DisTribute

Best Credit Cards for Airline Rewards, Gas Rewards, and More

Individuals and businesses are using reward cards to pay for travel, shopping, gas and everyday expenses. Interest rate alone is no longer the only consideration for using a particular credit card. But which card is best for you?

There are several credit card comparison websites out there, but NerdWallet offers a clean and simple way to compare over 1700 credit cards at once.

Are you a frequent flyer? NerdWallet has put together a helpful infographic with information on how you can use your credit card to help avoid the extra baggage charges levied by certain airlines, along with information on which credit cards can help you gain Elite status.

Another chart on the NerdWallet blog lists the best gas rewards cards, weighing factors such as annual fees, gas rewards caps, limitations on where you can fill up or what kind of gas you use, and spending thresholds in which your full rewards rate kicks in after spending a certain amount per year.

This article by Ivan Daniel for Daily Markets lists the best rewards cards in categories such as:

• “Cash is king. I prefer getting discounts and cash rebates”
• “I’m a business owner and I want to earn rewards on my business expenses”
• “I’m a big spender; I have discerning taste and I prefer a prestigious card”

and more.

Join Tribute, Inc. at the NIBA 2011 Annual Convention

Make plans to attend this year’s NIBA (The Belting Association) convention! It will be held September 28 – October 1st at the J.W. Marriott Las Vegas in Summerlin, 15 minutes away from the strip. We look forward to seeing many of our customers at the meeting and sharing highlights of the past year.

Steve Rizzo, an expert on humor and the power of positive thinking, is the keynote speaker, and he intends to give us an educational, humorous, and entertaining opening to our program. Also featured will be instructors from the University of Industrial Distribution (U.I.D.), who will be conducting sample seminars of the courses offered at Purdue University. This is a great opportunity to see the value and benefit of sending your employees to this great program first-hand.

The Convention Expo (booth program) is expected be the biggest and best yet. As for recreational activities, this year’s golf outing will be held at Angel Park Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer, which claims to be the “world’s most complete Las Vegas golf experience,” with spectacular views and 36 championship holes. And to cap off the event, there will be a short presentation of awards and transfer of the gavel before the jumping on the bus to see the Blue Man Group show at the Venetian Hotel.

Attending the NIBA Annual Convention is a great  way to network with your industry peers and gain valuable knowledge on industry trends. If you’re not yet a member of NIBA, check out the following video, featuring several Tribute customers, on the many benefits of membership.

Tribute Customer Spotlight: IMS Company

IMS Company, a diversified distributor and light manufacturer of industrial products, was founded by A. Reynolds “Ren” Morse in Cleveland, Ohio in 1949. A plastics industry pioneer, Mr. Morse recognized the need for a supplier of products and a source for solutions to meet the growing needs of a blossoming industry.

Since its inception 62 years ago, IMS Company has expanded greatly and now serves multiple industries through its divisions:

• IMS Industrial Molding Supplies (Accessories, auxiliary equipment, parts, supplies, and technical advice serving the entire plastics processing industry)
• IMS Industrial Manufacturing Supplies (Power/Hand Tools & Hardware, Electrical & Cleaning Supplies, HVAC, Safety & Storage Supplies)
• IMS Engineering & Machining Services (Custom replacement parts, repair and refurbishing services, with a broad scope of design/build/fabrication capabilities)

Off-the-shelf or custom-designed, all IMS Company divisions market the best products and solutions to meet the requirements of their customers. IMS Industrial Molding Supplies is the oldest, most experienced, and the most trusted source of accessories, auxiliary equipment, parts, supplies, and technical advice serving the entire plastics processing industry. Included on their website are valuable resources like Techie Tips - a collection of useful articles covering a variety of plastics processing topics, equipment and machinery manuals, ebulletins on ways to run faster, produce better parts, conserve utilities, extend equipment life and more, and a handy page with converters and calculators.

IMS Company offers a full-scope of product choices to meet the demands of almost any manufacturing setting. In today’s budget conscious environment, IMS product specialists can help you find the products that will fit your desired quality level while making the most of your operating budget. They explain how they position their products, identify quality levels and determine pricing so you know you’re getting the maximum out of your investment.

Responding to the ever changing needs of their customers, IMS Company has added green products that can help lower the use of and the impact on precious natural resources - air, water, oil, coal, natural gas etc. - while saving you money in the process.

With their intimate knowledge of the industry, IMS Company understands that some of the challenges their customers face cannot be met by standard products alone. For difficult projects, IMS supports its customers with a staff of Technical Sales/Service Product Specialists whose combined experience exceeds 165 years in the industry.

Recently named to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s list of “best places to work in Northeast Ohio”, IMS boasts a very satisfied work force. The evaluation for the Plain Dealer’s Top Workplaces program is based upon feedback from an independent survey the employees completed this past March. 98% of IMS’ employees responded to the survey, which is almost unheard of, as the average number of responses is only 62%.

A Tribute customer since 1988, IMS Company was the first to offer a complete line of molding equipment to gain ISO 9001:2008 certification. IMS Company’s policy is to provide unsurpassed customer satisfaction by offering superior product value, timely product delivery and ongoing product support.

 

Photos: #1 "Ren" Morse, founder of IMS, in 1950. #2 Tom Osowski, COO of IMS Company in one of their three warehouses (photo by Lynn Ischay,The Plain Dealer), #3 The IMS Team.

Gathering and Acting On Customer Feedback

For a small business owner, information about your customers, including their demographics, preferences, and sentiments on your product, can be extraordinarily useful.

Why should you gather customer feedback? According to this article from Inc., one main goal is to enable communications between you and your customer. Without this communication, it's difficult to understand why your customers are doing what they are doing. Customer feedback can also help you uncover flaws in your business, or new opportunities for growth.

How do you gather customer feedback? The most common means is by survey. Surveys may be via phone, print, or online. Be sure to consider the timing of your survey. If you bombard a customer with a survey as soon as they walk in your door - or as soon as they click on your website - they may be put off and leave. Try to choose a less invasive time to approach a customer, depending on your intent for the survey.

If you choose to use an online survey, here are five tips for creating a good one, courtesy of this article by Anna Lindow for the OPEN Forum:

1. Define your objectives
2. Work backwards
3. Check for bias
4. Do a test drive
5. Collect results and analyze data

In addition to surveys, you can gather customer feedback via your customer-facing employees, a third-party consultant, web analytics tools like Google Analytics, and monitoring of social media like Twitter and Facebook.

Once you receive the feedback, be sure to act on it. It's also a great idea to "close the loop" with the customers who were part of the feedback channels. This provides an important human touch between your business and the customer.

What happens if you receive negative feedback? This article by Josh Catone for the OPEN Forum outlines four different types of negative feedback:

1. Straight problems: Someone has an issue with your product or service and has laid out exactly what went wrong.
2. Constructive criticism: A customer has given a negative comment, but with a suggestion attached.
3. Merited attack: You or your company did something wrong, and someone is angry.
4. Trolling/spam: "Trolls" and spammers have no valid reason for being angry at you.

The first three types of feedback require a response, tailored to the specific situation and always with a positive vibe. (The last type of negative feedback should be ignored and if appropriate, removed as soon as possible.)

Join Tribute, Inc. at the 2011 FPDA-ISD Joint Industry Summit

Membership in the FPDA Motion and Control Network (FPDA) and the International Sealing Distributors Association (ISD) offers a wealth of benefits, but none better than the valuable seminars, UID classes and networking opportunities offered at their annual joint industry summit.

Our industry has certainly seen highs and lows, but the past few years have proven that those who survive and thrive embrace and implement change rapidly and efficiently. They find opportunity in challenge and act! The 2011 FPDA-ISD Joint Industry Summit will focus on taking charge of change with a program built to give you proven tips to take back to your office to help you change in order to provide a greater path to profits and efficient operations.

Learn about what’s happening in purchasing and how it relates to your sales efforts; explore the shifts in workplace demographics and learn what you can do to prepare for the emerging workforce; delve into selling solutions and how to effectively measure value; gain the latest industry news and trends while networking with your industry colleagues – this, and more await you at the 2011 Joint Industry Summit.

As we settle into a new reality and adapt to our evolving business climate, it is time for us to become more proactive and less reactive to the changing business forces. Come to learn and leave with actionable items you can implement upon your return to the office!

Save the date! The 2011 FPDA-ISD Joint Industry Summit takes place September 6-9 at the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona. Click to see the full brochure.

"Everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies that change is like death and taxes — it should be postponed as long as possible and no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we are living in, change is the norm."
— Peter Drucker
Management Challenges for the 21st Century

Promoting Education for a Skilled Workforce

Although many are still out of a job, a shortage of skilled workers in manufacturing is looming, according to Mark Tomlinson, executive director and general manager of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Today’s businesses are increasingly more high tech with lots of computers, lasers, and robotics. “Now there is an increased need to fill the manufacturing jobs associated with aerospace, energy, medical device manufacturing and aspects of transportation,” Tomlinson says.

In a special report for Smart Business, Dennis Seeds discusses What the shortage in skilled manufacturing workers means to a hungry industry. Perception is vital to success and Seeds discusses the negative branding associated with the manufacturing industry. Indeed, parents, teachers and counselors who influence students and young people are often given the wrong picture.

Only 30 percent of respondents to the 2010 “Made in America?” survey conducted by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute said they would encourage their child to pursue a career in manufacturing ― despite reporting encouraging improvements in their perceptions about the jobs. Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs, is working to change that perception with his website, Mike Rowe Works.

Many companies, unwilling to wait for changing perceptions, are initiating programs to create their own workforce. Gateway Community and Technical College in Florence, Kentucky, is trying to fill the void by offering courses designed to prepare students for the manufacturing workforce upon graduation. In fact, they are partnering with a local manufacturer, MAG IAS, LLC, helping manufacturing-minded students get on a solid career path, providing on-the-job training and related classroom instruction via an apprenticeship program designed to prepare them for a career in manufacturing. The program was started in 2007, and successful candidates are hired as full-time employees by MAG and provided 100 percent company-paid tuition.

Last month, President Obama announced a major expansion of Skills for America’s Future, an industry led initiative to dramatically improve industry partnerships with community colleges and build a nation-wide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placements. This new push for 500,000 community college students to earn manufacturing credentials will provide relief to an industry struggling to find skilled workers, said President Obama.

This initiative includes a number of public-private partnerships, including some with leading manufacturers, that leverage the core competencies of the technology sector, media companies, and federal agencies to enhance these efforts through their own initiatives to bolster the nation’s manufacturing workforce, including:

• “Boots on the Ground” Help for Manufacturers to Implement Credentials: The Federal government will collaborate with The Manufacturing Institute, through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), in a program to promote a curriculum based on NAM’s advanced manufacturing skills certification system in community colleges in 30 states.
• Building These Credentials into High School Pathways: Air Products, a global manufacturer serving customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide, is partnering with SkillsUSA to build partnerships in 3,500 member high schools and more than 200 colleges to adopt these credentials in their schools.
• Providing New Online Tools for Workers to Earn and Utilize these Credentials: A new career website called Pipeline will provide job seekers with real-time data on job openings and information on additional education needed. This effort will be headed up by Futures Inc. in partnership with the Manufacturing Institute in 17 partner states with plans to expand nationwide.
• Investing over $2 billion to help community colleges train students and workers

Through efforts in the private and public sectors, the push is on to ensure a pipeline of skilled employees for our manufacturing workforce.

Keyboard Shortcuts That Enhance Your PC Productivity

Constantly switching between your mouse and your computer keyboard can really slow you down. Learning to use keyboard shortcuts for common tasks can improve your productivity at your PC.

Here is a list of 15 handy keyboard shortcuts that work in Windows 7 and most web browsers, including:

• Delete an entire word: Ctrl + Backspace
• Launch the Task Manager: Ctrl + Shift + Esc
• Open a new browser tab: Ctrl + T
• Reopen a closed browser tab: Ctrl + Shift + T

(Click here to read the full article by Matt Silverman for the OPEN Forum)

For a more comprehensive list, here is a list from Microsoft of numerous keyboard shortcuts that function under Windows Vista and later versions.

Try learning one new shortcut per day or per week, and soon you'll be enjoying a few extra minutes per day to crank out more work (or to watch the latest viral video on YouTube, your choice).