SUMMER 2020

44 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

44 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Robert Footlik Robert B. Footlik, PE is a retired Professional Industrial Engineer. With over 50 years’ experience as a Warehouse and Logistics Consultant to a wide variety of clients including Fastener Distributors, Bob has a wealth of valuable information for our industry and he is willing to share it. While Footlik & Associates is now closed, his expertise is still available to his friends and our readers. For friendly advice, a second opinion or just to start a conversation, he can be reached at robert@footlik.net. PROTECTING YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSETS: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR PEOPLE - PART 2 In the Spring article I wrote that, “No matter how large or small your company every Fastener Distributor in the world uses highly sophisticated, autonomous and intelligent “equipment” called people.” The discussion centered on the importance of helping every member of your corporate team become more aware of their physical health, both on the job and at home. equally But there is an important component, their mental health that is most frequently exhibited in attitude, demeanor and morale. If the previous suggestions were radical the following may be downright heretical. Disconnect From The Individual Electronics Believe it or not previous generations of employees were restricted to personal phone calls only on break time, and often by pay phone. Personal texting, Instagrams, Twitter, Skype and other electronic communications are disruptive during the business day and setting limits is more than just good business. True emergencies can still be handled by intelligent, context savvy policies, but personal business while working costs the company time and money. And if this is true on the job setting limits on work communications after working hours, on vacation and other time off is a valid trade off. Limits on just how accessible your team members are to customers or each CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE other during non-working hours should now be part of your policy statements. When people are involved with family time please leave them alone! Business emergencies still happen, but no one is truly indispensable 24/7. Expect respect of company time and have respect of personal and family time. Have Fun At Work Business schools used to emphasize that “Business is Business” with no room for goofing off, fooling around or wasting time in enjoyment. New startups frequently capitalize on creating an environment where team building fun is a corporate obligation. Sometimes this makes sense, but all too often the fun goes too far. Corporate events must be inclusive, kind, considerate and most of all enjoyable. A distributor once walked in with a fish bowl full of silver dollars and told his telephone sales staff that for every order they wrote-regardless of size-they could take one silver dollar out of the bowl which he placed at the far end of the room. Almost instantly people were running to the reward and stacking coins like poker chips. Within an hour over 0 was gone and the bowl was empty. Is a 0 bonus worth 100 orders? Probably, but why put the bowl at the far end instead of central to the staff to save time and steps? Because with immediacy, high visibility and energy the contest became more fun and everyone in the company became involved. CONTINUED ON PAGE 118

THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 45 EFC International a leading supplier of engineered fasteners, continues to expand. They are moving their Chicago branch office and warehouse to a new 64,000 square foot facility at 4150 Chandler Drive, Hanover Park, Illinois. Thomas Mansholt, Vice President of Operations states, “Our move enables EFC to enhance our service level by providing additional stocking programs with increased inventory space to meet both customer and supplier needs. With 4,200 pallet locations, 26-foot clear height ceilings, and a circular flow from receiving to inventory to shipping, we can ship product more efficiently and the facility allows for growth. The increased number of dock doors provides efficient flow for containers to be loaded for export, supporting customers for all EFC Global locations. This is another sign of our commitment to Redefine The World Of Distribution.” EFC International is a leading global supplier of specialty engineered metal, plastic, coldformed, spring steel stampings and wire forms, electrical and assembled component parts to the OEM and Distribution market places serviced from multiple locations in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information contact EFC International by Tel: 314- 434-2888 or visit the website at www.efc-intl.com.