New England Machinery will be shut down starting Friday December 21 until Tuesday, January 2 to allow our employees time to enjoy the Holidays with their families and friends. We also want to take this opportunity to wish a very happy, peaceful holidays and healthy, prosperous 2013 to one and all.
Take some time this holiday season to ‘count your blessings’ and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. Pay forward some nice gesture that someone did for you. Have a little more patience with those around you and remember that they are not deliberately trying to annoy you. Compliment someone’s positive actions. Communicate your affection with loved ones. Sometimes it is our smallest gestures that make the most difference in someone’s life. Just sharing a genuine smile with someone who is feeling down can help lift their spirits. You will find that the more positive energy you expend, the happier you personally will feel, and it will catch on to those around you!
My personal, warmest wishes to everyone for a wonderful holiday season and a great 2013!
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Preparing for 2013
Two years ago I made some suggestions for making New Year’s resolutions that would help you to improve your work life. That blog was a hit with many of you. Some even added their own suggestions. Let’s try doing it again and see what new ideas we can conceive for 2013.
Resolve to read a certain number of books on your chosen profession in 2013. Research which books you will read right now and write down their names, or better yet, go online and order them so you will have them before the start of the year.
Resolve to arrive at work early or leave late one day at the end of this year or the beginning of 2013. Spend that extra time at work organizing your workspace. Clean out old paperwork you no longer need and prioritize the rest as to when you will work on them.
Volunteer to help out on a committee that may require your personal time (i.e. a fund raising event your company sponsors).
Resolve to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ more often to the people you work with. This is especially important when asking them to do something, even if it is part of their normal job. It’s a simple matter of polite manners that goes a long way in getting cheerful cooperation.
Sign up for night classes on a topic of interest that is related in some way to your job (i.e. communication, learning new software, finance).
What other job/work-related resolutions can you think of that would make the work environment more pleasant and/or assist in developing your career?
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Resolve to read a certain number of books on your chosen profession in 2013. Research which books you will read right now and write down their names, or better yet, go online and order them so you will have them before the start of the year.
Resolve to arrive at work early or leave late one day at the end of this year or the beginning of 2013. Spend that extra time at work organizing your workspace. Clean out old paperwork you no longer need and prioritize the rest as to when you will work on them.
Volunteer to help out on a committee that may require your personal time (i.e. a fund raising event your company sponsors).
Resolve to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ more often to the people you work with. This is especially important when asking them to do something, even if it is part of their normal job. It’s a simple matter of polite manners that goes a long way in getting cheerful cooperation.
Sign up for night classes on a topic of interest that is related in some way to your job (i.e. communication, learning new software, finance).
What other job/work-related resolutions can you think of that would make the work environment more pleasant and/or assist in developing your career?
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Assistance in Expanding Your Markets
The US Dept. of Commerce is tasked with assisting US companies to expand their sales into foreign markets. They offer a number of services that help small businesses to research and understand markets in countries all over the world.
Their services include researching the market in a chosen country to determine if a particular product line is a ‘good fit’ for that country and if there are enough potential clients. They also assist in finding potential sales representatives, distributors, and/or partners.
One of the other services they offer is to periodically plan Trade Missions to various countries. These allow representatives of a US company to travel accompanied by other US firms and select politicians, to a foreign country for the purpose of opening up new business opportunities. Our company has participated in several of these Trade Missions over the years. They have been a great experience and opened doors that would have been more difficult without the introduction supplied by the Trade Mission. I recommend contacting your local Department of Commerce to see how they can assist you in expanding to new foreign markets.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Their services include researching the market in a chosen country to determine if a particular product line is a ‘good fit’ for that country and if there are enough potential clients. They also assist in finding potential sales representatives, distributors, and/or partners.
One of the other services they offer is to periodically plan Trade Missions to various countries. These allow representatives of a US company to travel accompanied by other US firms and select politicians, to a foreign country for the purpose of opening up new business opportunities. Our company has participated in several of these Trade Missions over the years. They have been a great experience and opened doors that would have been more difficult without the introduction supplied by the Trade Mission. I recommend contacting your local Department of Commerce to see how they can assist you in expanding to new foreign markets.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Monday, December 10, 2012
What Makes Your Company Special/Different Than Its Competition?
I have heard this question asked many times to sales and marketing people. It is sad to sometimes hear the answers they give. Some of the responses I have heard include “Our product is better.”, but they don’t say how it is better, or “Our product is a higher quality.”, but they don’t describe the difference in quality. In today’s highly competitive marketplace it is important to be able to answer this question quite specifically.
Is your product truly the only one of its kind in the marketplace? If not, did your company start out by making a copy of another product, but are offering it at a lesser price? If you copied an existing product but improved upon it, how is it improved? Does your product outlast the competition? Is it faster, quieter, sturdier, smaller, larger, prettier, does it work differently, is it easier to operate, does it do more, does it run more efficiently and/or cost effectively, or is it less expensive to buy? If you want to be successful at selling your product, you must be able to choose how your product is different than your competition and then list all the advantages of owning one of yours instead of one of theirs.
When you can effectively answer the question of what makes your product special, you will be able to sell much more of it.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Is your product truly the only one of its kind in the marketplace? If not, did your company start out by making a copy of another product, but are offering it at a lesser price? If you copied an existing product but improved upon it, how is it improved? Does your product outlast the competition? Is it faster, quieter, sturdier, smaller, larger, prettier, does it work differently, is it easier to operate, does it do more, does it run more efficiently and/or cost effectively, or is it less expensive to buy? If you want to be successful at selling your product, you must be able to choose how your product is different than your competition and then list all the advantages of owning one of yours instead of one of theirs.
When you can effectively answer the question of what makes your product special, you will be able to sell much more of it.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The World of Container Orienting
What in the world is ‘orienting’? It is the turning of containers on a production line so that all the containers are facing the direction required. In most cases it is done to make sure all the containers are heading into the filler or labeler with the same side of the container facing in one direction. Sometimes, however, it is done to correctly place containers into a case for shipping. In this situation, the containers may need to arrive at the case packer with three containers facing one way and the next three facing the other way with this configuration repeating over and over. No matter what it is used for, orienting is a function that is needed in many, if not all, production plants.
How is it done? Well, it can be done in numerous ways, such as mechanically, or electronically. In order for the orienter to know which containers to ‘orient’, it must be able to ‘sense’ or ‘see’ how the containers are aligned as they arrive at the machine. It then must be able to rotate only the containers not facing in the correct position. The amount of rotation can vary from 90° to 180 or 270°, depending on the shape of the container.
With all these options and requirements, it can be complicated for the uninitiated. New England Machinery (NEM) takes out the complication by offering numerous models of orienters. Since there are so many variations in orienting needs, NEM has designed different models each offering a unique means of sensing and turning the containers. It’s nice to know that there is a company that truly understands the complexity of packaging lines and designs machinery to handle those requirements.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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 is it done? Well, it can be done in numerous ways, such as mechanically, or electronically. In order for the orienter to know which containers to ‘orient’, it must be able to ‘sense’ or ‘see’ how the containers are aligned as they arrive at the machine. It then must be able to rotate only the containers not facing in the correct position. The amount of rotation can vary from 90° to 180 or 270°, depending on the shape of the container.
With all these options and requirements, it can be complicated for the uninitiated. New England Machinery (NEM) takes out the complication by offering numerous models of orienters. Since there are so many variations in orienting needs, NEM has designed different models each offering a unique means of sensing and turning the containers. It’s nice to know that there is a company that truly understands the complexity of packaging lines and designs machinery to handle those requirements.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Changes for the Pharmaceutical Industry – Part III
What is the value of Serialization/Track and Trace? Serialization and Track and Trace seem like a lot of work and expense to implement. However, the system will benefit both manufacturers and consumers. Currently, counterfeit drug sales are valued at $205 billion and this number is quickly growing. These are sales that should be going to legitimate pharmaceutical companies. Not only are the lost revenues hurting the pharmaceutical companies, but the counterfeit drugs often are labeled to resemble legitimate drugs from a reliable company. If the drug does not work, or worse, harms a patient, the legitimate manufacturer is blamed and must prove it was not their drug, a process that is extremely time consuming and expensive.
The cost to humans is incalculable. It is reported that at least 2,000 deaths per day are a result of counterfeit drugs that were either useless placebos, or worse, deadly compounds. Once serialization/track and trace is nationally implemented, US consumers can verify that the pills in the bottle they purchased were in fact manufactured by the correct company and that the contents have not been recalled or compromised.
Yes, serialization/track and trace is a time consuming, expensive system to implement, but the value will be worth the investment.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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 cost to humans is incalculable. It is reported that at least 2,000 deaths per day are a result of counterfeit drugs that were either useless placebos, or worse, deadly compounds. Once serialization/track and trace is nationally implemented, US consumers can verify that the pills in the bottle they purchased were in fact manufactured by the correct company and that the contents have not been recalled or compromised.
Yes, serialization/track and trace is a time consuming, expensive system to implement, but the value will be worth the investment.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.
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