New England Machinery Holiday Wishes

2010 was a year of challenges, excitement, opportunity and growth for New England Machinery. Our wonderful customers challenged us to be more innovative, allowing us to tap into the creative genius of our employees and make improvements in our machinery. It was an exciting time of meeting new customers, focusing on unique product requirements and learning about new technologies. New England Machinery is fortunate to literally have a world of opportunity available to us to assist production plants in increasing their productivity while decreasing expenses. Our staff has grown this past year and we have welcomed several new employees to our ‘family’.

We all look forward to 2011 for another year of growing bigger and better while serving our customers both old and new. Our best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy and productive New Year.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

The Right Marketing Mix

What is the ‘right marketing mix’? There really is no one mix that works for every company and every product. The important point is to actually have a ‘mix’. No matter what product you sell, your customers are not going to find you through only one method. The first step in finding the right mix for you is to list all the potential options. These might include advertising (direct mail, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, billboards, internet, etc.) trade shows (local, international, industry specific, etc.) sponsorships (sport events, trade events, fairs, etc.), website (search engine optimization, links, blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.), newsletter (direct mail, on-line), videos (You Tube, website links, CDs, DVDs), public relations (speaking engagements, press releases, charity work, whitepapers, etc.) networking (joining industry organizations), partnering (alliances, joint ventures, etc.).

Once you have listed all the potential marketing methods go through the list and cross off any that are inappropriate for your product/industry. Next go back over the list and give a point value to the items that are left. The more they work for your product/industry the higher the point value. Now re-arrange the list with the highest points on top. You now have a list of the marketing mix that works best for your company and the point values will assist you in distributing your marketing budget accordingly.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Selling Through Stories

What is the one thing that almost universally people will take the time to listen to? It is an interesting story. Have you ever met an individual who always has a crowd of people around them and the crowd it all listening to that person speak? That individual is an accomplished ‘story teller’. People don’t want to hear others talk about themselves unless they are telling a compelling story. Everyone enjoys a good story. The story must have an interesting cast of characters, a strong plot, lots of action, and a ‘happy ending’. If you can master the art of story-telling about your product, you will drastically increase your sales.

Start by collecting stories about how your product made a difference to the customers who purchased it. Write them down with the correct facts. Don’t embellish or make up something that is not true or did not happen. This is a critical point. If a potential customer checks on your story, it must be correct or you will lose that customer’s faith in you. After you have written the story down, practice telling it to your family and friends, or tell it to yourself in the mirror. Ask your friends and family to critique your story-telling ability.

When telling your product stories to customers, remember to be considerate of their time. Don’t get so wrapped up in the stories that you talk too much and don’t listen to them. One or two short stories should be all you tell in a visit. Make sure to have plenty of time to ask them how the story you tell relates to their experiences. That is the whole crux of the story-telling experience. If the customer can relate to the story, they will relate to your product and their need for it.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

New Marketing Sensation!

I attended a seminar a few years ago for a company that made corporate videos. They explained that in order to get your message across – and effectively make your point – you have to entertain at the same time you are educating your customers. In order to keep them focused long enough to learn more about your company and the benefits of your products/services, you need to capture their attention and make them want to see what will happen next. The company that was creating the videos was using a power point presentation that they slightly animated. They had a great idea, but their end result just didn’t follow through for me.

I used their basic concept and decided we needed a video that would really keep our customers watching to see the entertaining vignettes, while at the same time, informing them about the benefits of our products. As I spend a lot of time with my five year old granddaughter watching cartoons and children’s shows, it didn’t take too long for me to put the two together to come up with the right mix for our company.

We were fortunate to have both a great in-house videographer/graphic artist and an outside media specialist to help in making our first New England Machinery Marvelous Movie. It is a fantastic hit! Everyone who watches it enjoys it immensely. It is not your average corporate video. To view the video on You Tube go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgfbry0SW3k

Make sure to send the link to your friends and family to enjoy as well.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Post Show Follow Up

Okay, the ‘big’ show ended almost 4 weeks ago. Where are you now in the follow up process? Has every lead received a ‘Thank you for visiting our booth’ letter/e-mail? If not, they should have. What about phone calls? Has every lead been followed up with at least one phone call? Have you made appointments to visit every lead that you could contact? This is the part of the post show follow up that may be more challenging to accomplish, but will make the difference between having had a good show and a great show. The true determining factor of the show is how many sales the company receives as a result of being at the show. It is vital for the sales department to continue to follow up the leads not just right after the show, but for the entire next year.

The show allows your sales department to uncover potential customers and sales. They actually come to you at a trade show. But, just because they came to you, does not mean they will buy from you. Remember the old saying, “Salesmanship begins when the customer says ‘no’.” If the customer has a need for your machinery, it is your sale to lose. If you don’t continue to follow up and offer your assistance in helping your customers find the equipment they need, someone else will. So, keep dialing that phone, sending those e-mails, and knocking on those doors. It’s not really of case of “If you build it, they will come.” It’s more a case of “If you educate them, they will buy.”

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Happy Thanksgiving

We in the packaging machinery industry have much to be thankful for.  We have chosen to work in an industry that has not been as badly effected by the great recession as many other industries.  Our customers continue to produce consumable products at an increasing rate, invent new products, and change their packaging, all requiring new machinery.

We at New England Machinery are extremely grateful.  We have the world's best customers, most dedicated employees, a fabulous work environment (we're based in Florida), and a bright outlook for the coming year.   Everyone at NEM looks forward to continuing to support our customers needs.

We wish to say 'Thank You' to all of our wonderful customers for their patronage throughout the years, and wish everyone and their families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

PMMI Reports on Trends & Advances in Food Packaging

PMMI recently released a report on changes anticipated for the food packaging industry. They researched and interviewed companies listed as one of the Top Feed Packaging Companies whose revenues represent 53% of the entire industry. Their research concludes that there are four major issues that will directly impact the future for food packaging. These are: a continuing rise in sustainable and innovative packaging; development of new food products; a growing trend toward consumer-ready packaging; and the continuing economic slump.

Many of the companies surveyed noted an interest or the implementation of moving to flexible packaging where possible. They are looking to save money on packaging weight and transportation, and hope the new packaging will be more sustainable. Some obstacles have arisen when the new packaging does not protect the product as well as the rigid packaging.

The also note that there appears to be a decline in the intent to purchase new equipment in 2011 over what was predicted for 2010. My personal opinion is that this will prove to be a false prediction. The world population continues to grow. Food is a necessary ingredient to sustain life and the need for packaged food to feed the masses will continue to grow as well. The key may be to determine the correct markets for the packaging machinery. I see continuing growth in China, India and Brazil. These emerging economies will continue to increase their need for food packaging production.

To read the entire report visit PMMI.org and look up the Executive Summary Trends and Advances in Food Packaging -2010.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Customer Testimonials

Does your company use customer testimonials? If so, how do you use them? We use them in our newsletters, on our website and in our sales presentations. Are they effective? How can you measure their effectiveness? We have had potential new customers ask for references. Although they sometimes wish to speak with the reference, the testimonials are a good start in assisting the potential customer find the information they seek and to gauge your company's relationship with its customers.

Television infomercials are a great example of testimonials.  The infomercials basically spend most of the 1/2 hour allotted to them with current customers raving about the product and the benefits they received from it.  They are highly effective in convincing potential customers by hearing about others success in using the product or service.

Share your experiences with testimonials and how they have worked for your company.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Do You Partner?

A great way to expand your business is to ‘partner’ with other companies that sell complimentary products. For example, our company sells bottle unscramblers and bottle cappers. We do not sell filler machines or labeler machines. It makes great sense for us to ‘partner’ with a filler and/or label machinery manufacturer. We can exchange manufacturer’s reps/distributors, we can refer leads, we can offer recommendations for suppliers and vendors and much more.

The key to success of a good partnering program is to keep at it consistently and to remind others in the organization of the companies with which we are partnered. Communication to everyone is important in order for the entire workforce to assist in finding opportunities to exchange information that is valuable to your partners. Once your partners see the value of working with you, they will reciprocate and both companies will benefit significantly.

Partnering allows each company to grow from the synergy generated by the power of two (or more) great companies! Feel free to share your partnering experiences, ideas and suggestions.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

It’s Holiday Time

What does your company do to celebrate the end of another year with your employees? NEM gives all employees their choice of a turkey, ham or grocery store gift certificate for Thanksgiving. It is a really nice gesture that says ‘Thank You’, not only to the employees, but by giving them food, it allows them to share the thank you with their family and loved ones. It helps to expand the ‘NEM family’ to include the people who support our employees at home.

We also have a ‘holiday party’ in December. The holiday party changes from year to year. Some years it is dinner and dancing at a banquet hall. Other years it is a hot sit-down luncheon for the employees. We are always looking for ideas that will include as many employees as possible. Let me know if you have any ideas that have been successful at your company. How does your company share the camaraderie of the holiday season with all its employees?

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Closing Day at the Show

Today officially ends the Pack Expo International 2010 show. When the lights go out at 5:00 p.m. it is ‘pack up time’. The show was a great success for NEM and we look forward to working with all the companies that stopped by our booth with upcoming projects. We are excited about all the business that 2011 promises to bring.

Throughout the show we have made notes on what we want to change and/or add to our exhibits for future shows. We’ve gotten some really good ideas and want to make sure they aren’t forgotten when we start preparing for our next trade show. When we all return to the office, we’ll have a meeting to discuss the show and critique how well we did, but more importantly, what we could have done differently or better. I will also send out a short questionnaire to everyone who worked in our booth (including our outside Sales Reps) asking their opinions on what changes we can make. If we don’t ask, we’ll never improve.

So, as good as this year’s show was, we plan to make next year's show even better. Feel free to send me your ideas and suggestions for improving the trade show exhibit experience.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Live From The Trade Show Floor

Today is the second day of Pack Expo International 2010. It is a great show so far! I’m sorry for anyone who had to miss it. There is a lot of energy in the building, crowds of visitors and hundreds of exhibits to see.

New England Machinery has a fantastic display this year featuring our NEHHLPE-72 unscrambler, SOE-3/690 orienter, NERCCE-3 rotary chuck capper, NEMIRS inspection-rejection system and NEDP gap transfer. Once again our yellow bottles are flying through the air! This year we have switched it up to show off our machinery’s versatility and created one large circulating display through all the equipment.

The updates we’ve made to our NERCC rotary chuck capper enhance both the performance of the capper as well as given it a stylish new look. The booth features wood flooring, attractive blinds instead of backdrop curtains and our helium-filled logo overhead. We have also added an end of day Happy Hour from 4:30 to 5:30 in the evening.  It is a great opportunity to relax and unwind at the end of the show each day.

If you are reading this and are lucky enough to be in Chicago, you won’t want to miss stopping by our booth #S-2247. Hope to see you all here!!!

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Pre-Show Scenes From The Trade Show Floor

For the past sixteen years I have spent at least two weeks of my life every fall traveling to, setting up, working, and then packing away trade show exhibits. It never ceases to amaze me how it all comes together. Looking around the hall today, you would never believe that in three short days this place will be transformed into a ‘wonderland’ of packaging machinery.

At this point, there are forklifts, golf carts, and tow motors running round the hall. Crates lay half-open spewing their contents and packing. Empty and half-full pallets are scattered throughout the aisles. Most aisles are undefined and un-maneuverable. Skeletal displays appear as if picked over by grave robbers. Machines sit unmoving with a battery of technicians crawling around them like surgeons orchestrating a multi-organ transplant. Everywhere you look there are people. Some are diligently unpacking and setting up furniture and display items. Some are putting machines together. Others are running wires and cables or laying carpet. There are a few who seem to just be watching others work, but they are the rare exception. To the uninitiated eye it is complete chaos.

Surprisingly, this chaos all comes together by opening morning. When visitors walk through the halls they will have no idea of the complete transformation that has transpired. They will gawk at the displays, machinery and booth staffers and take for granted that it is all there, set up beautifully, for their perusal. That is the magic of the Trade Show.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Will Beverages Go Smaller?

The latest trend to smaller sized beverage packaging seems to have caught on. The industry calls it ‘Grab and Go’ size. I tend to believe there’s more to the popularity of the size than its convenience. I think it might have something to do with an aging baby boomer generation not wanting to drink 12 ounces of soft drinks at one sitting. They are trying to cut back on the calories, while still being able to enjoy their favorite beverage.

I’m a good example. I’m trying to consume less calories as I don’t burn them as fast as I used to and don’t want to put on a lot of weight. However, I still want to be able to enjoy a Coke (my favorite) every now and then. The twelve ounce cans are just too much for me to finish. The new smaller cans are perfect. I can finish the whole can and not feel guilty for over-indulging (by finishing a whole 12 oz. can) or leaving waste (by not finishing the 12 oz. can).

What will be the next smaller packing trend? I believe as my generation grows older, we will continue to change the world of business to suit our needs. There are just too many of us to ignore. We might be the generation who invented the ‘super-size’, but as we age, we’re going to need to down-size those portions as well.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

How Safe Are Energy Drinks?

Growing up as a teenager in the late 60’s was an interesting time. Up to that point, no one seemed to consider the possibly that what we were consuming might not be healthy for us. Cigarette ads were everywhere- magazines, television, billboards. Smoking was a growing habit among all Americans. Then, suddenly, someone decided to take a good look at some of our ‘unhealthy’ habits and let us know about them. I will never forget the day it was announced that the artificial sweetener in ‘Tab’ soda could cause cancer. I was a student at an all-girls high school, and teenage girls (being the drama queens that they were), spent the day in tears because they had been drinking Tab for years and were sure they were going to die. Next the Surgeon General told us that cigarettes caused cancer. After that there has been an endless succession of warnings about the products we use and consume.

I agree that many of them are not safe. I’ve sipped bottled water that tasted like chemicals and threw it away. An article I read stated that the chemicals making up the plastic bottle holding the water will break down when stored in high temperatures (like in a warehouse in summer). Lately I’ve been wondering about these ‘energy’ drinks that are being sold everywhere. They claim to be safe for consumption, but so was Tab when it first came out. I wonder if we will see some adverse health effects a few years from now in individuals who drink them too often. And maybe that’s the key to all the ‘unhealthy’ habits – a lack of moderation. If used in moderation, when it is truly needed, there probably is no risk in consuming energy drinks. But beware of a high volume of consumption on anything. Remember the saying – ‘too much of a good thing’.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Does Your Company Offer Merit Increases?

PMMI recently released the results of a survey they conducted on Merit Increases. Out of the 490 companies they sent the survey to, only 86 responded. The overall results of the survey were that the majority of companies were planning a 2-3% merit increase for 2011. What I found most interesting about the survey, though, were the comments made by some of the respondents listed at the end.

A number of companies noted that they had not implemented any pay increases in the past few years due to the economy. Some companies stated that as a result of a decrease in sales and profitability, they put a freeze on all wages. I remember a time when annual wage increases were expected by employees as part of ‘keeping up with the cost of living.’ That time has past. Our businesses are now competing with the miniscule wages and lack of benefits in countries like China. How can a US manufacturer offer $10 per hour (or much better) plus health insurance, paid sick days, paid holidays, and paid vacations, when the Chinese manufacturers are simply paying $2 per hour (if that) and no benefits? Currently, we are able to do it because our workers are highly skilled and we implement lean manufacturing techniques. But time will change that too. The Chinese workers will fight to keep their jobs by improving their skills and putting out a better quality product. So US workers had better prepare themselves to no longer ‘expect’ a wage increase just because another year has gone by. There was one comment on the survey that made the most sense. It was: “We do not give annual merit increases. As individuals take on more responsibilities and ‘add value’ to their position, or are promoted to a more demanding position, they are compensated accordingly.” That may be the wave of the future for workers worldwide.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Do You Have A Trade Show Strategy?

Preparing for a trade show requires a lot of time, money and attention to detail. There are order deadlines that can’t be missed - booth design decisions, marketing initiatives, setting up for the show, reservations to make and a long laundry list of things to do. But aside from the actual planning of exhibiting at the trade show, has your company created a strategy for the show? Does everyone involved know why your company is going? What are the ultimate specific goals and does the entire team know them? Have you sat down and had strategy meetings?

It’s important to set specific strategic goals for every trade show and track your success at reaching them. For example, how many leads do you expect to receive? How many sales? What is the dollar amount of all sales you need to justify the cost of the show? How do you track the leads after the show is over? Who does the follow up? How is the follow up tracked? Who/how are the sales tracked and for how long? In the packaging industry we often find that it may take months or even years for a sale to close that was a direct result of someone seeing our machines at a trade show. If we don’t continue to track that information, we won’t know how truly successful the show was for our company.

If you don’t know what you expect to get out of the show, why would you spend all the money in going to it? Take the time to strategize with your sales staff prior to the show. Set goals. Make plans on what it will take to reach those goals. The better prepared you are in advance, the better the outcome will be for your company.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

ThomasNet Offers Industry Market Barometer

ThomasNet recently completed a survey of U.S.manufacturers, distributors and service companies. The Industry Market Barometer, as they call it, measures companies’ performance, uncover strategies for growth and depict the overall segment outlook. The majority of respondents were small and mid-sized companies (80% of the respondents employed less than 500 employees.

The overall findings were very encouraging. They state “Several key indicators all demonstrate a sector that’s “caught on fire” – taking into account more company growth, fewer business declines, a resumption of hiring, a winding down of layoffs, and new investments. Moreover, the kinds of jobs that companies are adding indicate further growth to come.” Some of the interesting findings include: 45% of the respondents claim their company has gown in the period between January to June 2010. 60% of the respondents expect their company to grow through the end of December 2010. 34% plan to hire new employees. Of that 34%, one quarter of them plan to hire line workers indicating increased production demand.

Forty percent of the responding companies plan to invest in new technology, 37% in facilities/renovations, and 36% in capital equipment. Finally, the methodologies to be employed to create the growth include an increase in online marketing, pursuit of business in new industries, develop new innovative products or services, and pursue business in new US geographic areas.

For more information visit www.thomasnet.com.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Export Financial Assistance

Many small companies are not aware of the financing programs available to assist them in selling their goods to international markets. For example, the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) working capital program guarantees a line of credit provided by a local US bank to support domestic borrowers to finance their company’s related inventory with an advance rate of up to 75% (including WIP) and export related accounts receivables with an advance rate of up to 90%. The line is generally extended for 1 year but on a case-by-case basis may be extended up to 3 years. The product must be exported from the U.S. and have a minimum of 51% U.S. content or added-value. The program also supports the financing of services including labor and overhead to produce goods and/or to provide services for export. The working capital guarantee has an annual facility fee of 1.5% however, the borrower may be eligible for a reduced facility fee of 1% if certain criteria are met.

This can also be combined with an export credit insurance policy proved by the Ex-Im Bank of the U.S. or a private sector insurance carrier. While insurance is not required, it is highly recommended since the working capital guarantee protects the lender, it does not protect the borrower in the event of non-payment from a foreign buyer.

There are also buyer financing programs available. The Ex-Im Bank medium term guarantee is a term loan provided by a local US bank to support an overseas buyer importing eligible capital goods and services from US exporters. The loan is up to 5 years on a case-by-case up to 7 years. The amount financed would be the lesser of 85% of the value of all eligible goods and services in the U.S. supply contract or 100% of the U.S. content in all eligible goods and services in the U.S. supply contract. The buyer is required to make a 15% down payment to the exporter which can either be borrowed from a lender or the exporter at market terms, or is from the buyer’s own funds.

One of the key ingredients to New England Machinery's growth through this down economy has been our international sales.  If your company is not currently selling internationally, you may want to look into it.  For more information on the availability of financial assistance in selling to international markets, contact a local bank or the Ex-Im Bank U.S. at www.exim.gov.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

New Marketing Ideas

I’m always trying to come up with something new and innovative to help market our company and products. As New England Machinery builds bottle cappers, I came up with the idea of putting a message inside a clear plastic bottle, capping it, and sending it to our customers. The message invited them to our booth at the upcoming trade show and offered a free gift if they appeared with the invitation. For the customer, the uniqueness of receiving a message in a bottle via U.S. mail was enough to prompt them to open and read the message. Our response rate in the booth was four times the standard response rate for unsolicited mail/reward-type mailings.

Our machines are built to last for generations, so for our company’s 30th anniversary in business, we held a contest to uncover the oldest NEM machine still in production. (We actually own the first machine NEM ever built after having bought it back from Schering Plough when they finally retired the machine in 2000. It still runs beautifully and occasionally we take it to an exhibition to show the quality and longevity of our machines.) The contest’s winning machine was still in production over 28 years from when it was originally built and sold. The winner received a digital camera for their personal use and a second digital camera was given to the company. The contest was another successful campaign that put us in touch with companies that had purchased our machine on the used market.

We will be unveiling a new marketing initiative in a month or so, but want to keep it ‘under wraps’ until it’s time. In the meantime, feel free to share your successful marketing ideas with us here.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

How Do You Update Your Booth?

What new ideas do you use to update your booth at the Pack Expo Trade show? I see a lot of companies spending tens of thousands of dollars on building new displays each year. They are correct in trying to look new and updated. If you order the same carpet and use the same display and/or background year after year, you start to date your company. In today’s highly competitive market, no company can afford to look old, boring, or unimaginative.

We hold a post-show meeting after every show and bring together all the employees who attended. We ask them what they thought about our booth and about some of the other booths they saw at the show. What stood out to them as appearing to be high tech, new and exciting? We write down all their thoughts and ideas and later try to implement the ones everyone agreed looked good. I like to think we have a very creative group because we’ve come up with some really exciting new ideas. If you are a regular to the Pack Expo shows you know that NEM is re-known for the ‘flying yellow bottles’ display. I admit we have been doing this for well over 10 years and we always talk about changing it. But that is the one thing that consistently draws crowds to our booth. So instead of changing something that works, we decided to look elsewhere to give NEM a more high tech look.

This year our booth will feature shiny wood floors instead of carpet and blinds instead of drapes at the back of the booth. Our machines will be placed on shiny diamond-plate skids, and we will feature one integrated production line in place of stand alone individual machines. If you are going to the show, don’t miss our booth at S-2247. What new ideas do you have for your booth display/decoration?

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Are Holiday Cards Effective?

Every year our company sends out and receives ‘holiday’ cards. If the ones we receive are not personally addressed to an individual, our receptionist opens them and hangs them in the front office. If it is a particularly unusual or ‘cute’ card she will bring it to others attention. Otherwise, it gets hung up and few people take the time to read them all to know who sent us cards. The non-personalized, ‘average’ cards are not doing their job for the sender.

When I started at NEM I discovered that prior to my arrival someone had designed a holiday card specifically for our company and products. It was really cute and depicted a Santa filling an unscrambler with large letters. The unscrambler stood the letters up on the conveyor to read ‘Happy Holidays’. Some of the letters were backwards, so the next machine on the line was an NEM secondary orienter that correctly oriented the backwards letters. Next in the line was an NEM capper that placed little Santa hats on each letter. The final machine was an NEM cap tightener. Everyone loved the card for its uniqueness and appropriateness for our company. When it was opened at a company, it was passed around for others to see. It achieved its purpose. In subsequent years we updated the cover and started adding personalized poetry inside. It’s important to update it every year to keep it unique and interesting. It’s also important to make sure every card is sent to an individual and not just to the company in general.

If you have an unusual or clever idea for holiday cards, share it with us.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Will ‘Big Brother’ Really Be Able to Watch Us?

A few years ago I read an article that claimed that within the next 10 years, every product we purchase will have a unique code imbedded in the product. The code will allow anyone with the right type of scanner to know exactly what products you have in your home by simply driving by the house and pointing the scanner at your home. The idea sounds a little far-fetched to me, but I won’t completely dismiss it as a possibility.

The technology is supposed to be currently under development. The ability to have this technology serves several purposes. First, it will allow shoppers to simply push their cart past a scanner to ‘ring up’ everything inside the cart at once. Then the shopper can pay for the items and take them out to their car where they can place them in bags or boxes to get them home. It will save tremendous time and cut personnel at the check out lines. Next, it will allow marketers to know what products an individual purchases regularly. Also, by driving by homes and noting what products are stored in that home, the marketer will know what addresses to target with specific promotions or coupons. For example, if a house has a number of baby products inside such as formula, disposable diapers and baby food, the marketers will know they should target this address for baby and pre-school items.

It feels disconcerting to me that someone driving by my home might someday be able to know all that information about me without my knowledge. I have to stop and think whether this is progress or an invasion of privacy. Will I appreciate the coupons that I’ll receive as a result of someone having this knowledge, or will it just creep me out that someone can know all these things I may not want them to know, like what medications are in my home? Let me know your thoughts on this potential packaging development.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Trade Show Booth Worker Training

How do you train your booth staff for a trade show? In our case there are two separate sets of workers. We have our in-house sales personnel and our outside sales representatives. For the in-house sales personnel we have a pre-show meeting to discuss what is expected of all booth workers. We prepare a lunch schedule so that they take their lunch breaks at the show in shifts. If there is new technology that we will be presenting at the show for the first time, we set up a meeting prior to leaving for the show at the machinery. Our engineers are there to fully explain the new technology, its features and benefits and allow the sales personnel to ask questions. By the time our in-house personnel arrive at the show, they are well prepared.

For the outside sales representatives we host a training seminar in our booth that starts one house before the show opens on the first and second days of the show. We require all sales reps to attend one of the training sessions prior to working the booth so that they too can be brought up to date on our latest technology. We bring in coffee and breakfast (muffins, bagels, danish, etc.) on those days to make sure that everyone gets something to eat before the show starts.

The training does not take a whole lot of effort or time, just some coordination, but the payoff is huge. When someone walks into our booth at the show anyone they speak to is able to assist them and answer the majority of their questions as well as pass on the education on the features and benefits of our machinery. This makes a good impression on the visitors who don’t have a lot of time to wait to speak with only one or two qualified individuals in the booth.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Where Do You Look For Leads?

Sales Departments are always looking for new sources of leads. Some companies pay for leads generated by a third party company. Other companies buy lists from organizations. My favorite leads are the free leads. They are a little harder to come by and take a little more time to qualify, but the price is right and it helps keep the challenge of pure selling exciting.

There are a lot of places to look for free leads. The easiest source is, of course, the internet. The internet contains lots of opportunities to find leads. For the packaging industry there are the commercial web sites such as GlobalSpec and Thomas.net. There are also the industry organization websites that specialize in the various industries (i.e. water, pharmaceutical, beverage). For specific geographic territories, there are the local Economic Development Councils and/or Chambers of Commerce. Many states also offer lists of businesses registered within their state. Magazines often list the registered members in their annual membership issue. Just recently I was handed a workbook that was created by the pharmaceutical industry for recruiting pharmaceutical salespersons. The back of the workbook contained a national listing of pharmaceutical companies along with contact information for each one. What a great list of free leads!

Train your entire company, family and friends to look for new leads. My husband is a truck driver. He knows what type of machinery my company manufactures. When he has a delivery of products that our machinery could help package, he writes down the name and address of the shipper. I then can turn over a viable lead to our Sales Dept. Leads are everywhere once you start to look for them.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

How Do You ‘Keep it New’, ‘Keep It Fresh’?

If you have been doing the same job for many years, how do you keep the job new and exciting? In marketing it is vital to stay on top of new ideas and bring a fresh perspective to your products. There are many ways to do this. For some it might be to take a vacation away from everything pertaining to work to give your mind an opportunity to refocus, refresh and renew. When you come back, you may see everything in a different light. Another way is to seek out classes or courses on the latest changes in your industry and/or field of work. You might also visit trade shows for your industry and spend an entire day just walking through all the exhibits to see what others are doing and how they are doing it.

My personal preference is to take classes and/or courses. I have never attended a seminar or course in which I didn’t walk away with at least one new idea. Sometimes it’s a matter of taking a new idea and manipulating it to fit your business. The hard part is to actually implement the new idea once you get back to your daily job. It is too easy to ‘put it off’ until you have more time. That day never comes. So add it to your current ‘Must Do’ list to make sure it does not fall through the cracks. Sometimes a new idea or concept works for a while and then starts to lose value. If that’s the case, then it’s time to stop using that concept and come up with something new. For example, a number of years ago I attended a seminar that suggested the Sales and Marketing Dept. hold a weekly meeting in which everyone wrote with crayons and sat playing with modeling clay while coming up with new ideas. It worked for a while, but like many things, over time the meeting and concept became so ordinary that it no longer assisted us in developing new ideas so we stopped the meetings. Now we have impromptu meetings, sometimes at lunch over pizza to brainstorm new ideas.

Feel free to share with us your ideas on how to keep your products fresh and what you do to inspire creative thinking.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Do You Have Written SOPs?

Does your company have written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for every individual task performed by all employees? Most companies do not and therefore waste valuable time in re-training new employees. It is a big task to get it done, but it is well worth the effort in the end. It is a great feeling to hand a new employee a packet of written instructions that will tell them step by step how to perform all the duties they will be expected to perform.

If you decide to create SOPs, the best way is to ask each employee to spend a few minutes each day writing step by step instructions for just one of their tasks. By the end of the month (if not much sooner), they should have a stack of written procedures for everything they do. The hard part is then to get someone else to read them and try to follow the instructions to see if they are written well, clearly, accurately and produce the necessary end result of that task. If so, they should then be put into a binder and reviewed and updated as necessary. Once you have all your employees daily procedures documented, it makes hiring on new employees a much quicker process with a smoother transition period and accelerated learning curve.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Give-Aways Otherwise Known As Tchotchkes

Wikipedia defines Tchotchkes as “small toys, gewgaws, knickknacks, baubles, lagniappes, trinkets, or kitsch. The term has a connotation of worthlessness or disposability, as well as tackiness, and has long been used in the Jewish-American community and in the regional speech of New York City. The word may also refer to swag, in the sense of the logo pens, key fobs, and other promotional freebies dispensed at trade shows, conventions, and similar large events.” The value of the tchotchke is basically determined by what new business it can bring to the advertiser. Why else would companies spend millions of dollars a year purchasing these items to give them away?

The big question is still – ‘Are they worth it?’ Do they actually assist in bringing in new business. If bought for the correct use and purpose and distributed to the correct audience, they can help bring in new business. To me, the whole purpose of giving away these items is to keep your company’s name and contact information in front of your potential customers so that if they need something you sell, they will immediately think of you. So you first need to determine - who are your customers? If you are selling parts to maintenance people, you want items they will keep on their person, such as small flashlights, pens, tape measures. They don’t spend much time at their desks and it helps to keep your name and phone number or web address close at hand. If your customers are engineers who spend most of their day sitting behind a desk, you may want to use items such as pens, pen holders, notepads, or other desk-type accessory. I advise against giving away toys. Trade show attendees love to bring them home from the exhibitions to give them to their children to play with. Your customer never sees it again as it is in their children’s toy box. So before purchasing tchotchkes for your next show, make sure you have a specific audience targeted and the right item to give away.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Fall Is Trade Show Season

Yes, it’s almost fall once again and the start of ‘trade show season’ for most industries. If you are new to marketing the prospect of dealing with handling all the aspects of a trade show may seem daunting. I remember the first time I was handed a 3” thick 3-ring binder for a trade show and told, “Here’s the binder. Take care of all the show arrangements”, I was quite intimidated. Fortunately, the gentleman handing over the binder and the reigns to the trade show, was kind enough to ‘walk me through’ the first show. Since that time I’ve taken trade show prep classes, read hundreds of articles, and learned a lot from trial and error.

It turns out the binder (which is now actually all on-line), was the easy part. It’s the pre-show marketing, booth worker training and coordination, shipping, set up and tear down that hold all the challenges. The binder is simply a listing of supplies and services that are available for ordering. The most important thing about the show ‘manual’ material is to watch for the discount deadlines so you can save your company money.

I found the best way to prepare for any show is to create a ‘template’ of everything that needs to be handled with a place for dates and a check-off list. When it’s determined you will be exhibiting at a show, fill in the dates when the items need to be completed. Check the list at least once a week and you won’t miss any important deadlines. I have another check-off list that itemizes everything that needs to be shipped to the show. I keep a ‘show box’ of desk-type items that never gets unpacked, but is replenished before shipping to every show. The box includes items such as a stapler, pens, pads, tape dispenser and extra tape, marking pens, velcro, paper clips, rubber bands and a bag of miscellaneous small nuts and bolts.

Our company has also built a ‘show box’. The box is about 6’ long by 4’ wide and 7’ high. The outside is covered in stainless steel sheets and it has doors that lock at either end. We attach flyer holders to the outside as well as a flat screen TV to show our videos and a small drop down table to hold a DVR. The inside allows us to store our coats and personal items, keep a supply of extra spare parts and tools for the machines and is even equipped with a small refrigerator so we can bring our own cold drinks to the show. It is a wonderful addition that I don’t know what we did without before building it.

If it’s your job to organize your company’s trade shows, don’t forget that the biggest reason you are attending the shows is to get the leads. Make sure you have a plan to contact every customer who stops in your booth as soon as the show is over. Make that your number one post-show priority.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Keeping Everyone In The Know

I recently wrote about motivating your internal customers. In that blog I failed to mention the importance of keeping them informed. How does your company communicate with each other internally? If yours is like most companies, it happens in a haphazard manner. Some individuals will receive e-mails about what new things are happening, or they will hear about it in a meeting. Others will learn of it ‘through the grapevine’. However, often times the message gets ‘muddied’ along its route and the true facts get skewed. This can cause morale issues unnecessarily.

In response to this dilemma is the ‘company newsletter’. An internal newsletter that is written by one individual (given the authority by management) can deliver all the current news, resolving the communication problem. It can be sent via e-mail and/or printed and distributed. It does not have to be issued every week, or even every month, but it should come out on a regular basis so that employees will know when to expect it.

Along with all the news of what is happening within the company, it can be used to congratulate company anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, offer space for employees to list items they have for sale, and list local upcoming community events. Once started, it becomes an important tool for everyone to be up to date on the latest company news, getting accurate information instead of depending on inconsistent and possibly incorrect rumors. Your employees will enjoy it and look forward to the next installment.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Free Advertising – It Works

It never ceases to amaze me how many companies don’t take advantage of free advertising. I have met owners of small ‘Mom & Pop’ type businesses that are struggling to increase sales and awareness of their product. I always ask them how often they send out Press Releases. In 9 out of 10 cases, they tell me they never have sent any out. They don’t know or realize the value of this free marketing tool.

I’ve always had extremely positive experiences with using Press Releases as part of my marketing plans. One small company I worked for was just starting a marketing department. They had previously been paying a lot of money to an advertising agency that was putting expensive ads in the Wall Street Journal that were not bringing in new business. We did some research and made up a list of all the magazines and periodicals that pertained to that business. We got fax numbers for every one of them and sent out a Press Release announcing the latest developments of the company. Within a month of the faxes, we started receiving phone calls from potential customers who saw our information in a magazine. We took note of what magazine they had viewed and determined that there was one in particular that was bringing in the most calls. Now we knew where to place our paid advertising that it would get the most exposure to our potential customers. This was before the internet and all it took was a trip to the library to research periodicals. A small investment in time produced a huge result.

Press Releases continue to assist all businesses in promoting their company and products. Don’t forget to make them part of your overall marketing strategy.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Take The Best and Make It Better

New England Machinery (NEM) has recently accomplished just that. They have improved on their already great bottle capping machines. I don’t was to sound like an ad, but the recent changes they have made are really exciting.

The new modular bottle capper design enhancements include a compact frame with easy to change stations and stylish, frameless guarding. The changes allow for a smaller footprint, increased throughput, and electronic programmability for easier setup and changeover. Similar machines can offer interchangeable change parts allowing the versatility of running the same product on multiple machines. Changeover is a simple, tool-free process that is quick and easy for operators to perform. The new design includes a high efficiency main drive motor to save on energy, a re-designed lift drive, an option for corrosive products and an FDA lube option.

Continual improvement is how NEM stays on top of the industry.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Do You Fail To Plan?

It is easy to get so wrapped up in the day to day tasks involved in conducting our business that we fail to take the time to properly plan for the future. If this is the case, you must force yourself to carve out some time for future planning. No company has ever succeeded accidentally. It occurred through planning and execution of the plan(s). That’s not to say that the plans may not have changed direction a time or two, but the framework was conceived and laid out in the beginning and reviewed and altered as required.

So you’ve set aside the time to plan. Now what? Now you create the framework for the plan. You identify the products you wish to sell and the markets in which you wish to sell them. Your plan needs to be specific.

What is your current market share for each of these products? Does your share deviate in different geographic locations? Where do you see the opportunity for greatest growth? What market share do you want to accomplish achieving in this market? Set both short term goals (1 year from now) and long term goals (5 years from now). Add industry research and analysis to your plan to help define the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your target markets. List your top competitors and their market share. How will you increase your market share, through market growth, or taking away from your competitors? Is there a potential for government regulations to affect your markets? If so, how? What can you do to minimize any adverse effects and maximize the advantages?

When you have completed the plan, share it with others to get their input. Tweak it where necessary to make it the best plan with the greatest chance to succeed. When you have a ‘final’- communicate it with others so that they are on board with making it a reality. Finally, don’t just file it away and forget about it. Pull it out at least once every three months, or even every month to see if you are staying on course. If necessary, make changes to allow your company to reach the ultimate goals.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Your Internal Customers

What does your company do to motivate your internal customers? Our company is currently in the process of implementing a company-wide new software system that will allow the entire company to be electronically fully integrated. It’s an exciting time, but as with all software implementations, it will bring with it some new challenges. We tried to come up with some ideas to get our ‘internal customers’ excited about the upcoming changes. We’ve had meetings and training on the new software and they’ve all had a chance to see for themselves the great improvements it will make, but they also are ‘comfortable’ with the system they are now using.

So we started a ‘sign’ campaign to help ‘sell’ the idea. We have made up funny (but positive) signs by the dozen about the software and hung them up throughout the company. We change them regularly and everyone seems to enjoy them. They look forward to seeing the new signs go up to see what they say and have offered suggestions for new sign ‘sayings’. It’s not expensive, we print them in-house on 11” x 17” paper, but it really helps to bolster the idea that this new software is a positive experience for all.

When implementing changes in your company, don’t forget to ‘sell’ your internal customers. If they buy into the changes, the implementation will be smoother, quicker, more effective, and an overall better experience for everyone.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Export Resources

I recently wrote a blog on why we should export. In researching exporting I’ve come across some excellent resources. Following is a list of websites that are helpful to those who are new to exporting as well as those who have done it for a long time:

http://www.census.gov/
http://www.export.gov/
www.sba.gov/tools
http://www.stat-usa.gov/
http://www.usatradeonline.gov/
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
http://www.imf.org/
www.usaid.gov/ipc/www/idb
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/
http://www.fas.usda.gov/

These resources contain great research data on various countries throughout the world and can assist you in learning what you need to know before you export.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

To Export or Not To Export

Why should a small US manufacturer make the effort to export their products if they are successful in selling them locally? The best answer to that question lies with statistics. 95% of the world’s consumers live outside of the US. In 2007 the US exported $1.16 trillion in goods. $38.3 billion of that was industrial machinery (including packaging machinery). America’s number one trading partner was Canada. They imported $248.4 billion of U.S. goods that year, which made up 21.4% of all US exports. Mexico came in second place importing $130.5 billion from the US, adding another 11.7%. Therefore, over one-third of US exports never moved farther than North America.

If you are not currently exporting and are afraid to ‘take the plunge’, consider the opportunity you may be missing. If you don’t have the resources to research and set up marketing channels to other countries, think about just adding one new country. Canada is the easiest and best choice. They predominately speak English, are a part of the North America Free Trade Agreement, and offer a great potential for sales growth. Also, Canada’s culture is probably the most similar to the US.

Don’t let an opportunity to increase your sales pass you by. Your local office of the U.S. Department of Commerce offers numerous programs and assistance, either free or at a nominal cost. In this global economy no company can afford to ignore the sales potential offered through exporting.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

What’s New In Marketing Technology?

When I started out in marketing almost 20 years ago, the big new technology was computers and the advent of the world wide web. Being ‘high tech’ was having a website, doing research on the internet and creating video tapes (yes, VHS tapes) of your company’s capabilities and products. Well, as the saying goes, ‘we’ve come a long way, baby’.

Today’s leading marketers are ‘hooked up’ to the social media explosion. They use twitter, blogs, facebook, linked-in, webinars, mobile marketing, social networks, podcasts, Flickr, YouTube, newsgroups and much more. The list is literally endless as new products, software and features are coming available on a daily basis.

So, how does a marketer possibly keep up? I met one marketer who worked for a large organization and had 8 employees in his marketing department. He tasked each one of them to become an ‘expert’ on one form of social media. After fully researching the technology, they would report back to him on their recommendations on how their organization could best utilize this form of media. Unfortunately, smaller companies may not have the resources to handle all the forms of media they want to. My best recommendation is to do the research on the 5 or 6 biggest venues. Determine which of these are most viable for your organization. Then put a plan together on how you can utilize these resources to maximize your company’s marketing initiatives.

Once you’ve implemented your plan, do not rest on your laurels. Continue to research the latest trends on at least a monthly basis. Plan on changing your social media mix from time to time, when you believe something new might work better. Track the success of the initiatives you use and if one is not doing much for your company, drop it and try something else.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Summertime Slowdown?

If your company suffers from a bit of a summertime slowdown, don’t let this great opportunity pass you by. This is the perfect time to sign up for those continuing education classes you ‘never have time to take’. It’s a great time to organize your desk, office and filing system. Take advantage of a little quieter time to do some industry research to find out what trends are affecting your industry and what new products and packaging may change the course for machinery. Put together a list of projects you need to work on and prioritize them with dates for start and finish.
Look ahead to your fall show schedule and start working on items that can be handled in advance. Make up ‘To Do’ lists for the shows, so that all the organizing is laid out and can simply be followed step by step come show season. Get a jump start on your 2011 budget planning.

When the jam-packed fall days come rolling in you will be very grateful for any organizing and pre-planning you did in the summertime. Don’t let the ‘Dog Days of Summer’ get you down, use the time wisely and you’ll reap the rewards.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

How Do You Keep The Excitement Going?

When you are dealing with a Sales force, it is important to keep everyone energized and excited about what they do. All successful salespersons already possess a strong measure of self-motivation, however, everyone needs some outside recognition every now and then to help keep them animated. This includes all the support personnel, who tirelessly do their jobs each day but don’t receive the personal satisfaction of ‘closing a sale’. How do you keep the fire burning in your sales force?

At New England Machinery we installed a ship’s bell. This is an original heavy brass bell that has a short pull string attached to a round brass clacker. Its ring can be easily heard throughout the entire building. When a Salesperson receives a Purchase Order above a pre-ordained amount (or, for our Parts sales department, their aggregate sales for an entire day reaches the specified amount), they are allowed to ring the bell. Everyone in the office stops what they are doing and applauds, whistles and cheers for the ‘bell ringer’. It is a simple idea that really lights up everyone’s day and puts smiles on everyone’s faces, not just the bell ringer. It is amazing how this simple idea has energized everyone in the office. It has solidified a sense of team-work, enhanced camaraderie, and made everyone feel like a winner. We all now share in the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that previously was only experienced by the individual Salespersons.

If your office has a practice for energizing its workforce, send us your ideas. We would love to hear about more ways to Keep The Excitement Going!

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

PMMI Economic Forecast for the Packaging Industry

PMMI recently released its Quarterly Economic Outlook, 3rd Quarter 2010 Report. Their findings conclude that they project Accelerating Growth for our industry. To that end, they are recommending companies to set the following objectives:

1. Accelerate training

2. Check the process flow for possible future bottlenecks

3. Continue to build inventory

4. Increase prices

5. Consider outside manufacturing sources if internal pressure become tight

6. Find the answer to “What next?”

7. Open distribution centers

8. Use improved cash flow to improve corporate governance

9. Use cash to create new competitive advantages

10. Watch your debt-to-equity ratio and ROI

11. Maintain/pursue quality: don’t let complacency set in

While I agree with PMMI on many of their suggestions, I read their indicators slightly differently and recommend caution for the short term. Looking at the growth charts in their report, I believe we still have some downward trending to go in machinery shipments before the recovery starts back up. On the positive side, I believe we will see some immediate growth in machinery exports.

My personal recommendations would be to follow their objectives numbered 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, and 11. I recommend caution on numbers 3, 4, 7 and 8 and I find number 6 amusing. If any of us had the ‘crystal ball’ to know the answer to ‘what next’, we would be the future Bill Gates. However, we should try to determine what that will be as the future health of our companies depend on our staying on top (if not ahead) of the direction the industry is headed.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

New Ideas

Every company needs to stay contemporary. Some call it ‘re-inventing’ yourself, but that is not really the same thing and can be dangerous. When Coke‘re-invented’ its formula with ‘New Coke’ it nearly sunk the company. A company does not want to change its core values and the underlying product and/or discovery that made it successful. What a company does need to do is keep up with changing tastes and needs while staying true to itself. Coke has subsequently been successful in bringing to market new products that allow consumers to choose something different occasionally without going to the competition.


The same is true for all other companies and industries. The packaging industry needs to stay on top of the latest in packaging products, designs, trends and needs. The core products should offer the latest in technology, but still effectively do the jobs they were invented to do. Adding new electronic components to the original unscrambler or capper is staying contemporary without ‘re-inventing’. Adding a new line of products that compliment the original line is staying contemporary without ‘re-inventing’.

Let’s leave ‘re-inventing’ to the celebrities and focus on staying contemporary with our packaging machinery. If a new product comes on the market that requires a new machine to process or package it, design a new machine as a compliment, instead of changing an already good design to try and make it something more. The ‘something more’ may turn out to make the original machine ‘something less’, especially if it makes it more complicated, harder to use, more expensive, and have capabilities that are not always needed by the purchaser. Ten years ago I attended a PMMI meeting with end users. They all agreed that they were looking for machinery that would run faster, allow for quicker changeover, and be easy to use and maintain. Customers today are still asking for the same things.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

The Many Faces of Orienting

There are probably as many different types, shapes, colors and sizes of plastic containers on the market as there are people in the world. New ones are being designed every day in the hope that the new ‘different’ design will make a product stand out on the store shelf enough to first catch the consumers’ attention, and second convince them they need to purchase the product in the container. With all these different containers there comes a need in packaging to orient them properly. Many containers need to be oriented after unscrambling or coming out of chillers, turntables, accumulation tables and other machines that cause them to lose orientation.


As there are so many types of containers, there can’t be just one way to orient them. In answer to that need New England Machinery has designed various types of orienters. Each machine is designed for a different orienting need. They offer in-line orienters such as the SO-3, SO-4 and SO-6, and they offer rotary orienting with their model NERO. The capability of having such a large variety of machines to choose from allows NEM to offer the very best solution to their customers’ specific needs.

The company’s orienting capabilities include numerous methods of inspecting the containers and determining when and how to orient them properly. These include photo eyes, vision systems, and mechanical methods. If proper orientation is important to your production line, call the experts at New England Machinery, Inc. to get the best method for your project.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

Are Your Salespersons Passionate?

If you’ve ever sat and watched a TV infomercial for more than five minutes you have to admit that, even if you don’t need the item they are selling, you are tempted to consider buying it. What makes them so persuasive? Aside from the fact that they have everything staged to perfection to make the product look easy to use with amazing results, it is the main actor’s passion about the product that really sells it. Some individuals are better than others at ‘selling’ the product. Oftentimes, it is the inventor himself or herself that is describing the product. Their own pride and belief in the product they created clearly comes through and is ‘contagious’ to those viewing the segment. It is this passion about the product that moves the listener to feel that they need to have it.


True passion cannot be faked, but it can be more fully developed. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing several salespersons that were passionate about the products they sold. They were all very successful. They were truly convinced that the products they were selling were far superior to the competition and that positive attitude was reflected in their selling techniques. Their customers bought from them, because they wanted to buy the best product available and they made it clear that their product was it.

If you want successful salepersons, you need to educate them about your product until they understand it well enough to be passionate about it. They need to truly believe that they are selling the best product available and know what makes it the best. Passion is contagious, spread it around your sales team.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

How Do You Track Success?

Most companies prepare a growth plan to chart their future success. After determining the goals and setting the clear path on how to reach those goals, the next most important step is to track the steps along that path. If we don’t track whether we follow the steps and how successful we are in taking each step along the way, we are in danger of having one or more missteps take us in the wrong direction and never reaching those goals.

For sales it is important to remember not to just track how much or how many sales the team brings in, but to track each individuals’ efforts. How many customers did they call, e-mail, and visit each month? How many quotations did they prepare? What products are they quoting most frequently? What percentage of those quotes are they winning? The individual sales persons should have monthly target amounts for each of these areas and they should be tracked to see if they are reaching, surpassing, or falling short on the targets. It is much easier to re-direct a sales person who has ‘fallen off course’ in the short term, than to look back at the end of the year and try to determine what went wrong when it's too late to recover.

We all need some direction in order to know where we are headed and when we plan to get there. Without direction, we find ourselves wandering aimlessly, or headed in the wrong direction without even know it. It’s like leaving home by car to a new location without the benefit of a map or directions. We may eventually find our way, but we will have wasted a lot of time and resources trying to get there. Make sure you have a clear set of directions for your sales department as well as the rest of your company.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

US Industry is Reporting Growth

The following information was taken from an e-mail sent out by Thomas.net. “ThomasNet's latest Industry Market Barometer Survey shows that the economic recovery for the United States industrial sector is outpacing the national economy.


27% of the survey respondents report their businesses grew during the second half of 2009. That's up from the 17% that reported growth during the first half of the year. The difference represents a 59% rate of growth. Comparatively, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at 5.6% in the fourth quarter, and just 2.2% in the third.

What is the secret to success for those companies reporting growth? Companies are using the Internet to reinvent themselves in a number of ways:

• Having an Online Strategy (71%)

• Selling into New Industries (36%)

• Introducing New Products and Services (33%)

1,176 industrial professionals responded to the survey. The majority of respondents represent small businesses. 71% are at companies with fewer than 50 employees, and about 79% report revenue of under $10 million. There were also respondents from global manufacturers.”

In a previous blog I mentioned how the packaging industry has continued to grow even in the current economic downturn. While the industry as a whole is not immune to the recession, it has ‘weathered the storm’ much better than other industries. According to the above information, the US industrial sector is now regaining strength faster than other sectors of the economy. Let’s all hope this trend continues and gains momentum for the foreseeable future.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

What is the Packaging Industry’s Economic Outlook?

The following information comes from the PMMI.org website: “According to PMMI’s Quarterly Economic Outlook, the U.S. is in the early stages of a mild recovery. The Industrial Production Index reached a low point in October, ending its worst economic downturn since 1946. Most industries are showing increasing activity and the rate of decline is slowing in others. The same holds true for the markets that impact the packaging and processing industries.” Other highlights of the site include:
• While 2009 was a year of recession, 2010 is bringing signs of recovery. Markets with positive outlooks include: Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Production; Personal Care Products Production; Beverages, Coffee & Tea Production; Chemical and Cleaning & Finishing Products, Household and Industrial; Consumer/Commercial Industrial Durables, Hardgoods, Components and Parts; Food and Foods Preparation Production.

• The US Leading Indicator Index has posted its 10th straight month of rise, taking it to a record high. The year-over-year reading is above 0 and the rise in the index supports the outlook for increasing activity in the US economy in 2010.

• The ISM Purchasing Managers Index reached a five-year peak of 58.4 in January and has grown to 59.6 in March (Wall Street Journal), a positive signal for the overall economy in 2010. January was the indicator’s sixth consecutive month above 50, indicating six months of manufacturing sector expansion.

• Retail Sales (not including automobiles) are showing signs of stabilizing. Although sales dropped 3.0 percent overall in 2009, holiday spending saw its first year-over-year increase (0.4 percent) since 2006. A mild November to December rise shows that the retail sector is still weak, but that the worst of the decline is probably over.

So, PMMI’s research seems to indicate that our industry is now headed in a more positive direction. Let’s hope this is true, so we can all concentrate on doing what we do best – making great packaging machinery!

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.

MANATEE — At New England Machinery, business is good.

The Manatee manufacturer provides packaging for products such as food, beverages and pharmaceuticals and has “tremendous potential to grow,” says Marge Bonura, director of sales and marketing.


“The packaging industry is one of the few in this economy that has continued to grow,” Bonura said. “As long as the world population grows, people are going to continue to need anything that’s packaged. Our industry will continue to grow.”
Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2010/06/29/2396810/let-the-hiring-begin-several-manatee.html#ixzz0sR3lG974

Declare Your Independence

In 1776 the Colonies declared their independence from the control of another country. A lot has happened since that time. The United State grew from a small group of east coast states to fifty states spanning across the entire continent of North America and beyond. The US became a world power in the process. But recent developments in technology have made a drastic change in communication and business and US companies must now compete in a world-wide market.


Many items once manufactured in one country are now being partially built in several countries and assembled in yet another country. The car you drive could have parts and assemblies on it that were all made in different countries. The US has gone from an agrarian society to a manufacturing society and now appears to be shifting yet again to a services society. Many worry that a services society will be hard-pressed to support our ever-growing population. Yet there are still companies that design, manufacture, and assemble all their products right here in the US. With the help of lean manufacturing practices and a dedicated workforce, they are able to compete in a world market.

To compete in this arena, and do it well, takes a lot of hard work and commitment. That is what companies like New England Machinery (NEM) do every day. There are no cutting corners or taking shortcuts, the end result would cost the company its reputation. On this, there are no compromises. The company sells bottle unscramblers, and bottle cappers that can compete with any in the world and stand out. NEM is an independently woman-owned company. NEM is not dependent upon assemblies coming in from another country. The assemblies are all manufactured and built right here in Bradenton, Florida. So when the US celebrates Independence Day this 4th of July, it is the companies like NEM who continue to support the independence of US workers and their families.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.