I-Channel Newsletter April 2010

April 2010

Industry News

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Home sales rise on tax credit, favorable conditions
in Residential Design & Build April 2010

April 22, 2010 – Buyers responding to the home buyer tax credit and favorable affordability conditions boosted existing-home sales in March, marking the beginning of an expected spring surge, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, rose 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units in March . . Read more . . .

House Committee Approves Green Building Bill
by Jenny Sullivan on BuilderOnline.com, April 2010

AIA report says GREEN Act could create or save as many as 140,000 design and construction jobs.

The U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee marked Earth Day last week by giving a green thumbs-up to legislation that seeks to make homes and other buildings more energy-efficient and affordable by providing sustainability incentives to lenders and financial institutions. . .

The proposed legislation, which enjoys broad support from builders, developers, architects, real estate agents, businesses, and environmental groups, contains several provisions prompting the federal government to lead by example. It requires HUD to insure loans made by qualified lenders to finance the acquisition of renewable energy systems for use at residential properties. It also directs HUD to establish a four-year, 50,000-unit pilot program as a means of demonstrating to lenders that funding projects that adhere to higher energy-efficiency standards can be cost-effective.Read more . . .

Woodshop News releases first issue of WoodTech News 2010 digital magazine
by WoodshopNews for the I-Channel

ESSEX, Conn. — Woodshop News, a division of Dominion Enterprises, has published the first issue of WoodTech News 2010 for the International Woodworking Machinery and Supplier Fair (IWF). The new digital magazine will be distributed to approximately 80,000 professionals in the woodworking industry in early May.

The first digital edition of WoodTech News 2010 will be delivered by e-mail with a subject heading of “WoodTech News 2010 – May Release.” Subscription links are available at www.woodshopnews.com and www.iwfatlanta.com. Read more . . .

WCMA Sponsors IWF 2010 Technical Seminar:
Erik Lawser, CAE Membership & Marketing Manager, WCMA for the I-Channel

Being competitive in today’s tough global market requires an evaluation of all company operations with a goal of lowering and controlling costs to improve a company’s competitive position. The bottom line is that companies are being forced to do more with less and that means controlling costs while improving productivity, which can be a difficult balancing act.

Because of the importance of improving company profits, the Wood Component Manufacturers Association, along with the International Woodworking Fair, is sponsoring a seminar on how appropriately managing your expenses can benefit woodworkers. This seminar, “Managing Your Expenses: Improving Profits Through Cost Control and Productivity Gains,” will focus on how to increase profits by controlling costs more effectively and improving productivity. The seminar will be held in conjunction with IWF 2010 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta ... Read more . . .

Recovery underway, but long road ahead
in Cabinetmaker+FDM.com April 2010

We are at the beginning of a recovery, but it will be a long, gradual rebound. That’s the opinion Alan Beaulieu, a noted economist from the Institute for Trend Research, gave at the Woodworking Industry Conference April 24.

“We’ll see growth the rest of 2010 and through 2011 and 2012,” said Beaulieu. Read more . . .

Marketing in a Challenging Economic Environment
by Philip Zaleon for the I-Channel

Regardless of where your business falls in the pecking order of selling – business to business or business to consumer – there are some marketing truths to consider and accept.

The pundits may tell us the recession is over, but until the unemployment rate falls, it’s going to be rough ride. People are not willing to spend money on luxuries – and that includes fine furniture, cabinetry, new homes and other “non-essentials”. Let’s face it; you’re not going to spend money if you’re not sure you’ll be employed next month. And until credit begins to flow again, there is very little capital to fund luxuries. The boom years are over and spending habits have changed for the foreseeable future. And no matter how much you market or advertise you’re not going to convince people to buy if they are not secure with their jobs and their nest eggs.

So, why bother market at all? Read more . . .

Successfully implementing a waste (cost) cutting program
by Dave Grubb in WoodIQ.com April 2010

Few companies today can successfully introduce a waste reduction program, which relies on the input and involvement of their employees, without the aid of a great marketing plan. In many companies, cost cutting is management talk for labor reduction and few employees are willing to line up in support of more of what they have been seeing.

The first part of the marketing plan should be to talk about waste reduction and not cost cutting. Certainly few that read this have not been on an aggressive cost reduction program in the current markets, but that does not mean there are not remaining opportunities; especially if you effectively enlist your employees.Read more . . .

Concrete Questions
By Howard Brickman in the April/May 2010 issue of Hardwood Floors

Understand the two most common slab moisture tests

One of the topics that causes the most confusion in the wood flooring industry is moisture in concrete and the tests used to measure it. A common question is, “Do calcium chloride and RH concrete tests measure the same thing?” The quick answer is no. Read more . . .

Lean Journey 11
by Ralph Bagnall for the I-Channel

If you have been following this Lean Journey, you know something of my mindset on Lean techniques. Boiled down to its absolute essence, Lean is nothing more than a continual process of improvement. As you may be aware, every operation has a bottleneck, a station or operation that slows the rest of the production cycle down. We look to improve this operation with new techniques or equipment and remove the bottleneck. When that operation is no longer the slowest, some other one is, and we shift our focus to that. We’ve all seen this process. It is, in fact Lean. No complicated formulas, no need to learn Japanese. You need to simply be constantly evaluating and examining every aspect of your operation.