Month: March 2020

Admiral Valve, LLC d/b/a CPV Manufacturing is pleased to announce the appointment of Joni Oppasser as our Human Resource Manager. Joni graduated from Ithaca College and previously held a position as Human Resource Manager for GE Healthcare; Merit Medical Systems Inc. She most recently worked as the Director of People Services and Strategy at Endless Pools in Aston, PA. Joni will manage CPV’s employee related policies and activities such as job design, recruitment, employee relations, performance management, training & development and talent management. David London, CPV President and CEO, said “We are delighted to have Joni join us and bring her years of…

Local hospitals and Health Care Facilities are in URGENT need of unused face masks and gloves. If you’re able to donate these supplies, AWISCO will pickup and deliver to those in need. Let’s make a difference together and contribute so we can help with the shortage. Please contact us at 800-834-1925 to schedule a donation pickup.

Taylor-Wharton (“TW”) announced recent expansion of distribution of its cryogenic Liquid Cylinder, MicroBulk, Bulk Tanks and LNG products in Europe, Middle East, and Northern Africa.  By opening distribution centers in both Poland and Dubai, TW is positioned to rapidly meet market demands for TPED & PED products throughout Europe and Israel as well as DOT-4L & ASME product to the Middle East and Northern Africa. Tim Miller, President of Taylor-Wharton notes, “We wanted to be in the position to control our supply channels to both the European and MENA regions directly.  By expanding our operations adding distribution centers in each…

The American Welding Society’s (AWS) Board of Directors have announced that Gary Konarska II is named the organization’s new Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective April 6, 2020. Konarska succeeds Ray Shook, who held the position for 15 years and has agreed to remain as Executive Director Emeritus for an interim period to ensure a seamless and successful transition. “We are very excited to welcome Gary to the American Welding Society taking on the role of Executive Director and CEO. Gary brings an exceptional combination of industry knowledge, energy, and proven leadership that make him the ideal leader…

According to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 5,250 workers died on the job in 2018, an average of more than 14 deaths every day. It is a tragedy that nobody wants to think about. But a good company must be prepared for how to respond when tragedy strikes. Tragedy, of course, can take many forms. It does not necessarily need to be a worksite death, as cited above. It could be a non-fatal accident (2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported in 2018), or a natural disaster like a fire, earthquake, hurricane,…

by Caroline K. Reff Forty years ago, your father and mother started a family business. They worked hard, and the business grew. Maybe, as a child, you helped behind the counter or as a teen started to learn some of the skills required on the production end of the business. Your three siblings did the same. At some point, however, you and your siblings each had to decide whether to make the family business a career. Maybe your parents influenced you, pressuring you to stay with the business or conversely deciding that you needed to go to college and/or work…

Historically, the compressed gas industry’s products have been used in industrial, food and medical settings where employee safety and training have long been a priority. As the industry evolves, the same products are being increasingly used in new applications by new users – including by consumers. The safety standards published by the Compressed Gas Association consist primarily of high-level technical documents written by and for senior level engineers, but we recognize that CGA has a social responsibility to provide users – from new industry employees to consumers – with the information they need to interact with our members’ products safely.…

How to stay in compliance with employee training By Steve Guglielmo, Marilyn Dempsey, Michael Dodd and Tom Badstubner Your employees are the lifeblood of your organization. In order to ensure that they can do their jobs correctly and safely, it’s vital to provide continuous training. But this can be a daunting and time-consuming task. How often does this training need to be done? When does it need to be recertified? How can the training be presented in a way where the employee can retain it? And how can this training be continually reinforced each and every day? Welding & Gases…

GAWDA members must now comply with a new set of federal requirements. Just two months after issuing a proposed rule, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has published a final rule for reporting of accidental releases of a regulated substance or other extremely hazardous substances into the ambient air from a stationary source. The rule includes releases of petroleum products, including biofuels. Stationary sources would exclude trucks or other motor vehicles. The CSB estimates that 200 releases per year will be subject to its new reporting requirements. The rule creates a new Part 1604 of title 40 CFR. It…

Editor’s Note: This column can serve as a companion article for the Consultant’s Roundtable on page 14. Admin – CGMP Training – Online Training Resources Food and Medical Gas – CGMP Training for Administrative Personnel Visit research.net/r/QuizforGMPTrainingforAdministrativePersonnel  11-minute video presentation The essential FDA regulations for administrative personnel Essential GMP regulations Lot number tracking Complaint procedures Quiz Certificate of participation Food Gas – Online Training Resources Food Gas – Qualified Facilities and Submitting the FDA Attestation Visit bit.ly/2T2CTGF to view the Food Gas Roundtable recording discussing the FDA Qualified Facility exemption and how to submit the Attestation. 15-minute video presentation The FDA…

Editor’s Note: This column can serve as a companion article for the Consultant’s Roundtable on page 14. Over the years, I have written several articles and Traffic Bulletins about training and with good reason. It consistently ranks as the number one inquiry from members and continues to be one of the most cited issues by DOT inspectors who visit our members. I want to touch on the high points of the main training topics required by the DOT: function specific, HAZMAT, driver, and drug and alcohol training. Hazmat Training (172.704) A HAZMAT employer must train, test and certify every HAZMAT…

That phone in your pocket has more than 100,000 times the processing power of the computers used on Apollo 11. Wow, grasp that; the computing power of your iPhone is that much more powerful than the computer that sent a man to the moon 50 years ago! Granted, everything has advanced since then by exponential orders of magnitude, but it’s still impressive the technology you have available at your fingertips. If you’re not using your smartphone or tablet to its fullest capacity, you could be missing opportunities to grow your business and manage your sales territory more effectively. For the…

by Patrick Lencioni These days, virtually no one will tell you that teamwork isn’t important when it comes to an organization achieving its goals. Even cynics understand that groups of people who are willing to put their individual interests aside for the good of the team will outperform groups of people who do not. Having said that, there is something that often happens after a team succeeds that suggests many of us might be discounting the real power of teamwork. A great example of this happens in the world of professional sports. With the football season having just wrapped up,…

Before I get started, I have to come clean. Anybody that is reading the title of this article and expecting something that sounds like it came out of the Harvard Business Review or the Wall Street Journal is going to be very disappointed. I went to Texas Tech, not Harvard or Yale. But what I lack in high-powered, fancy advice, I make up for in experience. I’ve spent 50 years in this ‘bidness’ and I’ve found the five things that I think anybody in our industry needs to do to be successful. I’ve worked in the welding industry since I…

The following is an excerpt from the GAWDA Safety Organizer, a monthly bulletin sent to GAWDA members. For more information on the GAWDA Safety Organizer, or to read past issues, visit the GAWDA.org Members-Only Section. Bulk Storage Tanks or Bulk Trailers at Customer Sites Do you own any bulk tanks at a customer site? An owner of bulk installations at a customer site has a duty under EPA regulations (Section 312) to notify the customer of their obligation to file Tier Form reports for each hazardous chemical that meets or exceeds the threshold planning quantities. The reminder must be mailed…

For just about every distributor-based association whose members I’ve worked for or for whom I’ve written an article, the story is the same. It’s commonly believed that members are far behind the times when it comes to digital marketing. To some extent this is true, but in most cases that’s not the case. Here’s what I usually find: The majority of members don’t know where to begin from a digital marketing standpoint. Some members understand digital marketing is important, but can’t seem to execute the program they know will produce results. These folks never seem to allocate enough budget to…

By Bill McCloy, Managing Director, AmWINS Program Underwriters, Welding DistributorPro Insurance Program Your business has suffered a loss – a natural disaster or a fire.  So much of how you respond after a loss is predicated on how well you’ve prepared prior to a loss.  Ask yourself these questions: Have you developed an Emergency Response Plan or Disaster Recovery Plan?  Do you have inventory lists, plot maps, vehicle registrations, accounts receivable and payable, or key contact information documented and backed up?  Is your back-up secured off site?   Do you have a dedicated individual accountable for coordinating the response if…

Willard C. Starcher, Inc.  was founded by Willard Starcher in 1938. Prior to opening the company, Starcher had worked as a schoolteacher and then as a mechanic fixing generators and refrigerators. He opened Willard C. Starcher in his hometown of Spencer, West Virginia, in a garage behind his house. More than 80 years later, the company continues to operate out of Spencer. “We’re located in rural West Virginia, in a town of 2,600 people,” says John Hill, Starcher’s grandson and current company president. “And it probably had 2,600 people 82 years ago, when the company was started. But it’s our…

By Mike Marks, Managing Partner of Indian River Consulting Group Back in the day, the path to distributor growth was to sell service with excellent people. Sales reps sold themselves first and customers bought from reps that had earned their trust based on their past performance. A key driver in the customer value proposition was their relationship with their own sales rep, not the company. Supply chains were unreliable and heroic recoveries were visible and common. The reps were paid a commission on the gross margin they generated so they could “eat what they killed.” The sales force was self-directed…