Tag: Marketing-activation-company-Pune

A Huge – and Well-Hidden – Resource for Small Manufacturers

 
Job One here at AllBusiness is to help you find ways to become more productive, more competitive and… more profitable! Recently I chatted with Carrie Hines, Executive Director of the American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC) http://www.smallmanufacturers.org/, an organization that has exactly the same goals, plus boots on the ground to give individual manufacturers help on specific problems.

Providing more detail about the ASMC involves wading through a few government acronyms, but, believe me, if you’re looking for some objective advice about how to improve your business, it’ll be worth it. Here goes.

The ASMC is an association of Manufacturing Extension Partnership members(MEPs), which are in turn part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) .http://www.nist.gov, While NIST is probably best known for its annual Baldrige Award,  the MEP program is the most interesting one that NIST offers.

MEPs are basically consultant organizations that study your business and provide technical assistance to improve the way you do things via well-recognized approaches such as Six Sigma for quality and lean/kaizen techniques for improved efficiency. In addition, MEPs can help companies take advantage of existing government programs that can directly affect the bottom line. Some companies, for example, may be eligible for R&D tax credits, but don’t have their accounting systems set up in such a way as to capture the data the government requires in order to become eligible those credits.

MEPs are located in all fifty states, and, according to Hines, there is no manufacturing plant in America that is more than three hours’ drive from an MEP. Most MEPs are non-profit organizations, and many are associated with universities. MEPs have worked with over 300,000 businesses over the past seventeen years, and have accumulated some impressive stats. In 2006, they could boast of

·   an 80% track record of success improving client productivity

·   creation and retention of over 52,000 jobs

·   increased/retained sales for all their clients taken together that added up to over $6.7 billion

Eighty-two percent of MEP clients in 2006 reported they became more competitive.

The easiest way to find an MEP near you is to look at the ASMC’s interactive MEP map http://www.smallmanufacturers.org/membermap.html.

It is absolutely, positively worth taking a little time to do this. At minimum, you’ll get an unbiased outsider’s point of view about your processes, and advice about potential improvements you just can’t see yourself because you’re too busy with all your other responsibilities. As the old saying goes, “When you’re up to your *** in alligators, it’s hard to remember your objective was to drain the swamp.” An MEP can help you remember.

Why buy art and craft supplies?

Home » Business Tips » Why buy art and craft supplies?
May 4, 2016 Frank Bullock Business Tips
The world is filled with fun and interesting things. All you have to do is take the time to find them and enjoy them. Luckily for you, the online market has opened its gates and you are now able to find a variety of items that can bring you joy and happiness. You might be wondering what these items actually are. Well, these are many. You can find music, clothing items, jewellery, anything that could put a smile on your face. However, one category of products seems to bring a great deal of happiness in the hearts of so many people. Art and craft supplies are these items that can help you see the bright side when you are tired and troubled. The Internet, as mentioned is a great source of products of this kind. Before you hurry to find a trustworthy provider, which won’t be an impossible mission to complete if you choose to treat it with the importance it deserves, here are a few interesting ways you could make use of these items.

Getting rid of stress

Unfortunately the modern world is simply consumed by stress and few methods function, when it comes to setting your mind free and completely forgetting about problems. One seems to stay on top and help all individuals that are fighting stress. Art is that solution you are looking for. When you finish work and you return home, the crafting items you have purchased online should be waiting on the table. You sit down and focus on making Easter cards or hand made jewellery. The options are much more varied than that. You can try to create anything you put your mind to. Before you know it, all your problems have vanished from your head and you are left with happy and peaceful thoughts.

Focus on family activities

You would be surprised of how exciting and engaging activities involving crafting and art are. You can call the family together, set them around the dinner table and start creating. Having the much-needed supplies, you could make interesting looking items that can be used in so many different purposes. For instance, you could make lovely Christmas decorations and you could think of them as family treasures, ones you will most likely cherish for many years to come.

Set up a handmade business

It might seem as a far-fetched plan, but in the end, you live in a time when everything is possible. With the growth of the online market and the rise of social media, you could easily sell the items you create at home on your own or together with your family. Art comes in a variety of forms. You could design jewellery, beautiful cards that can be used for different occasions, home decorations for the holidays and not only and so on. After you have purchased your crafting supplies, considered the designs and realised them, there is really nothing keeping you from selling them online. You would be surprised of how appreciated handmade items are at the moment. You should have no difficulties in finding a public for the items you are selling.

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