A load off my mind as a load cell manufacturer

A Product Of…

The day an all-singing, all-dancing product launches is not as momentous as one might think, says Mr. Loadlink.

I enjoyed John Molidor’s guest blog last month. His comments about people in particular really resonated with me. John, the general manager of our North American operation, shares his passion for people with most of us at Straightpoint. We enjoy the vibrancy of our workplaces and those of us on the front line like nothing more than getting out onsite and networking with industry professionals. As John put it, “I feel at my most effective when I’m out of the office or dealing with people,” and he’s not the only one.

However, the other ‘P’—Product—is pretty important too. Look at our mission statement. At its heart is the mantra, ‘Making the lifting industry a safer place’. Underneath that it says, ‘We accomplish this through world-class customer service and innovative, forward-thinking products’. Product and People go hand in glove. Take other buzzwords from our vision and values… Repair, Calibration, Accuracy… it takes that combination to deliver on many of our promises to industry. Where would one be without the other?

This blog isn’t intended to be cryptic, like the chicken and the egg. My point is that our product range is the embodiment of our people’s expertise and engineering brilliance. It’s our products that actually keep people safe and it’s those products upon which we will base our growth plans. With that in mind, I want to take a moment to share with you what goes into development of our solutions and why there are many more important moments than the day they get put to market.

We get carried away with product launches. The word ‘launch’ is misleading in itself because people think of rockets. There’s great anticipation and excitement as the countdown reaches zero, then the spaceship soars up into the sky and off on a voyage of discovery. In other industries lights, curtains, platforms, music and champagne are used to create a similar sense of suspense and euphoria. I’m all for marking achievement and enjoying success, but it’s the sense of importance and completion in these occasions that unsettles me. I mean we’ve still got some guys up there soaring towards space with a scorching mass of fire under them. Why are we high-fiving each other?

Room for improvement

A product is conceptualised, researched, designed, tested, improved, scrapped, redesigned, tested, improved, improved, marketed, sold and improved. Sometimes the stages of evolution are even greater in number. Somewhere along the line it will be launched, which, granted, is worth noting on the calendar, but is that really the part we should enjoy most or the point where we can rope off the workshop and nail a plaque to the wall so we can point it out to visitors in years to come and say, “That’s where we built the Gongoozler 2000”? I don’t think so.

It’s tempting to use as an example our new Proof Test plus software (or SW-PTP), which adds speed, accuracy and breadth to data recording and certification related to non-destructive load verification or proof load testing. But I’m not going to talk specifically about that as this is a non-commercial blog, so let’s generalise and apply this guidance to New Product A. It doesn’t matter what that product does—it could measure force, control at great distance, lift at great speed or offer incredible, record-breaking capacity.

Think of the big days for New Product A before the launch. A customer might have said they wished a product could do X, Y or Z; an engineer may have burst into the boardroom yelling, “Look what I’ve found”; a brainstorming session could have gone particularly well; or a new technology might have been developed making possible what was once unfeasible. I’m not suggesting we all keep dozens of bottles of champagne on ice in the workplace to mark each one, but you take my point.

Let’s skip forward a bit. When New Product A has reached a point where it can be use in applications, it’s important not to go too big too early. Develop a trusted network of partners, maybe the ones whose comments prompted a particular research and development programme. Give them the product to experiment with. This can be done at various stages of the product’s life. The day when their feedback leads an engineer to making a significant improvement to New Product A is bigger than the launch, right? The marketing team is so excited they want to rename it the Fizz Banger!

Mission control

Even after the product goes to market in a wider sense—and this is the crux of my article—keep getting feedback from those using it. In the command centre, keep the headphones on. Once a month (or often) get the emails, photos and telephone messages together and get the team around a whiteboard. Write all the feedback down with New Product A in the centre of the page. Discuss each one and decide if it can be addressed.

The engineering team might say a few improvements are easy to make. Some feedback might be very industry specific, in which case it’s worth considering if there’s a market for a special version or if custom units are more suited. Other suggestions will not be feasible. In every case, explain to the provider of the information if you can incorporate their observations or not. If the latter, outline the reasons why and work with them to apply a different product or solution for which New Product A is not suited.

Pretty soon (I’m tempted to use SW-PTP as an example again but I promised not to!) a New Product A Version Two might be created—measuring greater force, controlling at far great distance, lifting at the same great speed but with better operator assistance, or setting a new capacity record. Ok, the improvements are likely to be subtler than that but it’s amazing how inspiring feedback from a marketplace can be. More exciting than the launch, I say.

We’re already planning new products (B and C, if you like) here at Straightpoint, which were the subject of a two-day session earlier this month. Roshan Divakaran, design engineer and Sarath Chandran, project engineer joined myself and some external representatives to experiment with computer-aided design (CAD) and discuss a number of exciting innovations. I’m looking forward to all the key moments through their development and, while I’ll be there when we press the launch button, I’m not sure it will be my favourite day of them all.

Data driven decision-making

Regular readers of this blog will know what a prolific planner I am. One such stratagem is to mark 2017 as a year of data driven decision-making. To that end, we have invested in new customer relationship management (CRM) software that will help us even more efficiently manage quotes, relationships, contracts, projects, marketing and more. Our old system was server-based and we wanted to go to a cloud-based system.

Planning and measurement go together like people and products. The new software will give us access to a myriad of metrics so we can examine each department, its organisms and the people within them. It sounds creepy to say we want to have eyes and ears everywhere, but we want to implement a system whereby high performance can be acknowledged and serve as a guide where we may have capacity for improvement. Of course, it will also help us analyse products and their success in different sectors and geographies.

Similarly, we are now using an enhanced system for global stock management. With product (there it is again) in the UK; Camarillo, California; and Houston, Texas, it’s important to keep track of everything and ensure the inventory reflects demand. If, say, John receives an order for 50 load cells, the system will find the necessary components, calculate a build time and give us information to pass onto the customer about delivery. I’d urge other businesses to look at their inventory management, particularly if they work across multiple time zones, as an order can be advanced regardless of the availability of someone in another facility.

Wipe out

My son, Isaac, and I at the top of Willis Tower—still commonly referred to as Sears Tower—in Chicago.

I’ve enjoyed a good measure of downtime since my last blog, which included a two-week break with my son, Isaac. We visited Chicago and California, where we joined Myron Jones, operations manager and Scott Abernethy, technical specialist on the waves with our surfboards. Surfers use the term ‘aggro’ to describe aggressive attitude in the water but the whole experience was more akin to the generic version of the word. Honestly, it was one of the hardest, most physical sports I have ever tried, even if it was an incredible experience.

: The start of a bleak day on the golf course, but all for a good cause.

: Gary Mullins, of Action Coach, celebrates his charity golf day success.

I also swung a golf club or two, badly but in aid of a good cause, at an event to raise money for the Ickle Pickle Partnership, which turns gifts and donations into specialised equipment such as incubators and ventilators to help neonatal units provide care for sick babies. It’s a charity close to my heart because my daughter, who is 21 years old now, was born prematurely and I understand the heartbreak that can be caused when newborn babies are poorly. Gary Mullins, of Action Coach, a leading business coaching company, was among the winners in a secret four-ball format.

It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the guys at Dutch distributor Van Gool.

There’s just enough time to express my gratitude to distributors Rigmarine and Van Gool who participated in networking and training sessions since my last blog. And thanks once more to John for stepping in to cover me last month.

Mr. Loadlink

September 2016

People Person…

As Mr. Loadlink recharges his blogging batteries on a well-earned vacation, John Molidor, general manager, Straightpoint Inc., explains why people matter even in a modern, high-tech world.

Here I am enjoying a recent trade show with Mr. Loadlink, aka Straightpoint CEO David Ayling.

A lot has changed since I joined Straightpoint Inc., but I will remain true to certain principles. I said in my first interview at the company (four-and-a-half years ago) that I would strive to build a rapport with people and aim to deliver the highest level of customer service at the first point of contact. I’m just as passionate now about delivering on those promises every day.

My role is different to that which I took on in the spring of 2012. Regular blogger Mr. Loadlink, aka Straightpoint CEO David Ayling, described us as a gazelle company recently, which was very apt. Such growth generates a lot of emails, spreadsheets and other distractions but, as this week in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas with distributor Bishop Lifting Products Inc. reminded me, I feel at my most effective when I’m out of the office or dealing with people.

‘People’ is the overarching theme of this guest blog, hence my choice of headline, but I’ll also touch upon products and the state of the market. As so many stories do, my one starts with the phone ringing…

“Wow! You answered!”

I wish I had a buck for every time someone said that to me when I picked up the phone. It never ceases to amaze me. Is it really progress that complex, automated answering systems are now so commonplace that people don’t even expect to get a human being on the end of the phone when they dial a number? I don’t think so.

I know this blog is read internationally so I’ll give my point some perspective. Here in the U.S.—Straightpoint Inc. headquarters are in Camarillo, California—about 75% of customers make their first contact with us by telephone and right now about 50% of those are reaching out to us for the first time. It is my impression that globally the percentage of email enquiries is much higher. I respect that U.S. industry is staying loyal to the more personal approach, but it’ll only continue if all links on the supply chain play ball.

Call of duty

Despite Straightpoint Inc. growing exponentially over the last five years, we still have a long way to go in raising awareness of the brand as other (inferior, most say) products that have been in the industry longer have the luxury of market share. Add to that the percentage of lifts that are currently happening even as you read this without proper information about the load, and Straightpoint only has a very slender slice of the pie.

I’ll elaborate on the status of our development later but I allude to it now because it isn’t uncommon for someone to call us having been dragged through the mangle of an automated telephone system at a competitor, lulled to sleep by on-hold music, or had their approach ignored completely. Each time the result is the same—they sought a force measurement solution and another supplier had failed to take the call.

Answering calls at Straightpoint is priority, as it should be at all businesses where enquiries are the lifeblood of a company’s existence, because we care about the people on the other end of the telephone. If there’s one thing I want readers to take from my first guest blog, it’s that human beings are important and, furthermore, we should all strive to uphold that in an environment where people skills are becoming a dying art form.

It goes beyond picking up the phone and being polite. Everyone who takes a call at Straightpoint knows how to react to certain questions and process an enquiry accordingly. This is only achieved with effective and regular product training. When a Professional Engineer has a requirement to measure a load, finding the right equipment based on their questions is crucial to building a rapport with new and existing contacts. Think of the percentage of new business we’re getting, as referenced above, and consider how important it is for us to get this right.

I’ll give you an incentive to scrutinize your own systems. As a result of taking a recent telephone call, we sent four 300-ton load cells to South Korea within four days; we shipped two from the U.S. and two from Europe. The extent of the customer’s gratitude proved that we’d exceed their expectations, provided a personal service and probably done something few, if any, of our competitors would have even contemplated—if they had answered the phone in the first place. It all started by picking up the phone and saying, “Hello”.

Upscaling

All people are important, not just customers. We have secured a number of high profile acquisitions recently, most notably Wayne Wille, technical sales manager; and Myron Jones, operations manager. Tressie LaBass, customer and sales support administrator; and Scott Abernethy, technical specialist, complete the team here in Camarillo, in addition to a presence in Houston, where Aaron Orsak, technical sales engineer, is based. All the while, we have to coordinate with the U.K. operation, which is also our manufacturing base. Remaining cohesive is a challenge, but one we overcome by understanding our roles and communicating effectively—sometimes by phone.

Wayne’s recruitment is particularly interesting in that we have traditionally sold our range of equipment as rigging products. We see ourselves as a below-the-hook equipment manufacturer, but one that is promoting a technologically advanced safety system. What Wayne brings to the company is a background and connections in the U.S. scale dealer network, which opens up a new avenue of distribution for us.

The scale industry is also more mature in terms of its uptake of load cell technology, which means Wayne can introduce our equipment to dealers that already have frequent dialogue with decision makers who purchase this kind of kit. I’m sure other companies that sell through dealer networks monitor equally varied levels of maturity in their supply chains and I’d encourage everyone to explore this fascinating dynamic.

Work to develop the more traditional rigging dealer network is ongoing and, despite recent progress, the potential remains huge, as I’ve said. Again, I’m not using this blog as a sales tool (I know the rules!) but fact is everybody who is exposed to our technology is impressed with it. I know of companies with 100 units from a competitor in stock who don’t take them out of the toolbox because they don’t trust them to operate properly if rigged in place for an extended period of time. Wayne has noted this positive energy already. However, we know people who have not used force measurement technology before or those who have been utilizing alternative equipment are not all going to make a wholesale change to Straightpoint overnight.

As our reputation grows, we continue to enhance our software, as demonstrated by the recent launch of Proof Test plus, which adds speed, accuracy and breadth to data recording and certification related to non-destructive load verification or proof load testing. Proof Test plus records data gathered by any Straightpoint wireless load cell, and creates a pass or fail certificate that includes a visual representation of the test (load versus time) in graph form. Information can be printed out directly as a PDF report, electronically transmitted or fed to the cloud.

State of the market

Given the opportunity, I want to close on a quick overview of the state of the market and the role diversification can play in hitting growth targets when key industries are slow. The Gulf Coast states were generating around 75% of our North American business. Despite the ongoing slump in the sector, we have still managed to grow overall, which is testimony to our success in penetrating other markets and introducing our force measurement equipment when it wasn’t perhaps considered before. Being proactive with a diversification strategy has been key. Reacting only when a hot market starts to cool is too late.

Oil and gas thought leaders remain undecided on the prospects for the industry heading into Q4 and 2017, but we’ll be ready for when it does start warming up. In the meantime, our mission continues to make the lifting industry a safer place. There are tens of thousands of cranes lifting without adequate information about the load, which is not acceptable given the equipment and knowledge now available to industry. I still hear horror stories about hazardous sectors assessing the ability of the crane to successfully complete a lift by the creaking noise it makes as it raises it off the ground! Honestly.

What does that say about the value of people?

John Molidor
General Manager, Straightpoint Inc.

Mr. Loadlink, aka Straightpoint CEO David Ayling, will be back next month (September).

August 2016 below the hook, load cell, load cells, loadcell, loadcells, loadlink, proof test, straightpoint