A second look: Wood & Wood Products revisits the 12th Annual WOOD 100 companies to learn how they have managed since September 11th.September 11 is a date that has been burned into our collective memory. Each of us remembers where we were and what we were doing that morning as the full horror of the terrorist attacks unfolded. On September 11th, the September issue of Wood & Wood Products, featuring the 12th Annual WOOD 100 Report, was at press. In sharp contrast to the dire economic news that flourished in the popular media, the WOOD 100 Report brimmed brim n. 1. The rim or uppermost edge of a hollow container or natural basin. 2. A projecting rim or edge: the brim of a hat. 3. A border or an edge. See Synonyms at border. with optimism. Fifty-seven or the WOOD 100 companies were expecting rig to post a double-digit growth in 2001. Eighty-two percent said they expected 2002 to be their "Best Ever" or at least a "Good" year. What Impact? A couple of months after the t terrorist attacks and with America knee deep in war, we wondered what impact the events of 9-11 and the e resulting blow to the already stumbling stumbling an abnormal gait in which the animal does not fully extend the limb, the plantar surface is not properly placed with respect to the ground surface at the time of impact so that the limb is likely to collapse and the animal to fall. economy had had on the 12th Annual WOOD 100 companies. How had their business activity been affected; what were their current Sales expectations for 2002; what had they done, if anything to counteract negatives created by the events of 9-11 and after? Executives of 55 of the WOOD 100 companies responded to our fax survey. Despite the changes in the economy, 27 (49%) said that their business activity "Stayed the Same." Twenty executives (36%) said they saw a decrease in activity and expected their 2002 sales to be less than originally predicted in the 12th Annual Report. Surprisingly, eight respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. said that their business activity has increased since 9-11. Companies that predicted an increase were Lexington Manufacturing Inc., Nu-Trend Cabinet Co., Bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. Furniture Co. Inc., D & L Custom Interiors, Hoffco Inc. which predicted a 50% increase, SolidTops Inc., and Jasper Seating Co. which said its business is up 5%. (The eight company asked to remain anonymous). When asked if they were doing anything to counteract potential negatives created by 9-11, 28 said hey were taking special action. Some of the most common remedies included beefing up marketing, laying off employees, decreasing spending, lowering prices, lowering inventories, adding new products and/or business opportunities. Some companies said they were doing a combination of these and other actions. Increased Marketing The most consistent answer to the question -- What has your company done to counteract any negatives? -- was to increase marketing or sales efforts. Twelve of the 28 companies that took action said that they had added some brochures or even more project pictures to each of their brochures, paid for more radio spots, held contests and promotions, stepped up the number of sales' calls or added more sales staff. "We have increased our print media, sponsored shows on NPR NPR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nepal Rupee. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. (National Public Radio) and did an insert in one of our largest market's newspapers in Rochester, NY," said Frank Carnovale, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Exhibits and More, "We also placed more ads and issued more press releases on our high-profile projects and increased the number of trade shows we have attended on the East Coast." The Liverpool, NY-based Exhibits and More, an exhibit designer and fabricator fab·ri·cate tr.v. fab·ri·cat·ed, fab·ri·cat·ing, fab·ri·cates 1. To make; create. 2. To construct by combining or assembling diverse, typically standardized parts: , saw a decrease in business activity due to the trade show and travel industry slowdown For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation). A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. . "It took three weeks for the effects to hit us because of the work backlog," said Carnovale. "We have decreased, but already we are starting to see an increase in our volume for orders and in quotations as a result of our increased advertising. I think staying visible to our prospects has shown that we are a strong, viable company." Another company that found marketing to be the key to making a turn around is Indian Country Indian country or Indian Country n. 1. Indian Territory. 2. Federal reservation lands under Native American tribal jurisdiction. Inc., a component manufacturer in Deposit, NY. Indian Country increased its advertising budget, added two more sales people, including a new sales and marketing manager, and revamped its Web site. "We have felt the opposite of most people who think cutting back is the answer," explained Gerard Kamp, CEO of Indian Country. "We have done the opposite by actually adding certain things. "The reason we have stayed successful and business has not decreased through this is because more advertising increased our business, calls for quotes and our customer base. The economic downturn and 9-11 just proved to us that we needed to be even more efficient than before." Lower Prices, Reduced Inventories Several of the WOOD 100 companies mentioned that they were forced to reduce prices in order to generate business. Others said they were switching to just-in-time manufacturing just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) Production-control system, developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and imported to the West, that has revolutionized manufacturing methods in some industries. to reduce inventories. Lexington Manufacturing Inc., an architectural millwork component and store fixture An article in the nature of Personal Property which has been so annexed to the realty that it is regarded as a part of the real property. That which is fixed or attached to something permanently as an appendage and is not removable. manufacturer in Coon Rapids Coon Rapids, city (1990 pop. 52,978), Anoka co., SE Minn., on the Mississippi River; inc. 1952. It is a suburb of Minneapolis–St. Paul. Transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, and medical equipment are produced. , MN, has been doing both. "We now offer a lot of different JIT JIT - dynamic translation shipment programs," said Bob Dimke, president of Lexington Manufacturing Inc. "Companies we supplied to were scared to carry inventories so they ran them down; we reacted by keeping them supplied with parts JIT. Now we have a staff that works on Fridays as well whereas before we had a Monday through Thursday work week. "We have also seen price pressure because profits are harder to come by in our region," said Dimke. "For instance, some store fixture manufacturers have been supplementing their business with architectural millwork components, which is what we mainly produce. This has meant more competition, which leads to price reductions." The company saw business decrease in October and November but is seeing a comeback Comeback Australian breed of wool sheep, bred by crossing Merino with Corriedale, Polwarth or Zenith sheep; wool is 21 to 25 microns. It is a registered breed, but the term is more commonly used in the sense of a type of sheep produced by crossbreeding a crossbred Merino back to Merino. . "We have been experiencing a slower start to the year than originally expected, but before this year we had averaged 30% growth," said Dimke, "We obviously do not anticipate 30% growth for 2002, but we will be growing because of new projects and our cost-effective attitude." Layoffs Become Necessary For at least four of the responding companies a business curtailment Curtailment The act of contracting or reducing operations of a company in the hope of bringing it financial or operational stability. This management technique is often used when a company has grown too fast and is unable to effectively manage its operations. made it necessary to lay off some employees. Since making these cuts, EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) An electrical disturbance in a system due to natural phenomena, low-frequency waves from electromechanical devices or high-frequency waves (RFI) from chips and other electronic devices. Allowable limits are governed by the FCC. Construction, which laid off one-third of its 75-man workforce (see sidebar (1) A Windows Vista desktop panel that holds mini applications (gadgets) such as a calendar, calculator, stock ticker and Vonage phone dialer. It is the Windows counterpart to the Dashboard in the Mac. See Windows Vista and gadget. , page 46) Pearson Millwork, Cherry Valley Cherry Valley can refer to several places: Places in the United States:
Even though Cherry Valley Woods ,a contract furniture and custom millwork company in Palmer Lake, CO, laid off only one person out of its eight employees it was just as difficult for them as the other companies. "Hospitality is one of our lines of business so with the decrease in travel, naturally, our business is less," explained Danielle Grant, sales manager sales manager n → gerente m/f de ventas sales manager n → directeur commercial sales manager sale n → of Cherry Valley Woods. "We just do not have as much work lined up because some of our projects cancelled or are on hold, so there was not enough work for that eighth person." The company also changed its focus, much as it did when it switched from institutional furniture to the hospitality market in early 2001. "We have been keeping our sales heavy on residential and commercial and then lastly hospitality," says Grant. "This strategy will help keep us going because there are still plenty of office buildings and homes going up." New Products Equal Success Five companies focused on replacing products that were not performing well or introducing new product offerings. They looked at new business opportunities by adding new products or asking accounts and customers what products they wanted to see their companies develop. "We manufacture computer desks and activity tables for elementary schools elementary school: see school. ," says Funblock Inc. President Michael Crane Michael Crane is a Bermudian cricketer. He has played one first-class match for Bermuda to date, against the USA in the 2004 Intercontinental Cup. He also represented his country in the 2004 ICC Americas Championship. Reference
"We have contacted our dealers which has led to us producing a different line of modular coat lockers and other sizes of classroom storage and shelving shelv·ing n. 1. Shelves considered as a group. 2. Material for shelves. 3. An incline; a slope. shelving Noun 1. material for shelves 2. units. We also do more work for other cabinet shops on our CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control. CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication equipment," says Crane. Like most of the 54 other respondents to our survey, Funblock remains optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op for the company and for its future success. "9-11 and the downturn in the economy has forced us, like any other company, to be more aggressive," said Crane. "With the invention of our new products, some increased marketing and the latest CNC equipment, we will still be profitable for 2002." Other Steps Another solution came from John Wiley John Wiley may refer to:
"We met with our employees to evaluate the possible implications of 9-11" said Wiley. "We pledged our best efforts to continuing good service and quality products and emphasized that their best efforts were also more critical now than ever before." American Regional Woodworks owner Michael Beasley Michael Beasley (born January 9, 1989 in Washington, D.C.) is an American basketball player. He considered among the elite high school basketball players of the 2007 class . Beasley stands 6'9", plays both forward positions and is left-handed. said his company is simply trying to "sell more for less." He also said, "We have prepared our employees to work longer hours in order to make more sales and get more projects completed." Kretz Lumber lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmills), sawing the logs into boards, grading the boards according to Co. of Antigo, WI, drew upon the strength of patriotism Patriotism See also Chauvinism, Loyalty. America, Captain comic-strip character known as the “protector of the American way.” [Comics: Horn, 155–156] American elm traditional symbol of American patriotism. to forge ahead. "We got 'United We Stand' stickers for all of our employees' hard hats and other safety gear," said Dan Kretz, president of Kretz Lumber. "We handed out the same stickers to the attendees at our annual 'Forestry Field Day' and collected Red Cross donations. "We also held a company-wide meeting to improve our focus to a positive one and to talk about how to change things that we have control over." WOOD 100 Firms Set Sights a Little Lower In light of the downturn in the economy and the effects of 9-11, 20 of the 55 respondents to Wood & Wood Products' December survey changed their responses from an optimistic "Best Ever" or "Good" to "OK", "Poor" or "Terrible" for 2002 sales expectations. However, there were also eight companies that upgraded their response from "Good" to "Best" or "OK" to "Good." Original WOOD 100 survey question from summer 2001: "What are your expectations for sales for 2002?" Best 24% OK 20% Good 56% Terrible 2% Note: Table made from pie chart Follow-up WOOD 100 survey question from December 2001: "In light of the events of 9-11 and the economy, what are your expectations for sales for 2002?" Based on 55 responses. Poor 5% OK 35% Best 18% Good 40% Note: Table made from pie chart Immediate Impact of 9-11 Based on 55 responses Despite the downturn in the economy and the impacts of 9-11, nearly half of the respondents to the WOOD 100 follow-up survey said their business activity levels had "Stayed the Same," while 36 percent said their business activity had been reduced. Increase 15% Stay the Same 49% Decrease 36% Note: Table made from pie chart. From Good to Bad Twenty of the WOOD 100 companies have seen their sales expectations for 2002 decrease. Of those 20 companies, the three that stood out were EMI Construction, Hollywood Woodwork woodwork: see carpentry; furniture; intarsia; marquetry; veneer; wood carving. and Pearson Millwork because they said their business outlook for 2002 had dropped from "Good" in the 12th Annual WOOD 100 Report to "Poor," in the December 2001 follow-up survey. "We had great anticipations before 9-11 on a couple of projects we bid on. Had we received them, we literally wouldn't have seen a shift in business," said Kirsten Ingham, Pearson Millwork's vice president of sales. "Things were slowing down here so we knew there would be postponing and cancelling of projects, but people panicked after 9-11 and projects that we won bids on in September; October or November have been postponed or cancelled," she added. "Our decrease has been due not only to 9-11, but also the economy," said Yves DesMarais, president and CEO of Hollywood Woodwork. "We're mainly into architectural woodwork for the hospitality market and 9-11 created a significant reduction in travel. As a result, we have had projects put on the shelf for 2002." "We are located in New Jersey," said Andrew Campbell Andrew Campbell is the name of:
New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . People were very nervous and afraid in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of after 9-l1 so there has been less office expansion and new office buildings for architectural woodworking to thrive." What They Are Doing About It All three of these WOOD 100 companies have proven successful track records. Pearson Millwork, EMI Construction and Hollywood Woodwork replanned, revised and added different aspects to their businesses to span the gap created by the economy and 9-11. "We are now not as concerned with what percentage of our gross sales Gross Sales A measure of overall sales that isn't adjusted for customer discounts or returns, calculated simply by adding all sales invoices, and not including operating expenses, cost of goods sold, payment of taxes, or any other charge. each one of our customers makes up," explained Ingham. "We also cut our prices somewhat but not so that we are below cost. Third, we decided to keep our inventories low in order to have on-time delivery. "Our bids that were lost recently were not lost by as heavy of a percentage as in October or November. We will be happy with breaking even because considering the year breaking even is an accomplishment," she added. DesMarais explained, "With the hospitality market down, tenant or office interiors became a more significant area for us as well as high-end residential here in Florida. We started to approach these markets carefully with a refined plan. "First, we figured out how to market our services and product to these newer markets. Then we contacted estimators and researched our options. We will have less of a margin on bids from these areas so we planned for no margin of error. Our efforts have been working well because we are starting to make up for the loss of our business in the Caribbean," DesMarais added. "We have started concentrating on New Jersey," said Campbell. "We have manipulated our pricing somewhat for the New Jersey market. We had to lay people off because the loss of projects was a large blow to recover from. The lay offs lightened the pay roll load and costs because we went from 75 employees to around 50.1 believe these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing 1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17 2. are helping us get through all of this." From Good to Better Eight of the the WOOD 100 companies have seen their sales expecta lions for 2002 increase. Of those eight, the three that stood out were Bluegrass Furniture, Nu-Trend Cabinet and Hoffco Inc. Last summer, executives from each company projected business to be "Good." Each upgraded their prediction to "Best Ever" in the December WOOD 100 follow-up survey. "Doing whatever it takes," was one of the reasons Kenneth Dietel, president of Bluegrass Furniture, cited for the company's continuing increase in business despite 9-11 and the economic slowdown. "Several factors helped us increase profits despite 9-11," explained Dietel, "such as our ability to quickly design new products, our supportive retailers, our ability to quickly gain market and to do custom work" "We already saw a steady decrease in the economy before 9-11," said Kevin Mack James Kevin Mack (born August 9, 1962 in Kings Mountain, North Carolina) is a former professional American football player who played running back. Mack played collegiately at Clemson University and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 1st round (11th overall) of the 1984 , president of Nu-Trend Cabinet "I think our business has and will continue to increase despite the economic state because we really stepped up our marketing and bids." "I believe that people have been traveling less and staying at home more," said Doug House, Hoffco Inc. vice president of sales and marketing. "Interest rates have been lower and remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling has increased. We have been able to take advantage of the housing market, so we have been busy." How Did They Do It? All three of these companies developed a well-thought-out plan of attack to keep their businesses thriving "We decided to do more direct calling on quotations rather than just sending a form letter," said Mack 'We have established more contact with our new customers even meeting them face to face when possible I used to do all of the calling for sales too, but I figured at the beginning of 2001 that it would be in the company's best interests to hire a full-time sales person to keep our sales from slipping. "So far, we have started working with three new customers as a result and have been getting customers to keep coming back," he added. House said, 'We have just continued to step up our aggressive marketing track to make sure our customers and potential customers hear our name first. "We thoroughly discussed the state of the economy and what impact 9-11 could have on our business. We have been so busy that we will be up 50% from last year." Dietel said, "The biggest changes we have made was adding entertainment centers designed for the newest sizes and styles of TVs, decorative bun BUN blood urea nitrogen; see urea nitrogen. BUN abbr. blood urea nitrogen Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) feet, decorative arches and carved carve v. carved, carv·ing, carves v.tr. 1. a. To divide into pieces by cutting; slice: carved a roast. b. and rope mouldings to our offerings. I personally visited stores on the weekends to help sell product as well as having stores set up Meet the Builder' days. We also bought a digital camera and software so that we could make brochures. "We really did not push as aggressively before 9-11," added Dietel. "9-11 was a wake up call to our business. It made us realize that we could not wait any longer to come out with our new products, styles and brochures. We had to do it now." |
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