Web Savvy Marketers Ideas, Thoughts & Tips

Hobbs Medical Implements Best Onboarding Practices for Neurodiverse Employees

October 27, 2022 Beth Devine

If you follow us on LinkedIn or read our Blog, you know we’ve highlighted the benefits of hiring neurodiverse individuals in manufacturing roles. This community possesses many positive characteristics, starting with the fact that they are rule followers.

If you want them to be at the plant at 7:00 am, they will be there at that time. They are also not averse to repetitive actions. While other people find these kinds of tasks to be tedious or boring, they get into a groove, especially when allowed to listen to music while working. Finally, since they often aren’t as social as neurotypical individuals, the employer isn’t faced with the battle of the cell phone.

These characteristics make neurodiverse employees ideal. However, they do require some accommodations when it comes to hiring, onboarding, and retaining them.

One company that does an excellent job at this is Hobbs Medical in Stafford Springs, CT. Hobbs Medical is a small medical device manufacturer. Their industry requires precision work, and Hobbs has found this can be accomplished with neurodiverse employees.

Some of the onboarding techniques they have embraced are:

Hiring
Start new hires as part time, temporary employees (5-hour days, 5 days a week, for 3 months)

Employer advantage: if it doesn’t work out, they’re not strapped with someone who doesn’t fit, or faced with an unemployment expense

Employee benefit: They may not have worked full time before. This eases them into the job, which can help them be more successful

Onboarding
Send paperwork home in advance

Sudden paperwork can stress out a neurodiverse individual (what if I don’t know an answer? How long can I take to fill this out?).

Completing the paperwork in advance allows them to get to work faster and doesn’t start their employment with a negative experience.

Tools
Provide them with manuals and videos to remind them how to do something.

They’re more comfortable with this, versus having to ask someone a question.

How do I know these techniques work? My son, Patrick, is a neurodiverse individual, and a recent hire at Hobbs Medical. I witnessed their practices while watching him go through the hiring process. Hobbs’ process helped him achieve success that he might not have had otherwise. The end result?

Completing the paperwork in advance was very helpful for him. He could just go in and begin training for his position immediately.
He likes that he has tools that remind him how to do a particular task, so he doesn’t have to interrupt someone who’s working to ask questions.
Patrick was hired full time less than two months into his temporary position.

By the way, I mentioned rule following: He’s there at 6:50 every morning for a 7:00 a.m. start.

If you’re interested in exploring ways to incorporate neurodiverse individuals into your manufacturing environment, Contact Us and we can get you started.

Tips To Maximize Your Trade Show ROI

September 15, 2022 Beth Devine

For U.S. manufacturers, September through November is the busiest time of year for trade show participation. The nation’s largest industry show, the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), is happening this week in Chicago.

Considered by many to be the Superbowl of U.S. manufacturing shows, IMTS runs every two years, but this year’s show will be the first since 2018, due to the COVID-related cancellation of the 2020 show.

The 2018 show featured 2,563 exhibitors and drew a record registration of 129,415 people. The cost to exhibit at this show can easily reach six figures, depending on the size of the booth, with some machine tool companies hitting the seven-figure mark. For many companies, this show alone will consume the majority of their annual marketing budgets.

Measuring the total Return on Investment (ROI) for this and other shows can be tricky. Many booth visitors won’t let you scan their show badges, so you can’t capture their contact information and follow up with them. How would you know if a conversation on your booth in 2018 culminated in a sale in 2020?

While you can’t capture every trade show touch point that leads to a sale, you can take steps to ensure you maximize your ROI. Pre-show planning and post-show follow up are two critical elements of the trade show process that directly impact ROI, and they are often the most overlooked.

Pre-show planning must include a pre-show media blitz. Plan to bring products that will entice booth visitors. Send press releases to all the vertical publications to ensure your booth and its offerings are well publicized prior to the show. Take advantage of every opportunity for free exposure on the trade show’s website. Send “Save the Date” announcements and invitations to your customers and prospects. Include free registration to the show if you can. Schedule meetings at the show with customers and prospects in advance. The morning of the show, drop several copies of your press release at the venue’s media center.

Post-show planning is equally important. Trade shows are exhausting, and by the end of the last day the marketing and sales teams just want to soak their tired feet and catch up on their sleep. This is not the time! Multiple studies have shown a direct correlation between the amount of time it takes to follow up with trade show prospect and the likelihood of that prospect becoming a customer. The longer you wait to follow up, the less likely you are to make a sale.

If you’re following up via email, include a photo of your booth to help your prospects remember who you are. They’ve likely visited countless booths during the show, and a photo will help them remember your booth and what you discussed. Whether you follow up by email or phone, try to secure another meeting on the calendar. It’s important to keep the communication momentum going.

Trade shows are a huge investment, but careful pre-show and post-show planning helps ensure you maximize your company’s ROI.

If you’re not getting an acceptable ROI for trade shows or other areas of your business, it might be time for a Needs Assessment. The Connecticut Manufacturer’s Resource Group (ctmrg.com) has vetted professional resources that can help determine what you need to do to ensure you’re making the most of your company’s investments. Contact Us to learn more.

Six Steps Manufacturers Can Take to Combat Inflation

September 1, 2022 Beth Devine

In July, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) posted a webinar on its website titled “Smart Responses to Inflation and Volatility for Manufacturing Leaders.”

A global management consulting company, Bain & Company, hosted the webinar at the end of June, and two of the company’s partners, Karen Harris and Jason Heinrich, presented. They analyzed the impact of rising inflation on U.S. manufacturers, and offered tips for reducing its risks.

In her analysis of U.S. inflation, Harris, whose specialty is macroeconomics, shared some historical data. Since World War II, she noted, the U.S. has had seven inflation spikes, each lasting between 23 and 47 months, with a median time frame of 30 months, before ending with (or during) a recession. If the past is any indicator of how long an inflation spike will last, Harris said we can expect our current spike, which began in March of 2021, to end around September of 2023.

“Recessions break inflation cycles,” she said, “and then we see a drift back down to a normal inflationary environment.” Given that Harris predicts at least another year of high inflation, her colleague, who specializes in business performance improvements, offered his strategies for managing its risks.

“Today’s inflation presents significant risks for businesses,” Heinrich explained. They’re seeing declining gross margins as the Cost of Goods (COGS) skyrockets, along with rapidly increasing labor and energy costs. They’re seeing an increasing cost of capital due to the federal government raising loan rates. Their customers are becoming more price sensitive, and they’ll look for cheaper options, which is another threat to businesses.

Bain & Company researched the activities of 3,900 companies over the past 13 years to see why some companies outperformed during times of inflation while others failed. “Businesses that are playing offense during periods of disruption outperform their industry peers over a long period of time,” Heinrich said, before offering these six strategies:

1. Elevate the role of the CFO to C-suite quarterback. The CFO must play a central role in connecting the front end of the business to the back end. The CFO must determine how to translate rising costs into price increases to customers. The CFO must determine the increase rate. Best in class CFOs will arm their sales and marketing teams with the rationale for price increases, so they can explain it to customers.

2. Double down on customer relationship building. Inflation typically reduces customer loyalty, so it’s time to focus on contract renewals and renegotiations. Identify potential defectors, and focus on them before they leave for a competitor. Develop compelling new offers targeted toward acquiring new customers who are out shopping for a better deal. Invest in digital marketing to reach them at the right place and time. Selectively absorb some cost inflation for your most loyal, price sensitive customers.

3. Pricing strategy is important. Exchange price for value by offering other benefits, such as volume guarantees, bundled products and adjusted service levels. When necessary, pass on surcharges for customer behaviors that reduce profits. Equip the sales team to dynamically adjust customer pricing based on different market scenarios. Utilize index-based pricing in raw material contracts.

4. Build resilient, growth-focused procurement and supply chain operations. Consider reconfiguring your supply chain due to increasing transportation costs.

5. Prioritize automation. Identify opportunities, and develop automation targets with a multi-year roadmap. Share automation best practices throughout the company.

6. Invest to build the best workplace. Retaining employees is a bigger challenge than attracting them. Reassess your total rewards package. Consider offering one-time lump sum payments to combat inflation, rather than implementing wage adjustments. Look for opportunities to cross train.

The webinar, which lasted just under an hour, ended with a strong Q & A session. You can register to watch it here.

Rising inflation has made this a turbulent time for manufacturers, and you need to have a plan. If you don’t have one, it’s a good time for a Needs Assessment. The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg.com), a subsidiary of Web Savvy Marketers, routinely conducts Needs Assessments to help companies prosper in times of economic uncertainty. Contact Us to learn more.

Lead Time, Cycle Time and Takt Time Are All Critical to Your Operations

August 19, 2022 Beth Devine

We’ve all heard the saying, “Mind the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” Nobody questions the logic that spending fewer pennies will ultimately help you spend fewer dollars. The same logic can be applied in the successful operation of a manufacturing company.

In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, time always equals money. That’s why operations and production managers are keenly focused on reducing lead time, cycle time and takt time.

Most people understand that lead time is defined as the length of time between the customer placing an order for a part and when they receive it (think calendar days). They also know that cycle time differs from lead time because it only counts the time spent working directly on producing the part. Lunch breaks, staff meetings, etc. aren’t counted.

But takt time is a little more complicated to understand.

According to kanbanize.com, “Takt time is the rate at which you need to complete a product to meet customer demand. For example, if you receive a new product order every four hours, your team needs to finish a product in four hours or less to meet demand.”

In a machine shop, takt time is calculated by dividing the available work minutes by the number of parts ordered. For example, let’s say your shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. That’s 45 total hours. But since your employees take an hour for lunch every day, this leaves 40 hours available to make parts. Multiply 40 hours by 60 and you’ll see that this equates to 2,400 available work minutes per week.

If your customers order a total of 400 parts per week, you’ll calculate your takt time by dividing 2,400 minutes by 400 (2,400/400 = 6). This means your shop must manufacture one part every six minutes to satisfy your customers’ weekly demand for parts.

If your shop can only make one part every eight minutes, you’ll only be able to produce 300 parts each week, leaving your customers 100 parts short. Somehow, you need to take two minutes off your takt time. This is where Lean Manufacturing tools can help.

Implementing a 5S system is one of the easiest tools to implement. According to the American Society for Quality (ASQ), “Lack of organization in the workplace wastes time and lowers productivity. By implementing a lean 5S system – sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain – organizations can create a clean, well ordered, and disciplined work environment.” Keeping materials and tools organized where they are easily seen and can be quickly accessed is just one way to reduce process time.

Another tool, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is ideal for reducing process time. VSM can help identify bottlenecks and eliminate waste, whether it’s time or materials. VSM practitioners use a process flow chart to document every step of the production process in chronological order. Each step is then analyzed for efficiency, and process improvements are implemented.

There are many other Lean Manufacturing tools, and each are worth exploring if you want to reduce takt time. Even something as simple as reducing the number of steps a worker takes to move parts from one process to another can make a difference.

In other words, mind the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.

Implementing Lean Manufacturing methods will help you to operate your business at maximum efficiency. This is just one of the strategies reviewed during a Needs Assessment from Web Savvy’s subsidiary, CTmrg. Together we can uncover your operational challenges and provide vetted resources to assist you in implementing change. Contact Us to learn more.

Consider Upskilling or Reskilling When Recruitment Isn’t Enough

August 10, 2022 Beth Devine

Connecticut manufacturers struggling to fill job vacancies have done everything they can to entice skilled workers to join their companies. They’ve increased wages, enhanced benefits, and adopted flexible work schedules, but they still can’t fill those empty roles.

As a result, there’s a stronger interest in training existing employees to perform different jobs. According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report, 72% of the Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who were surveyed reported upskilling/reskilling as their primary focus in 2022.

To be clear, upskilling isn’t the same as reskilling. Upskilling involves training an employee to perform a higher-skilled version of the job they’re already doing, usually within the department where they’re already working. Reskilling is training an employee to perform a completely different task than what they’re doing, perhaps within a different department. Some companies call this “cross training.”

Both approaches have multiple benefits. One U.S. manufacturing company owner, Frank Oetlinger, has cross trained most of his employees. Which task they perform and which department they’ll work in from week to week typically depends on where they’re most needed.

Ask anyone in either of his shops what they do, and most will reply “a little bit of everything.” Ask them what their job titles are, and some will have to stop and think about it because they really aren’t sure anymore. They just seamlessly float between job functions and across departments, doing whatever needs to be done at any given time.

When discussing why he cross trains his employees, Frank says, “It makes work more interesting for them, because their jobs aren’t boring. They get to learn new things and do different things.” This could be one reason why his employee retention is so high. Many of his employees have been with him for more than 20 years, and some as long as 35.

In addition to improving retention, reskilling improves employee engagement. Employees who have been trained in more than one area are more likely to feel respected and valued, and they’re more likely to invest themselves in the company.

Upskilling has all of the same advantages, but given how quickly technology is advancing it’s more important than ever to implement, particularly digital upskilling. In an article titled, “Preparing Everyone for a Digital World,” Global company PwC writes, “Already, there is a skills mismatch around the world and millions of jobs are going unfilled. It is not possible to recruit enough already-skilled people to do them.”

Upskilling helps alleviate the problem. It facilitates filling high-skill job vacancies from within the company, leaving the lower skilled, lower paying jobs (which are typically easier to fill) available for new hires.

When recruitment efforts alone aren’t filling your empty roles, it might be time to revisit what you’re doing to upskill and reskill your existing workforce. The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group’s (CTmrg) vetted HR professionals can help develop the strategic plans you’ll need to successfully incorporate upskilling and reskilling initiatives into your recruitment efforts. Contact Us to learn more.

COVID’s Future Impact on Workplace Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)

June 22, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s no secret that business owners are still struggling with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivery disruptions, material shortages, and a scarcity of workers have been at the forefront of the news for well over a year. It’s only recently that the media has begun shining a light on the effects the pandemic has had on EHS leaders and the workforces they manage.

Prior to COVID, EHS departments were fairly limited to instilling a safe work environment, ensuring companywide EHS compliance, and addressing workplace illnesses and injuries.

But when the pandemic hit, EHS leaders had to broaden their roles. They scrambled to implement new safety protocols that included masks, social distancing, hand sanitizing stations, and other initiatives. They increased EHS communications, implemented travel restrictions and generated vaccination policies. Most EHS leaders did everything humanly possible to keep workers from becoming infected and spreading the virus, and the workforce took notice.

As a result, workers’ perceptions of EHS managers have changed. They no longer see them simply as EHS compliance enforcers. They now view them as benefactors of complete employee health and well-being, and this elevated status has created a new challenge for EHS leaders.

In its 2021 survey, EHSToday learned that an increasing number of employees are turning to their companies’ EHS departments for help with their mental health and well-being, which they hadn’t done prior to the pandemic. Rather than shirking the added responsibility, EHS managers are stepping up. According to the survey, 58% of EHS leaders said improving mental health and worker wellness will be a high priority for 2022 and 2023.

Business owners say they plan to place a higher priority on EHS budgets, too, and they expect to modify corporate structures to ensure EHS is more closely aligned with Human Resources. They anticipate that the two departments will share a new, holistic approach toward managing employees’ overall health and mental well-being.

According to the 2021 Business Group on Health / Fidelity Investments Employer-Sponsored Health and Well-being Survey, which interviewed leaders from 166 large global companies, employer programs designed to support employees’ mental health and emotional well-being will also increase significantly throughout 2022. Programs expected to grow the most since 2020 include sleep improvement programs (35% increase), digital cognitive behavioral therapy (37% increase) and happiness programs (33% increase).

According to the survey’s authors, “Mental health and emotional well-being is the leading way global employers are addressing employee well-being, more so than physical health, which is historically the most common type of program. This finding further accentuates the international trend of emotional health playing a critical role in an employee’s state of well-being.”

This could very well be the rainbow that follows the COVID storm, and it’s likely to remain with us well into the future. Not sure how to mange this new component of your business? Contact us to learn more.

Web Savvy Subsidiary Board Member Wins Design Award

June 16, 2022 Beth Devine

Design Your Monday, a Glastonbury, CT interior design studio, owned by Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg) Board Member Jennifer Gaggion, received the “Best Specialty Project” award from CREW CT, a leading organization for senior-level executive women in Connecticut commercial real estate. CTmrg is a subsidiary of Web Savvy Marketers.

The CREW CT’s Annual Blue-Ribbon Awards Showcase was held on May 18 to honor excellence for Connecticut’s 2021 real estate accomplishments. The Best Specialty Project award category is reserved for the best reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed.

Design Your Monday collaborated with Capital Studio Architects and Aldrich Construction to convert an existing 100,000 square foot warehouse in East Hartford into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for HORST Engineering.

“This project was a blank slate that needed to come to life,” Gaggion said. “Our design process was highly strategic and focused on driving the client’s business results as well as attracting top tier employment candidates. Winning this award shows that people appreciate the dedication and passion that went into this project.”

Gaggion noted that the award “signifies the importance of surrounding yourself with esteemed colleagues in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries who work together to achieve the same goal, and the value engaging clients, like Horst Engineering, bring to the project.” She said she loves working with professionals in commercial real estate, and “especially with top-notch clients like HORST Engineering, who value what we bring to the project.” Gaggion believes design is a strategic initiative that, when leveraged, has the power to drive measurable results.

Your physical environment is one of the many facets of a company’s recruitment and retention plan. CTmrg specializes in helping organizations identify opportunities for growth, and works with them to attract and foster an engaged workforce. Design Your Monday is one of the many vetted resources CTmrg provides. Contact us today to learn how a CTmrg specialized Needs Assessment can help your organization grow and prosper.

Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group Supports UCONN Grant Process

June 9, 2022 Beth Devine

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The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (Ctmrg), a subsidiary of WebSavvy Marketers, worked with other manufacturing industry groups, including the Naval & Maritime Consortium and ManufactureCT, to help the University of Connecticut (UCONN) secure a $1.75M grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

The grant will help fund the university’s DOE Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), which helps small to medium sized manufacturing companies reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions. The IAC will conduct complimentary energy efficiency assessments for 20 companies throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, and/or New York each year for five years.

According to the Department of Energy, IAC assessments typically identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities.

“The key to getting the grant was bringing everyone together to work on this common goal,” CTmrg’s founder, Beth Devine said. “As a result, we have a complete solution for manufacturers who want to improve their energy efficiency.” Devine serves on an advisory panel that assists UCONN’s IAC in implementing the energy assessment program.

At a press conference on the UCONN Storrs campus on May 20, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced that the Biden administration will dedicate $7M to free energy assessment programs at additional schools in California, Delaware, Georgia and Texas. Devine attended the press conference with U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, Connecticut’s Chief Manufacturing Officer Paul Lavoie, Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merill, and UCONN President Radenka Maric.

The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg) helps small and medium sized manufacturers find and take advantage of programs and resources. CTmrg partners with workforce boards and educational institutions, navigates state and federal programs, and vets the best resources available to provide Connecticut manufacturers with a single source of services and information to help them grow their businesses. Contact Us for more information.

Are You Hitting Your Target Audience?

May 19, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s that time of year again. Time to review your database. It’s common knowledge that segmenting your email marketing lists results in higher open and click rates. According to a 2017 MailChimp report, click rates are 101% higher for emails sent to a segmented list versus a non-segmented list. The report was based on data from 11,000 segmented campaigns sent to nearly 9 million recipients.

The data also showed that email unsubscribes were significantly lower for segmented lists, by more than 9%. People are quick to unsubscribe if they receive emails that are not relevant to them. Since they often find these emails annoying, this can lead to a negative impression about your company and its products.

For your sales and marketing team, an “unsubscribe” is the kiss of death. The only way to reach these customers once they’ve unsubscribed is by telephone (which nobody answers anymore), a face-to-face visit, or postal mail. Knowing this, it’s easy to see the value of using segmented lists.

Where It Begins

Segmentation of a list is best done from the beginning, however, that’s not always possible. If you already have a large list, we suggest transferring it into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to start. CRM software platforms like Sharpspring* contain all of your customers’ demographics, contact information, touch points, and purchase histories. They can also display how customers and prospects engage with your website, emails and other online content. For example, if you send an email telling customers about a new product, you can see who opened it, how long they viewed it, which links they clicked on within the email, etc.

Typically, a database is segmented by industry. This should be the bare minimum when building a database. However, with data from your CRM/In-bound programs, you can now segment your email lists by product interest and level of interest, among other things. For example, let’s say John Smith and Mary Jones each opened your email. You can see that John only clicked on the link for product A, but he stayed on that page for 15 minutes, indicating a high level of interest. You can also see that Mary only clicked on the link for product B, but she stayed on the page for just a few seconds before closing the email.

Armed with this information, you can segment John and Mary into different lists based on their product interest and their perceived level of interest, with John seemingly much more interested than Mary. You can then send another email with more detail on product A to John, which he will find relevant. Sending that same email to Mary, however, might cause her to unsubscribe. It would be better to put Mary on a segmented list for people interested in product B.

In a Nutshell

Segmenting your email lists is important. It ensures you’ll get a relevant message to the right audience at the proper time. Take a look at your CRM database and segmentation strategy. Is all of the customer information up to date in your CRM? Are your email lists segmented so they reach the most appropriate audience? If not, Contact Us to learn how we can assist you. Remember the most attractive and interesting marketing message is useless unless it gets to the right person.

*If you’re interested in investigating a CRM solution, contact us at 860-432-9977 for information regarding the tools we’ve reviewed and the ones we’ve chosen to use ourselves.

Is Business Development Keeping You Up at Night?

May 4, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s not uncommon for business owners to lose sleep at night, especially those who run manufacturing companies. They’re juggling a hundred balls at once, and the omnipresent fear that they’ll inadvertently drop one can result in a lot of late-night anxiety.

Some business owners push business development to the back burner while they address everything else they’re managing, like supply chain backlogs, staffing shortages, equipment failures, etc. This is especially true for smaller manufacturers with limited resources, and it’s a problem they can’t afford to ignore.

A manufacturer in Trumbull, CT made this mistake early on in her business. To respect her privacy, we’ll call her “Kim.” Kim’s outgoing personality helped her build a successful business from the ground up, and with just a few steady clients she quickly had more work than she could handle. She ramped up production, which meant hiring new people.

While she struggled to meet demand, she turned her attention away from business development. However, when her biggest client suffered an unexpected financial setback and abruptly stopped placing orders, Kim’s business collapsed. Her remaining customers couldn’t sustain the company and she had no prospects in her pipeline. She had to drastically downsize her warehouse and lay off most of her employees. She eventually rehired them, but it took several years to fully rebuild the company. Today she has hundreds of customers because she routinely focuses on business development.

Like most manufacturers, Kim built her business on Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WoMM). This is one of her most powerful tools and she continues to use it to her advantage. According to the fact checking website Review 42, WoMM is the most trusted form of marketing, and it influences 99% of all B2B purchases. However, Kim also knows that WoMM is not the only tool she needs to incorporate into her business development plan.

What tools does your business development plan include? Are you working with your marketing team regularly to engage with your customers on social media? Are you keeping your business at the top of your customers’ minds with newsletters, blogs, and periodic emails?

If you don’t have a strong business development plan, it might be time for a Needs Assessment. The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg.com), a subdivision of Web Savvy Marketers, has a long history of conducting Needs Assessments and can ensure your business development plan includes all the marketing strategies necessary for growing your business.