DisTribute

2011 User's Group Conference a Success

The 2011 joint TrulinX and Tribute user's group meeting was held last week at the Gaylord Opryland hotel in Nashville, TN. The meeting brought in 134 attendees from 66 companies. We are happy that so many of you find value in attending the annual meeting.

On Sunday evening, Tribute and TrulinX customers were welcomed with a reception on the bank of the indoor river that flowed through the hotel.

We officially began the User's Group meeting on Monday with a welcome from Tim Reynolds and a short discussion of cloud computing. Next, Craig Dunn and Victoria Basham of United Parcel Service enlightened us on the services UPS offers for the domestic and international supply chain and methods we can use to lower costs on inbound and outbound freight. Kirt Chronister of 3Delta Systems (3DSI) helped us understand the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and the importance of compliance with these standards when processing credit cards. Brian Kazmierczak of Rubber Tree Systems wrapped up the speeches with an overview of their new Customer Portal. On Monday afternoon, Tim updated us with the yearly "State of Tribute" address at the President's Forum.

As always we enjoyed some informative breakout sessions. TrulinX and Tribute had some separate breakouts, while others were combined and relevant to all users. These included presentations on credit card processing, sales order expediting, A/P and G/L troubleshooting, report generators/queries, new features, and "tips and tricks". Users also participated in roundtable discussions on subjects such as A/R and collections, belting, credit card processing, and "going green". The sessions were well attended and hopefully everyone left with new knowledge about Tribute and TrulinX to take home to their businesses.

We also send a big "thank you" to Rubber Tree Systems as our Platinum Sponsor and generous sponsor of our teambuilding event (otherwise known as "beer pong tournament"). We also send huge thanks to MRH Technologies (Tour de Force), and WarehouseTWO for sponsorship of the meeting, plus Qantel Technologies, Enlighten.Net and Parker Hannifin Corporation who also attended the meeting. All of these vendors provide very important products and services and we hope to see them at the 2012 meeting.

Of course, our meeting was not all work with no play! On Monday evening, 17 attendees traveled to downtown Nashville to take a ghost tour. Although no one reported seeing any phantoms, they enjoyed other sights like the Capitol building, President Polk's tomb, Printer's Alley, and Ryman Auditorium. On Tuesday evening we enjoyed the President's Dinner, which was a Tennessee Smokehouse Barbeque. Everyone savored the great food and music and some folks even got up on stage to perform with the band! It was a wonderful opportunity to have fun and network as a big combined group.

Several new officers and committee members were also elected at the meeting. The current members are:

Tribute

President: Chuck Pharaoh (Valley Rubber & Gasket Co., Inc.)

Vice-President: Sybille Hamilton (Seals Unlimited)

Secretary: Brian Teddlie (Wilson Company)

Membership Chairperson: Marcie Harper (Flow Dynamics & Automation, Inc.)

Program Review member: Maria Panza (Progressive Hydraulics, Inc.)

Program Review member: Tim Pritchard (Zemarc Corporation)

Program Review member: Ed Murphy (The Hope Group)

Program Review member: Janie Vasu (IMS Company)

Program Review member: Kirk Downey (Hyspeco, Inc.)

Program Review member: Howard Sweet (Alt) (Dale L. Prentice Co.)

Program Review member: Monty Sikes (Alt) (Epperson & Co.)

TrulinX

President: Eric Bourg (Connector Specialists)

Vice-President: John Teahan (S.G. Morris Co.)

Recording Secretary: Kris Wagner (BMS Burns)

PPAB member: Sam Berndt (Hart Industries)

PPAB member: Kevin Hogarth (Neff Power)

PPAB member: Jason Gonzalez (Indiana Fluid Power)

PPAB member: Susan Curley (Integra Companies)

PPAB member: Kevin Cutts (Hydraulic & Pneumatic Sales, Inc.)

PPAB member: Walt Rodgers (Cline Hose & Hydraulics, LLC.)

PPAB member: Brian Pesick (HyQuip, Inc.)

The week ended with a day of intense work by the TrulinX PPAB and the Tribute Program Review Committee. Members review and rank the TrulinX and Tribute open project lists, which helps determine the direction for future software development.

Next year's conference will take place in Cleveland, with the date yet to be determined. We look forward to another great meeting in 2012!

Retaining & Cultivating Great Employees

Despite the number of employed in this country, finding qualified and quality workers remains tough. It’s worth investing in the good employees you do have to keep them from jumping ship and, furthermore, utilizing their input into improving your business.

We’ve compiled a few suggestions from successful leaders on how to keep your good employees and how to build a collaborative culture to incorporate their ideas.

Cameron Herold, Founder of BackPocket COO, says that we can all take a page out of Dwight D Eisenhower’s playbook to map out your company’s future. In his article for Open Forum, Hell Hath No Fury Like an Employee Ignored, Herold states, “Do everything you can to include your employees when you’re plotting a new course. And I’m not talking about some trite, shallow exercises meant to appease them and give them the illusion their voices are being heard. Listen to what they envision your company becoming. You’ll undoubtedly come away impressed. They’ll offer a unique perspective gained by toiling on the front lines while you’ve been busy with the big-picture business of running your business.”

Marcie Zlotnik, co-founder of StarTex Power, outlines how she stepped aside to give her growing employee base a voice and encouraged dialogue in an article for Smart Business, Talk Ain’t Cheap.

Creating a fair evaluation system is a concern for many leaders and Mike Cottrill of Smart Business details how using a collaborative system and peer evaluations are insightful tools toward that end.

"What does my job contribute to the company's overall mission?" "Which projects are my top priorities?" and "How can I grow in my position?" are questions that every employee should be asking, and every company must answer. Assigning and tracking goals is an effective way to both answer them and to make sure that personal and corporate objectives align. Sarah Kessler of Open Forum gives us a review of 4 Simple Programs for Managing Employee Goals.

Tom Feeney, president and CEO of Safelite Group, tells Smart Business how focusing on your people with performance reviews and 360 feedback sessions demonstrates that you value them.

Bob and Marcie Zlotnik, co-founders of StarTex Power, explain in Smart Business how creating a corporate culture that empowers your employees and contributes positively to your company is important.

Shop For A Hot New Laptop, Then Keep It Cool

In the market for a new laptop computer? Consider CNET's step-by-step Laptop Finder. Answer a few questions about the operating system, size, memory, and other features you're looking for, then receive recommendations which fit your criteria.

Once you have narrowed down your laptop choices, try Decide.com to help you decide when is the optimal time to make your purchase. This electronic shopping service tells you when to buy a product and when to wait to get the best price. You can set up "alerts" for your future electroincs purchase to be in the know about price changes, rumors and product releases. Plus, you can use their mobile site to get the right model and the right price when shopping at your local electronics store.

After you buy your laptop, you'll want to make sure it stays cool. Try one of these laptop cooling solutions starting at less than $10, courtesy of Mashable.

Updates from NSBA for Small Business

The U.S. Senate last week defeated an amendment that would have delayed the implementation of swipe-fee reform.

The amendment was introduced by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). It effectively would have killed the swipe-fee reforms mandated by the NSBA-supported amendment to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217). This amendment, introduced by Sen. Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), required the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to propose new rules aimed at ensuring that the swipe fees charged for debit-card transactions are “reasonable and proportional” to the actual costs incurred by the issuer in processing the transaction.

The NSBA is grateful to the 54 senators who stood up for small business and opposed the Tester amendment and looks forward to seeing the Fed’s final swipe-fee reform rule. America’s small businesses eagerly await the relief that awaits them on July 21, 2011, when the rule is scheduled to go into effect.

Also, last week in an important victory for innovative small businesses throughout the U.S., the Supreme Court announced their ruling in favor of i4i—a small high-tech company—in their patent infringement suit against Microsoft. The unanimous ruling requires Microsoft to pay i4i $290 million.

Top 10 Booming & 10 Dying Industries

With an ever-changing marketplace due to rapid advances in technology, demographic shifts, cost cutting, privatization and cheaper overseas competition, it’s a good idea for distributors to constantly reevaluate their mix of customers and plan ahead. If you’re servicing some of the top growing industries, you’re on the right track. If you’re heavily invested in a dying industry, it may be time to change course.

Research firm IBISWorld has released a list of the top 10 fastest-growing industries. It is no surprise that the list is led by the tech and environmental sectors. And as the baby-boomer generation ages, sectors revolving around the health industry will grow, including biotechnology and the insurance coverage industry. A growing population and governmental cost cutting put correctional facilities on the list of thriving industries.

IBISWorld Senior Analyst Casey Thormahlen says that there are some definite trends to these findings. “Each industry on the list experienced growth as a result of one or more of four drivers: Internet growth, environmental issues, cost cutting and evolving technology.”

 
 

A counterpoint analysis by IBISWorld looks at 10 industries that appear to be on the way of the dinosaur. The list represents a mix of sectors that are being left behind by technology or have been hurt by cheaper overseas competition.

The listed industries were considered standouts by IBIS World: manufactured home dealers; record stores; photofinishing; wired telecommunications carriers; apparel manufacturing; newspaper publishing; DVD, game and video rental; apparel, carpet and rug mills; and formal wear and costume rental.

 

The Best Travel Apps

With the 2011 Tribute and TrulinX User's Group conference rapidly approaching, we thought we would bring you some of the best travel apps to make your trip a little easier. Here are some of the most useful apps, courtesy of this article from Budget Travel:

• Find a flight: Use KAYAK's app to simply enter your destination and travel dates, and the app spits back options sorted by price, time, or airline; a single click takes you to the corresponding booking site.
• Track your itinerary: The TripIt travel app culls flight numbers, gate information, and loyalty-program account numbers from e-mail receipts you forward. From these, it assembles a master trip itinerary you can access from anywhere.
• Make the most of a layover: GateGuru's app contains searchable directories for 98 U.S. airports and more than 25 international hubs. They take the guesswork out of finding an ATM, a decent cup of coffee, or a 10-minute massage station — wherever you happen to be delayed.
• Get a bird's-eye view: Use the Google Earth app to check out a hotel's rooftop pool deck, the size or location of various parking lots at a theme park, or anything else you want to view from above.
• Chart your course: The Google Maps Navigation app bundles all the best features of its popular mapping site — such as satellite images, street views, and traffic news — with full GPS features such as voice search, step-by-step audio directions, and speedy rerouting options after a wrong turn.
• Fill up for less: Apps like GasBuddy and GasBook use GPS to map nearby stations and frequently update standard fule prices with user-submitted data. You can also search by fuel grade or brand and bookmark your favorite local locations for everyday fill-ups.
• Find nearby activities: The Goby app searches events and activities near you — live-music shows, family-friendly outings, and outdoorsy pursuits — and plots them on a map with details and photos.

And here are a few more apps specific to the iPhone, thanks to this article by Adam Dachis for Lifehacker:

• Pack your bags: PackTM is a simple bag-packing app that will track your bag inventories for multiple trips along with a master catalog of your standard items for packing. An inventory may prove invaluable if a bag is lost or an item is stolen from your luggage. While PackTM will cost you $2, if you only need to keep track of one trip at a time, you can use the free version (Pack Free).
• Keep travel phone numbers handy: Travel #s is a free directory of business numbers that'll assist you in renting a car, booking or changing a flight, and getting a room at a hotel. You might need these numbers to change reservations or get information when you don't have access to your laptop.
• Track your flight: FlightBoard has a simple interface that offers you a lot of flight information at a glance.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also has their own app called MyTSA. It has multiple functions:

• Airport Status: Users can see what airports are experiencing general delays (not flight specific) or search for conditions at a specific airport. This information is provided by the FAA.
• ‘Can I Bring?’: Users can type in an item they plan to bring on a trip to find out if it is permitted or prohibited, and whether they can pack it in carry-on or checked bags.
• Guide: Users can get travel tips on an array of some of the most popular topics of air travel, including traveling with children, 3-1-1 rules for liquids, gels and aerosols, special medical needs, packing tips, tips for how to dress for airport security, tips for military members, and traveling with food and gifts.
• Security wait times: MyTSA gives passengers the ability to share their wait time and see what wait times other passengers have posted for U.S. airports.
• Wait Times: Passengers can also post the approximate amount of time it took them to get through security for other travelers to view.

You can find the free MyTSA iPhone app on iTunes, or visit www.tsa.gov/mobile on any device.

 

Eaton’s LifeSense: Real-Time Monitoring System for Hydraulic Hose

Eaton has launched a new system that monitors the condition of hydraulic hoses and reports any imminent failures in real time. Rather than using estimates to predict hose failures like some products on the market, the LifeSense™ system actually detects when a hose is nearing the end of its useful life.

An alert is then sent to the user so that the assembly can be replaced to prevent downtime. A single monitoring unit can handle input from multiple hose assemblies.

"Most hydraulic maintenance programs are designed to avoid hose failures by replacing assemblies at regular intervals, using a schedule based on usage data or past experience," said Doug Jahnke, Eaton product marketing manager. "As a result, a large number of perfectly good hydraulic hose assemblies are discarded long before the end of their useful life out of fear that they might fail.”

Jahnke says it's impossible to tell when a hose is failing because it fails from the inside out. Most hydraulic hoses have a rubber elastomeric cover, a rubber tube and wire reinforcement. During its life, the fatigue of consistent hydraulic surges eventually wears out the hose.

"There's been no way in the past to monitor the condition of the hose and identify symptoms of failure as they are occurring," says Jahnke. "The idea is to identify these conditions prior to failure and with enough time that you can replace the hose prior to failure."

The LifeSense hose allows the user to utilize virtually all of the useful life of a hydraulic hose assembly, more than 50% longer life in a typical lab test, thus saving on replacement costs and associated downtime while providing peace-of-mind that productivity will not be impeded and safety not compromised by unpredicted hose failure.

"Additionally, hydraulic hose failure is one of the largest causes of unplanned maintenance events," Mr Jahnke said. "Hose failures in the field present serious safety issues, environmental concerns and result in unscheduled system downtime, all of which have serious economic impacts."

The initial LifeSense hose offering will include the widely-used -8, -12 and -16 two-wire hose assemblies. The technology is currently available for trial with factory-made assemblies. Click on the link to read how TrulinX software powers Eaton's pilot project - the Van Wert Aeroquip Express Store - a real-world training ground and laboratory for Eaton distributors.

The Value of a Niche Software Provider

Sometimes it's easy to know when it’s time to upgrade or change your back-office systems—because your employees are telling you, loud and clear. If they're screaming for new functionality or are working around the present system, if they can't easily manipulate or combine data from existing business systems, or if they can't get the right data to use at the right time, it's time to consider a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

When shopping for software, there are three primary types of software that most companies will consider:

• Custom Solutions
• General ERP
• Industry/Niche Specific Solutions

Each of these options has pros and cons. However, for small to midsize companies looking to operate more efficiently and promote growth, a niche-specific software provider is the way to go. This option is generally a fraction of the cost of creating custom software, tailored more to your business than a generalized ERP provider, and a big plus for companies looking to work with a partner that knows their industry and will help them get the most value out of their investment. There are significant benefits to partnering with a niche provider like Tribute, Inc.:

Benefit from Tribute’s Experience in Your Industry

One of the key reasons to buy industry specific software is not only do you get software that fits right “out of the box” but you also gain from the niche provider’s experience in your industry. For example, Tribute’s 30+ years of experience in fluid power, fluid handling, hose, sealing, belting, automation, motion control and related marketplace. We are actively involved in your trade associations (FPDA, ISD, NAHAD, NIBA), have relationships with major manufacturers in your industry (Bosch Rexroth, Brennan Industries, Eaton Corp, Flexco, Garlock, Gates Corp., Gould, Linde Hydraulics, Parker Hannifin, Pall Corp., Sun Hydraulics, Tuthill, among others), and actively work with our Users Group to make sure our software is 100% applicable to your business.

Working with a Partner that Understands Your Needs

The advantage of working with a niche provider is that they understand your needs and requirements and are able to offer you solutions or suggestions that they’ve seen work under similar circumstances. Tribute’s support staff trains at distributorships just like yours, so they know how to help you and when you have a question, you can talk directly with one of our customer service reps. And they’ll understand what you’re talking about when you mention your complicated BOM, because they don’t have to try to service 20+ different industries.

You Don’t Have to Mold our Software to Fit Your Business

Creating special work-arounds to fit your business is a major disadvantage in buying a general ERP. Many companies will choose to purchase software from larger companies because they feel a certain comfort level with a big name, only to find out that they are forced to jump through hoops because the general ERP doesn’t provide the personalized service they require or accommodate their needs. With Tribute, we’ve already done that for you - we have a depth of functionality unseen in general ERP solutions!

And Most Importantly – A Quicker Learning Curve & Continued Support

It is said that the real cost of software lies in the “soft costs” associated with loss of productivity and morale that comes with implementing a new system. Humans are creatures of habit, and most employees grumble at the thought of learning something new. With Tribute, you will be working with a partner that understands your business, talks your language, and provides an on-site training program to get your company on board as painlessly and as timely as possible. And we continue that great service with phone support that knows you and your business, ongoing training through via inexpensive online webinars or onsite consulting, and annual User’s Group Meetings.

Getting your staff trained on the new software in a timely and comprehensive manner ensures that you get your return on investment as quickly as possible. All the cool features in your new software package aren’t going to be much use unless they’re being used. And that’s where Tribute excels – working with our partners to get the most out of the software to run their businesses successfully.

How to Fax Without Paper

Did you know the original fax machine was patented in 1843? However, this device may soon be obsolete with today's ability to share information instantaneously from the Web or the cloud onto computers, phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. While we may not yet be ready to ditch our fax machine completely, there are many programs and apps which allow you to save money on phone lines and paper costs. This article by Dave Smith of Inc. lists some alternatives for faxing without paper:

• Subscription services: These range from $5-$20 per month and are a good option if you regularly need to send faxes. HelloFax is one of the cheapest and most comprehensive services available now, starting at $5 per month and negating the need for a fax machine, fax software, printer, or scanner. For an all-purpose office communications solution, RingCentral offers a phone, voicemail, and fax package starting at $20 a month for 20 or more users.
• Pay-per-fax services: If you send fewer than five or ten faxes a month, pay-per-fax solutions might be best. No registration is required: PayPerFax charges 75 cents for the first fax, and 40 cents for each additional page; FaxFresh charges less—25 cents per page—but requires a $2.00 minimum for faxing.
• Smartphone fax apps: iFax Pro and Qipit are two free solutions for sending and receiving documents over an iPhone. After taking a picture of the document with a phone or camera, Qipit converts the photo into a PDF and renders it into a digital copy for "faxing".
• Electronic signature apps: With apps like EasySign, Zosh, and Sign My Pad, there's no need to print out faxes to sign them—just sign directly into the mobile device with your finger. Returning the finished documents is simple too, as both Zosh and Sign My Pad will send a PDF back to the original sender.
• File Sharing Options: It might be easiest to skip the fax and exchange the files directly. File-sharing services like Dropbox, YouSendIt, and zShare make it easy to upload and download files, and most of these services can be accessed by both computer and smartphone.

To read the complete article, click here.