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MR LOADLINK

People Skills…

In his latest blog, Mr Loadlink reflects on a month that epitomised the importance of people, sometimes forgotten in the business world.

Consider where your company would be without people. Probably nowhere. Yet, people are often taken for granted. I talk to a lot of business owners and many want to chew over margins, product, technology, automation, diversification and more, before acknowledging that progress wouldn’t be possible without personnel and their expertise.

In my previous blog, I referenced a conversation that was refreshingly different and did focus on the power of people, but I don’t think I went far enough to champion the individuals at varying stages of their careers, from different backgrounds, with ranging skill-sets, that make up the Straightpoint community and the lifting equipment industry beyond that.

As my LinkedIn connections saw in a teaser I recently posted, I’m delighted to confirm that we will be adding a very significant person from the industry to the business in January. Not that I can say more about that for the time being, but the acquisition serves as another example of the importance of individuals. While it’s crucial to source the best technology and product, it’s people that turn them into a business.

Port of call

I’ll certainly remember this month for people above all else. It began at the Europort trade show that put Rotterdam at the heart of the global maritime industry. At the start of the 37th edition of the show, Jolanda Janssen, CEO of Ahoy Rotterdam, which hosted the event, said: “This week all people with a role in the maritime industry gather together and share knowledge and we are very happy that we can facilitate that.” Well done, Jolanda, for focussing on the people, not the exhibition stands, aisles and products. Imagine the number of professionals that have added value to the event over those near 40 shows. Where would Europort be without them?

van gool

A meal out with Jessi and the Van Gool Team, she tried oysters for the first time!

It was employee Jessi Hill’s first overseas business trip. I was delighted to accompany Jessi across the North Sea to spend time with our Dutch distributor, Van Gool, as she does a fantastic job of being the lead contact for the Beverwijk-based company, from headquarters in the UK.

Pieter van Duijn, commercial director at Van Gool, had specifically asked to meet Jessi in person, who also spent time with Timo de Bree from the sales department and others at one of our flagship global partners. The timing of the trade show represented an alignment of the planets and it was fitting that Jessi enjoyed her first business trip with one of the most people-orientated companies we have the pleasure of working with. During some important bonding time, the Van Gool team took Jessi and I on a boat trip around the Port of Rotterdam, reported to be the largest in Europe.

On a general level, Europort was a very productive show. I read that the event welcomed a record number of exhibitors with over 1,100 companies present, representing 45 countries and covering 45,000 square metres of Ahoy Rotterdam. It’s certainly an event that will play a role in our development moving forward.

People-centricity

Regular readers of this blog know how important diversification has become to the people of Straightpoint. As the oil and gas industry continues to reel, industries like the marine sector have joined the entertainment business as key areas of interest for 2016 and beyond. Our distributor-based, people-centric, business model enables us to achieve diversification very efficiently as our global partners are often inherently diverse in the product they supply and the markets they serve, which often stretches way beyond below-the-hook lifting equipment.

This is true of Van Gool and our Spanish partner Cargo Flet Blasant, where I spent time with Ruben Blasco Colet this month. Ruben, like Pieter, Timo and our other partners are open to new markets and are accustomed to finding a solution to a problem. I hadn’t been to the Cargo Flet Blasant facility before and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in Barcelona. I stayed on a lively street called La Rambla, which was buzzing with restaurants, bars… and people.

The trip was poignant because I travelled just days after the horrifying attacks in Paris. The airports were quiet and security was tight. In Barcelona there was a tangible sense of anxiety at times as armed police roamed around the city. However, it was important to honour the trip and do my bit in defiance of terror. Within reason, this will always be my policy and I believe we should all do what we can to carry on as normal.

After squeezing in a house-move, Jessi, Tanya, Steve Woodhead and I travelled to Liverpool, where LEEA hosted an eagerly awaited LiftEx show. It’s a fascinating event because it polarises opinion on how it should evolve. The show has grown beyond recognition since the first one—I was there—in 2005 when it was a few tabletops in a grubby hotel meeting room. The brand new purpose-built Liverpool Exhibition Centre was palatial by comparison and I hear grand plans are afoot for next year’s expo in Aberdeen.

Some folks say it should revert back to a smaller, shorter format, while others would like to see it become a honking three or four-day extravaganza with hourly carnival processions. Personally, I’ve kept my expectations for LiftEx in check and, once again, measured its value by a quality audience, albeit light in footfall at times.
It’s not an exaggeration to say our stand was among the busiest on the show floor and that’s testimony to the priority we place in people. Jessi, Tanya, Steve and I all welcomed contacts to the stand and we even made some new acquaintances.

We completed the long journey south from Liverpool on the Thursday evening and were back at the grindstone in the office bright and early the following day, where we celebrated Tanya’s 10-year anniversary at Straightpoint. Tanya has played a significant role in our exponential growth over that decade and it was an honour to deliver a message of my gratitude and present her with a small token of appreciation in front of the team.

Man with a plan

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” said Benjamin Franklin.

Last Friday was one of my favourite days of 2015, as it is every year, when I sat down with operations director Alfie Lee and my business partner Peter McGreal to review the last 12 months and plan for 2016. Where possible, our discussions related to the people behind the business but, honestly, much of the exercise revolved around those buzz words I referenced earlier—margins, product, technology, diversification—and, of course, our new as yet unnamed recruit. Let’s call him Load Cell Man, for now.

Having spent the morning with Alfie and Peter, we devised a year-long plan for the business which, one, can be broken into the 90-day plan that is integral to life at Straightpoint and, two, provides the structure to the one-page dashboard that is my reference point throughout the year containing only seven critical numbers. That afternoon, we presented the plan to the team back at headquarters and personalised it for each member of staff.

It’ll be a New Year I enter as the holder of the Load Cell Golf Cup 2015 having defeated Gary Mullins, of Action Coach; and LCM Systems boss Steve Sargeant, in freezing, blustery conditions that obviously put technique and swing physics to a fair test.

So here’s to the people that made November great: Jolanda Janssen, Jessi Hill, Tanya Gregory, Pieter van Duijn, Timo de Bree, Ruben Blasco Colet, Steve Woodhead, Alfie Lee, Peter McGreal, Gary Mullins, Steve Sargeant, Load Cell Man and many others I couldn’t fit into my monthly roundup this time.

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favourite business authors, Simon Sinek: “100% of employees are people. 100% of customers are people. 100% of vendors, of ALL stakeholders… are people. If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.”

To keep up with our team across the world, follow us on Twitter—@LoadCell—and use the hashtags #loadcell and #belowthehook.

Thank you for reading!

Mr Loadlink

October 2015, , , , , ,

Vision and Values…

As new recruit signs Straightpoint mission statement, Mr Loadlink explains what it takes to make the lifting industry a safer place.

The blurb on the back cover of one of my favourite business books—Start With Why—reads, “…in business it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters why you do it. Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers and Martin Luther King have one thing in common…”

The author, Simon Sinek, starts the book by explaining how the Wright brothers beat a maths professor from Harvard who was backed by a whopping grant, into the skies because their passion, enthusiasm, commitment and, most importantly, their ability to inspire those around them was greater. Sinek goes on to explain how they, Jobs and Luther King all “started with why”.

I’m not out to emulate such greatness and I certainly have no aspirations to change the world, but I challenge the staff at Straightpoint to embrace our own mission statement with the same passion that inspired others to make a difference.

Why? Because we want to make the lifting industry a safer place.

Camarillo camaraderie

I also agree with Sinek that it is important to build a team of staff to show up because they believe in a company ethos (what he would call the WHY) not the pay cheque they receive for doing so. He says, “…pulling together a team of like-minded people and giving them a cause to pursue ensures a greater sense of teamwork and camaraderie.”

This has certainly been true of Straightpoint. We have grown exponentially as a business in recent years and are very particular about the personnel we introduce who will inspire further growth and do a little bit more each day to make the lifting industry a safer place.

At the turn of the month (September) I visited our North American headquarters in Camarillo, California where John Molidor, the general manager of Straightpoint Inc., has recently welcomed Tressie LaBass, customer and sales support administrator, who I introduced you to in my previous blog. Johnnny Gonzalez and Aaron Orsak (the latter is based in Houston) are also part of the US team.

We allude to the vision and values of our company during recruitment processes but it is most rewarding to present our official mission statement to new recruits so they can add their signature to those of existing staff and commit to helping each other realise our individual and collective goals. It’s not a set of rules or guidelines. It’s more than that. To some extent we make sure new recruits Start With Why.

I’ll take a moment to doff my cap to Gary Mullins, of Action Coach, who provided a valuable perspective from outside our company when we set our mission statement. I am hugely appreciative of the guidance and encouragement Gary has given the team and I to achieve our business goals in recent years.

Above the centrepiece of the statement—Making the lifting industry a safer place—is our goal: To maintain our global position as the number one supplier of load cells to the lifting, rigging and load measurement industries. Below it, we remind ourselves that we accomplish this through world-class customer service and innovative, forward-thinking products.

This text is surrounded by buzz words that are important to us, such as Teamwork, Professionalism and Dedication. Beyond that, we reference the practical components that continue to ensure our growth, like Marketing, Design, Sales and Manufacture.

Tressie, like all new recruits, understands that she is expected to adhere to these visions and values, but not be restricted by them. I know something that John and Aaron particularly enjoy about working for Straightpoint is that the business is flexible and dynamic enough to implement their product and strategy ideas.

Consider how much greater the rewards are by conforming to such a team ethic as opposed to having an isolated team of individuals who only come up with ideas because they think it’s their job to do so, knowing they probably won’t penetrate layers of bureaucracy and achieve sign off at board level.

Aaron presented a fantastic product idea during our meetings in Camarillo and he knows it will be followed up with our engineering team with a view to introducing the concept to market early next year. Congratulations, Aaron, on helping to make the lifting industry a safer place.

What would your company’s mission statement be if you Started With Why?

Autumn equinox

At the time of writing it is the Autumn (Fall) Equinox, which means day and night are of equal length today but, more importantly, Q4 is almost upon us (as it will be by the time many of you read this). The codes referenced above were prevalent throughout our Q4 and 2016 planning meetings, both in Camarillo and at Hampshire headquarters in the UK.

A conundrum always presents itself at this time of year when we’re target-setting: are products and engineering or marketing more important to executing a growth strategy? The answer is probably both (a mix between light and shade, perhaps) but it’s something we discussed at some length as we prepare to put THREE new products to market—the Running Line Dynamometer (the TIMH range); the Towcell, for towing applications; and ATEX, IECEx versions of our most popular product, the Radiolink Plus wireless load cell.

I’ve referenced before our intent to provide more product literature in local languages and we decided during my recent trip to the states to translate our web pages into Spanish. Tressie and Johnny were able to complete the translation in house which was a huge advantage. Thank you, Tressie and Johnny, for helping to make the lifting industry a safer place.

We’ll circulate a press release next month (October) about John Molidor conducting load cell training at our Mexico-based partner Cargo Lift. Thank you, John, for helping to make the lifting industry a safer place.

Ricardo Barroso, director at Cargo Lift, notes an increase in interest in force measurement technologies from his region. Ricardo and his team have the full support of our sales and engineering teams as we explore this land of mutual opportunity together. Engaging the local market with online material in their own language can only help; we’ve seen our partners RUD Lifting Japan Co. Ltd. do the same with printed literature.

On my way back to the UK, I stopped at Boston, where I visited our strategic partner Steve Torres, CEO at Group Four Transducers Inc. We team up on a lot of projects together and I also consider Steve to be a very good friend. It was great to catch up in a fabulous part of New England to discuss our families, strategy and the state of the market.

I caught up with my good friend Steve Torres, CEO at Group Four Transducers Inc., this month.

I caught up with my good friend Steve Torres, CEO at Group Four Transducers Inc., this month.

Last week, we exhibited at the LEEA Roadshow in Cardiff, where visitors discussed the LEEA Academy initiative and instructions for use and maintenance of lifting equipment. There is a sudden surge in interest to improve the contents of such instructions and LEEA will help by the publication of the LEEA-062 series of guidance notes to cover that particular subject. It’ll be exciting to watch how this develops.

Thank you for reading.

Keep following us on Twitter—@LoadCell—and use the hashtags #loadcell and #belowthehook.

Mr Loadlink

September 2015, , , , ,