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18 January 2012It’s 2012 – Let’s celebrate the good times!It’s totally understandable that the economic conditions of recent years would result in two trends: A tendency to be extremely cautious, even gun-shy, toward making investments in growth, and looking very closely at a variety of economic predictions in an attempt to figure out exactly what’s going to happen with the business climate. But I am fearful that what we’re seeing right now is a “bullwhip effect” where there’s an overreaction to small changes in economic numbers, and maybe businesses are too fearful to take advantage of opportunities that could be theirs for the taking. (more) |
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09 December 2011Increase your sales to Japanese transplants in North AmericaSelling to Japanese companies in Japan or North America takes some doing to be successful. Business practices at those companies differ from those we are used to in dealing with domestic companies and other foreign manufacturers with operations in the United States. (more) |
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09 December 2011Business Development - December 2011 - You have a plan, but is it working?“How will I know if my plan is working?” There are many ways to answer that, but the simplest one is to ask: Are you making more money? If the answer is yes, then your plan is indeed working. Remember, we’re all in business to make money, and there is no shame in that. (more) |
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03 November 2011Business Development - Taking a gamble on growth in 2012It’s deep into budget season for a lot of AMT members, with everyone figuring out how to allocate their resources for the coming year — in essence, which bets they will place. That’s right, bets. That’s because in deciding where you’re going to put your funds, you have to guess about what ultimately will be beneficial to your company. (more) |
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12 October 2011Business Development - Finding positive morale during a time of negativityThere is no question difficulty exists in the economy, both here and in other parts of the world. But as I mentioned in my column last month, the media is eager to run with these “doom and gloom scenarios” because, let’s face it, it makes for good headlines. Likewise, politicians are happy to beat the drum too in a push to promote their own agendas. Again, I’m not saying that problems don’t exist. But it’s all too easy not to get both sides of the story. (more) |
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12 September 2011Separating “recession” truth from fictionAt the end of last year and up through recent months, sentiment throughout the industry was that the economy was picking up. Orders were ramping up, as were a number of economic indicators. Now, the news is full of reports about those economic woes returning, with alarms sounding over a possible double-dip recession. (more) |
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08 August 2011Strategic planning 101: why that plan mattersSo if you need to make a strategic plan, how should you approach it? This is where you want to keep in mind the ways you’re going to use your resources, what markets to target. In other words, you’re looking at the entire essence of your focus. You’re going to decide on the places where you’ll stretch, and the places where you’ll be more conservative. (more) |
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11 July 2011What’s the downside of things getting better?The bottom line is that you always need to keep watching for the alligators in the water. Be mindful, no matter how good things seem to be going. Be wary of a lack of focus. Grow as fast as you can, but do it in a way that reduces your likelihood of failure. (more) |
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13 June 2011Attendees learn from each other at the Service & Aftermarket Support ConferenceService departments are tasked with responding to customer needs and the AMT Global Service Committee followed that lead in planning the 2011 Service & Aftermarket Support Conference held on May 12-13, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The AMT Global Service Committee listened to its customers and retooled the conference format. The result was a successful conference that left attendees wanting more and was one of the highest attended conferences in several years. (more) |
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13 June 20112011 CASG Conference focuses on innovationInnovative Automation & Its Applications was the theme of this year’s conference held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago. Chairman Tom Kramer, General Manager of ATS sortimat USA, addressed one of the largest gatherings of custom automated systems builders we have seen for many years. He emphasized that the success of the conference depended not only on the quality of the speakers, but equally on the interaction with the attendees and the ever-popular networking. (more) |
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13 June 2011Break the cycle before the next recessionWhile a lot of us are celebrating the recovery, the truth is that some of our members aren’t feeling it all. The reason is because they didn’t need one in the first place. They went into the recession strong, stayed buoyant throughout, and have come out with little more than maybe a few scratches and dents. Who are these members? They are the ones that have the broad product lines, serve the most diverse customer industries, have the most strategically diverse distribution channels, and typically sell into multiple geographic markets. (more) |
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13 June 2011CTC: OPEN FOR BUSINESS!AMT’S Chennai Tech Centre, built by AMT specifically for our members, is now completed. CTC is a first class base of operations for growing your business in India. (more) |
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06 May 2011The Big Leagues are in China — Is your team getting the call?I’m going to tell you something a lot of you already know — China is THE market right now. China is both the largest consuming and producing market of manufacturing technology. (more) |
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06 April 2011TECMA provides good level of leads and contacts in MexicoTECMA, the manufacturing show in Mexico City that took place March 8-11, reaffirmed that the Mexican market is performing relatively well. Despite concerns about the security situation in Mexico, the show ran smoothly and provided great business opportunities to exhibitors. AMT sponsored a pavilion with 11 members participating. They reported a good level of contacts and leads that will certainly translate into sales in the near future. (more) |
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06 April 2011Business Development - Your next business opportunity: not what you’d expectI recently attended an industry event on the West Coast. It reminded me of three important things I thought I should pass along: (1) No matter how much a waste of time and/or money you might believe they are, networking events are really, really important; (2) your next business opportunity might come from somewhere you never imagined; and (3) to survive in today’s business climate, you’ve really got to turn your attention to providing customer solutions – no matter how “out there” they might seem to be. (more) |
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06 April 2011CASG Conference 2011For the builders of custom automated systems, this is the event of the year where we all get together to see what’s been happening and where we are headed. We will address innovation and how it can help us carve out bigger chunks of profitable business. (more) |
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07 March 2011AMT Mexico offers “per call” serviceWe would like to re-introduce you to one of the most successful programs that AMT Mexico has in place to help you build confidence in your products with Mexican customers: Local Service Engineering. (more) |
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07 March 2011Business Development - Big news from India: Let AMT take you thereWe’ve told you about the abundant business opportunities in Mexico and China, and hot on the heels of both of those countries is India. In fact, Arun Mahajan, AMT’s General Manager at the brand new Chennai Tech Centre, just uncovered an opportunity that you must get in on RIGHT NOW. (more) |
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07 February 2011You can help bring manufacturing jobs back home!The Reshoring Initiative is a non-protectionist, efficient way to reduce our imports, increase our “net exports” and regain manufacturing jobs. AMT members can help the country and their sales by communicating to their customers that going local can reduce a customer’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of purchased parts and tooling and improve its strategic flexibility and balance sheet while bringing U.S. manufacturing jobs home. (more) |
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07 February 2011SIMM & DMP – the gateway to southern China marketsDid you know that the businesses located in the city of Guangzhou imported more machine tools in 2010 than all of South Korea? If you want to be part of that, and your company is involved in die & mold, medical, machine shop, white goods, or auto and auto parts, your company needs to be participating this year in at least one of the two major trade shows taking place in southern China. (more) |
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07 February 2011Business Development - Mexico: Good for business? Yes! Dangerous? Not ReallyNews reports from the past couple of years have done a pretty good job at scaring the you-know-what out of people regarding Mexico. Tourism there has suffered accordingly, and even the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for certain areas, along with restricting travel for its diplomats there. I’m here to tell you: Don’t buy the hype. (more) |
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11 January 201130 minutes to a better 2011Generally, the topic of strategic planning is about as well-received as a trip to the dentist. That’s because it has a (perhaps well-deserved) stereotype of being a full-blown, week long retreat where you hunker down with your staff around a big table and bleed yourself dry trying to come up with a down-to-the-last-nail plan. I’m not talking about taking it that far. All I want you to do is spend a good 30 minutes thinking about the next year. (more) |
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11 January 2011Competing in a global manufacturing market, Europe races to claim their positionIn Europe they have formed a high-level expert group that has identified five Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) that they see as being the main drivers behind the development of new goods and services by 2020.(more) |
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10 December 2010What would you rather be: innovative — or cheap?Over the last couple of years, you’ve heard the top leadership at AMT come out with a strong message about innovation. It’s only by developing and producing the world’s most leading-edge technologies that our industry will move forward and remain competitive globally. Innovation is also the way that your company can offer something that is meaningfully unique. (more) |
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05 November 2010Business Development - Forget the bank: The credit union is where the money isSo where is a company to turn these days when it needs credit? Look no further than your local credit union. This potential solution to the shortage of available business capital is also one that is often overlooked. Credit unions are financial institutions formed by an organized group of people with a common bond. Members of credit unions pool their assets to provide loans and other financial services to each other. (more) |