into three basic groups.

The Smart Phone Email Junkie
Being a smart phone email junkie myself, I personally use the Blackberry 8830 or World Edition. It enables me to quickly receive and respond to emails with a full keyboard at lightening fast speeds. Most sales people fall into this user type because of the need to be connected to their customers 24 x 7. The Blackberry Curve, Bold, and World Editions have the best speeds and usability of all smart phones.

The Mobile Workaholic
Spreadsheets, Documents, Drawings and more….. This user needs to have not only messaging, but every file available to view, edit and resend. Windows Mobile is the best mobile OS for this type of user. It is a system with built in compatibility for most file types. The trade off? Usability. Although powerful, Windows Mobile can be cumbersome to use for a person with limited computer skills.

The Information Junkie
This user is a perfect candidate for a touch screen device. Because of the large screen space and advanced mobile browsing, your information junkie can easily browse supplier websites for pricing and availability, product information and more. These users will give up email and texting speeds for a more informational approach to mobile computing. Our customers have hailed the iPhone as the best touch screen on the market.

What plan is the best value? 

The answer is simple - the lowest cost plan that incorporates the features that you need. This can be hard to address when your cell phone plan is scattered across individual plans and carriers. The key to cost savings is to consolidate your employee phones into a corporate plan. All major carriers including Verizon and Sprint not only have discounts, they have “minute pooling” that allows you to reduce your monthly costs. Many companies find themselves paying $150+/month for an individual sales person. Under a corporate plan, you can reduce that to less than $100/month with full data and voice features.

What carrier has the best coverage?

Verizon Wireless has been named the top carrier in 5 or 6 U.S. regions in 2008. Click on this link for more information.

Where is my return?

 

For a low cost, a smart phone mobilization solution allows your sales force to have up to the minute information at their fingertips. Tribute has partnered with Rubber Tree Systems to offer their customers Tribute Mobile and  TrulinX Mobile  - intelligent service that uses "push" technology to give sales people and management direct access to orders, quotes, and other mission critical data in the Tribute or TrulinX system.

Quote Detail - Access every quote in your system with the click of a button. Our mobile quote detail makes it easy to view any quote pre-formatted for your mobile device.

Purchase Order Detail - Item on backorder? No problem, simply view your sales order to find the item and click on the purchase order hotlink to view the due date. Impress your customer with instant answers that go beyond the sales order.

Item Availability - Detail Check stock instantly to give your customer the information they need. There is no need to call your customer service department and make your customer wait for an answer.

Search - Easily search your distribution system from your smart phone. Search for items, orders, quotes, customers and more.

Brian Kazmierczak is the President of Rubber Tree Systems, a company that specializes in software services designed specifically for distribution. Visit them at the 2009 NAHAD Meeting in Tucson, Arizona April 18- 22.

Rubber Tree Systems
2601 Hill Ave.
Toledo, OH 43607
PH: +1 888 909 3001
www.rubbertreesystems.com

   

Going Green: eCycling Advantages for Your Business

Are you familiar with the term “eCycling”? eCycling is the practice of collecting, reusing, and/or recycling your used electronics products.

• Only 15% to 20% percent of retired personal computers, TVs, cell phones and other electronic devices are being recycled in the United States. (EPA)
• On average, the original owner keeps a laptop computer for only three years and will discard their cell phone after only 24 months. (Telecommunications Industry Association)
• Approximately 235 million televisions, computers, monitors, printers, and other hardware have accumulated in storage as of 2007. (EPA)

Chances are good that you have unwanted electronics sitting in your office right now that could be “eCycled”.

Why Should You eCycle?

• Extends life of usable products. Donating used (but still operating) electronics for reuse extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste stream for a longer period of time.
• Helps others. Donating your used electronics benefits your community by passing on ready-to-use or refurbished equipment to those who need it.
• Conserves natural resources. Recycling recovers valuable materials from old electronics that can be used to make new products. As a result, we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution, save energy, and save resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.
• Protects your surroundings. Safe recycling of outdated electronics promotes sound management of toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury.
• Tax incentives. As a business, you might be able to take advantage of tax incentives for computer equipment donations. The 21st Century Classrooms Act encourages companies to donate computer equipment to schools. When donating equipment to a nonprofit organization, ask about documentation that can be applied toward your income tax return.

Programs for eCycling

Donating Old Computers and Hardware

Many televisions, computers, computer monitors, mobile phones and other electronics are still in good working condition and can be recycled, refurbished or donated to schools and charities.

The Ten Tips for Donating a Computer outlines the steps to take before donating a computer.

Consider donating to TechSoup’s Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) program, which gives nonprofits nationwide a chance to get high-quality refurbished computer systems at a discount.

Local Resources for Recycling Electronics

Use this helpful tool on the EPA website to find regional and state electronics recycling programs.

Or, consult these websites:

Earth 911

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition

Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation

E-cycling Central

The National Center for Electronics Recycling

Cell Phones For Soldiers

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a non-profit organization which accepts donations of unwanted cell phones, then sells them to a recycler to fund pre-paid calling cards for soldiers serving overseas. Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Brittany and Robbie Bergquist and has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 calling cards to soldiers. You can find a dropoff point or print a prepaid mailing label for mailing your old phone here.

Manufacturer and Retailer Programs

RACO Industries (supplier of bar code scanners for Tribute) offers an electronics recycling, disposal and data destruction program.

Cell phone manufacturers such as Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung also offer pre-paid labels that you can print from their websites and use to mail in unwanted cell phones.

Many other manufacturers and retailers like Best Buy and Dell offer programs for donating or recycling your electronics.

The EPA has a list of programs on their website at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/donate.htm#mftr.

More Information:

Learn more about e-waste and eCycling at http://www.ecyclingtools.com/.

Has your business had an experience with eCycling that you'd like to share? Leave a comment and let us know!

Going Green: Cost Cutting Tips

 Continuing our "green conversation", today we list some concrete tips to cut costs and save energy:

• Put copiers and other appliances in energy saving mode or turn off your computers, printers, monitors and any other office equipment when not in use, especially overnight and on weekends. This can save as much as $44 per year, per computer.
• Put lights on timers or motion activated sensors.
• Install programmable thermostats in your office or business. These inexpensive devices will optimize your building's heating and cooling needs.
• Remind others to turn out the lights and turn off equipment when they leave.
• Keeping your exterior and freight doors closed as much as possible is one of the important ways to save energy.
• When buying or replacing computers, copiers and other office equipment, compare the energy requirements of various models and buy energy efficient equipment.
• Consider having employees use lap top computers since they use up to 80 percent less energy than a standard desktop computer.
• Carefully evaluate energy consumption, when buying or replacing industrial equipment. Look for the ENERGY STAR symbol.
• Invest in "Smart" power strips that sense the presence or absence of office workers and turn the attached equipment on and off accordingly.
• Don't underestimate the energy efficiency you gain by turning off business machines and industrial equipment when not in use.
• PC's utilize a lot of energy. Consider using a PC Power Management Solution to automatically power down your PC's. Read the PC EnergyReport 2009 by the Alliance to Save Energy in partnership with 1E.
• Utilize Ecofont – a free font that uses 20% less ink and can be downloaded at Ecofont.

Monitor office supply usage patterns and behavior to identify waste and minimize costs and implement an office-wide green initiative by doing double-sided printing, establishing a no-print policy for emails (save to .pdf’s), etc.

Consider mail-order. Mail-order office supply companies are convenient because they deliver to your door, which saves gas and time. Many companies will waive shipping and handling charges if you order more than $50 worth of supplies. That may sound like a lot until you consider that one recycled printer cartridge costs $50.

Use rechargeable batteries. Rechargeables have a higher initial cost because you must buy the recharger. But, unlike disposables, you can use them over and over again which lowers the cost per use. Four AA size batteries cost about 1¢ per hour of use as opposed to 9¢-16¢ per hour of use for disposables.

Utilize software to save money by creating your own laser business forms instead of purchasing pre-printed forms. Tribute Software users can utilize Laser Forms to create sharp business forms with their logo. They can also send those documents directly to customers and vendors from their desktop utilizing the Auto-faxing module.

Aim for paperless - Utilize software, like the TrulinX Software System’s Zetafax component, to create, send and automatically archive documents. TrulinX uses the power of Equisys to capture and create documents such as statements, invoices and quotations instantly, then delivers them automatically by email, fax, or as paper copies. These documents can be stored electronically, saving filing and paper costs.

The costs of handling documents:

1. Ineffective filing and retrieval: It costs ~ $22 just to file a piece of paper and ~ $720 a year rental space for a single filing cabinet (Gartner)
2. Cost of postage and packaging: 5% of company revenue is spent on document production (IDC)
3. Poor access to information: Up to 30% of the working day is spent just looking for data -(Microsoft)

When buying or replacing company-owned vehicles, compare the energy requirements of various models and buy an energy-efficient one. You can compare fuel economy among cars at www.fueleconomy.gov

Company vehicles and their yearly maintenance costs can hurt your bottom line. You can solve this problem by getting rid of some of the company vehicles or downsizing to a smaller vehicle. Smaller or less vehicles will need fewer taxes to register for the year so cutting these costs will help improve your bottom line. Look at whether or not you or your employees need to be driving so much and cut out some of those trips also to cut out gas costs.

These are just a few areas you can address to cut costs in your organization. In future articles, we'll talk about the advantages of recycling.