Monday, June 27, 2016

Retirement Blog

To everyone who has been a faithful follower of my blog, I wish to say thank you. I hope that I have at least once passed on some useful tidbit of information that helped you, or you at least enjoyed reading it.

July 1, 2016 marks my official retirement date from New England Machinery, Inc. At that time, I will turn over this blog to my successor to perpetuate the dissemination of information about the packaging industry. I will, however, keep my finger in the mix working on a very limited schedule going forward, but my marketing duties will be handled by another. I sincerely wish all my followers, colleagues, and especially my co-workers the very best and to enjoy this tremendous adventure in the world of packaging machinery. It has never ceased to absorb, fascinate and surprise me and I wish that you too, will experience the challenges, fast pace, and occasional exhilaration of the packaging machinery industry. And, yes, it has been a great adventure park-like ride complete with tension filled climbs up, coupled with breath-taking soars down. Always leaving one craving that next hairpin turn and stomach-dropping fast bump. Enjoy every moment. My best to all! Marge Bonura

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, June 20, 2016

Do You Give Your Employees Refresher Training?

From time to time everyone needs to have refresher training on the tasks they handle regularly. It is surprising sometimes to find out that an employee has been doing something incorrectly for a long time and no one has caught the mistake. Don’t assume that just because someone has been handling the same task for a year or more, that they have mastered the correct way of doing it. We all slip into habits that may or may not be correct. Schedule refresher training for each member of your staff at least once a year. If you can’t take several days to check and review everything all at once, then schedule one or two tasks a week that you will review with them until you have covered everything.

You, the employee and the company will benefit greatly from the refresher training. You’ll be surprised what you may uncover and the employee will appreciate that their supervisor took the time to assist them in polishing their skills.

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, June 13, 2016

How Do You Qualify Candidates for Employment?

When hiring to fill a position in your company, how do you qualify your candidates? Assuming that you first check that the candidates have the required skills, education and experience you are looking for, what else do you look for to determine the perfect fit? In our company we look for someone who will fit our corporate culture. To us it is important that the individuals we work with share our work ethics, values, and positive attitude. We know that we spend more waking hours with our co-workers than with our family and we want to surround ourselves with happy people who are eager to assist our company in succeeding and who embrace teamwork.

So next time you are interviewing a candidate for a position, look for someone whose attitude about work matches the corporate culture in your company. Take the time to question them about how they would handle different situations so you can get a feel for their nature. If their answers make you uncomfortable, better to pass on them for another candidate.

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.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Does Your Company Have Written Standard Operating Procedures?

One of the biggest problems when someone takes vacation time is finding someone to temporarily replace them. It takes more than just putting an extra person in the position as they also need to know what to do and how to do it, to properly cover for the vacationing employee. One of the best ways to resolve this issue is to make sure every employee has written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all the tasks they perform.

After you’ve taken the step of making sure the SOPs are all completed, make sure they are accurate and detailed enough. Have someone try to follow them to complete the tasks to see if they hit a place where they cannot go any further or are not sure how to proceed. Then make the necessary corrections to the SOPs and try it again until someone who doesn’t know the work, can satisfactorily complete it.

There is one final, important item to keep in mind and that is that the SOPs need to be reviewed and possibly updated at least once a year or sooner if you know you have made a change in a procedure. Once you have accurate SOPs for all your employees’ tasks, there shouldn’t be a noticeable affect if someone is out due to illness, vacation or leaves the company.

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.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

How Do You Keep Up With The Latest Technology?

The company I work for keeps in very close communication with all of our vendors. We particularly meet as often as possible with the vendors for our electronic components. Our vendors in turn make sure to inform us of any upcoming new technologies they have or will offer shortly. Our Engineers make time to meet with the vendors and learn all the features and benefits of the new products. When those products will in turn offer our customers a better solution, we immediately find a way to implement them into our machinery.

Our customers depend on us to offer them the latest and best solutions for their packaging lines. We accomplish that by keeping open communication with our vendors and encouraging them to contact us as soon as they learn of anything new. How does your company keep up with the latest technologies?

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, May 23, 2016

If You Want to Motivate Employees – Challenge Them!

I have read a lot of articles about how to motivate employees. Mostly they state that every individual is motivated by different things. Some employees are looking for recognition. For them, a pat on the back for something they have accomplished goes a long way. Other employees are looking to ‘move up the corporate ladder’, they want a clear path to success laid out for them. Some employees are looking for little perks such as ‘comp time’ or additional benefits. But it seems to me that there is one common denominator that will motivate all employees and that is to challenge them.

An employee cannot get complacent and bored if they are constantly being challenged. If you have a good employee you want to keep, make sure you continually find new ways to challenge them. Give them tasks that are outside their usual duties that require them to use skills they don’t normally need in the performance of their current position. Ask them to take on new projects and work on teams that will help the company to progress. You may find an employee who suddenly looks forward to coming to work each day to see what new challenges they can take on and feel pride in their new found abilities!

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, May 16, 2016

You Shouldn’t ‘Sell’ Packaging Machinery

The term ‘selling’ pertaining to packaging machinery is a misnomer. A production company does not need to be ‘sold’ packaging machinery. What they need is a solution to a production line requirement. If you are manufacturing packaging machinery, your sales personnel need to be consultants, not salespersons. You need to give them comprehensive training on the needs and requirements for production lines.

In today’s busy work environment, production line managers don’t have the time to meet with someone who wants to ‘sell’ them a product. All they truly have time for is someone who can help them improve their production processes with recommendations and solutions. Train your sales personnel to know the ins and outs of a production line, to be able to recognize areas of potential improvements. Even if those improvements do not include an item your company manufactures. Your customers will be grateful for the recommendations and your sales personnel will be the first one they call when they need additional help. Your salesperson/consultant will also be welcomed to come in just for a ‘visit’ even if the customer is not in immediate need of assistance.

So when looking to increase your sales dept., look to hire ‘consultants’ not ‘salespersons’.

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.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Be That Employee That Every Company Wants To Hire

Do you ever wonder why some individuals are recruited by other companies? Sometimes it’s just because they are currently in a position for which it is hard to find qualified applicants. But many times it is because that employee has gained a good reputation in the industry. Your business reputation should be especially important to you. It is the key to your future. Take care to develop it and continually improve it.

How do you do that? There are many factors that combine to create your business reputation. These include your proficiency at your job (the skills and quality of your work), your people skills (friendliness, approachability, generosity of time and knowledge), and your dedication to the company you work for/job loyalty (not a job hopper, don’t speak ill of the company and/or employees). Your actions every day in these areas are continually being judged by others around you. Like it or not, those judgements will be communicated to others in and outside the company. Over your work life people you may not even know will hear about you. You always want what they hear to be positive.

Those positive impressions make you a more valuable employee. A company will work hard to keep the valuable employees. Career opportunities are more plentiful to those with a good or great work reputation. So if you care about your career and your work future, strive every day to improve your work reputation. You are the one who will benefit the most from being the employee that every company wants to hire!

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, May 2, 2016

So You Feel You Deserve a Raise?

Do you feel that you have worked above and beyond the requirements of your position and should receive a raise? Maybe you should. The best way to approach the subject is to first get the information regarding the requirements of the position as they were when you first hired on. Make a comprehensive list of exactly the tasks that were described to you when you accepted the position for the set pay amount. Now make a second list of all the tasks that you are currently doing successfully that were not on the first list.

In some cases you may not have taken on new tasks, but have streamlined the original tasks. Maybe you have learned how to accomplish more in less time, thus saving the company money. Maybe the tasks are the same, but the work load has increased and you have managed to keep up with the increased workload. Make sure to include this information on your second list.

Once you have this completed, you have created a ‘case’ for requesting a pay increase. You now have documentation that supports your request for a pay raise. Finally, remember that in life, sometimes timing is everything. Make sure you request a date and time for a meeting with your boss when all is relatively quiet. Don’t pick a day when you know there is so much going on that he or she won’t have enough time to review your request. Present the facts in a professional manner without emotion and respectfully request that your boss consider increasing your compensation to match the extra value you have brought to the company. Remember, a company has to justify the money it spends. If you have not brought increased value to your position, then there is no justification to increase your pay. Good luck!

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, April 25, 2016

Inspecting & Rejecting Made Simple

The process of inspecting and rejecting product on a production line need not be complicated. New England Machinery (NEM) has several different solutions. The company can offer a small stand-alone inspection rejection station that can be pushed up to a production line conveyor and moved somewhere else at any time. They can also permanently attach it to an existing line where needed.

NEM offers various inspection methods as well as different means of rejection. There is no ‘one size fits all’ in the world of manufacturing. Every production line is different, every product and package is different, so the methodologies used to inspect and reject must be different.

If you are looking for a company with the expertise, skill and product offering to handle your inspection/rejection needs to your specific requirements, call New England Machinery first.

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, April 18, 2016

How Do You Promote Your Company?

How do you promote the company you work for? How do you get their message across to potential customers? The answer to this question will vary according to the product and/or service you sell and the type of customers you supply. In the packaging machinery industry we are selling B2B. However, if you sell to all types of production plants, you may be dealing with individuals whose background and position vary greatly. Our company sells to all the Fortune 100 companies as well as the small startups. So the person who will be purchasing our equipment may differ from the actual owner of the startup, to a production manager, plant manager, engineering manager, purchasing manager, or maintenance manager. Each of these individuals may use a different method to source the machinery they need.

Keep in mind the persons you deal with and the sources they use to spec machinery. In our case, we need to use many different forms of marketing to reach all the potential customers. We make sure that our marketing mix includes a lot of variety such as print advertising, trade shows, website, social media, cold calls, direct mailers, referrals, etc. If you deal with the general public and/or a young audience, you will need to have a heavy social media presence in the mix. So keep in mind your target audience when planning your promotional initiatives.

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, April 11, 2016

NEM Exhibits at ExpoPack Mexico 2016!

This year the Expo Pack Mexico 2016 show will be held in a new venue. It will be located for the first time at the new Expo Bancomer Santa Fe in Mexico City. New England Machinery (NEM) is pleased to be a part of that show. NEM will be located in booth #1618. We are bringing our most popular unscrambler model, the NEHCP-48.

The NEHCP-48 has a small, compact footprint for an unscrambler, but does a great job at sorting and standing containers on the production line at the fastest speeds in the industry. It offers a totally enclosed system that protects the product from airborne contamination. Equipped with a fully integrated hopper elevator, the NEHCP-48 can include an optional ionized air rinser.

To see this machine in action, make sure to stop by our booth #1618 at this year’s show!

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, April 4, 2016

Secondary Container Orienting – Having Options To Choose From

I’m always writing about how our company offers more than one solution to our customers. That’s because we do what our competitors can’t do. We have a talented team of design engineers who continually work on developing new designs and improving existing ones.

Take our secondary container orienters as an example. Our competitors may offer one or two different secondary orienters. New England Machinery has six different secondary orienters that are our standard designs. Every production plant is different and the products they run are different. One or two styles of secondary orienters would leave a lot of production plants without a viable option to meet their needs.

New England Machinery will have a secondary orienter model that will handle their containers at the speeds they need to run them. They won’t need to settle for something that might work, or work at slower speeds. With NEM, we will have the answer they are looking for.

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, March 28, 2016

What Keeps Customers Coming Back?

The company I work for (New England Machinery, NEM) has an extremely high rate of repeat customers. Many of our customers have standardized on our machinery in their plants. Why is that? It is a combination of several important factors.

First and foremost, we build high quality packaging machinery that we sell at a fair price. Our machines are built to last and they do. We have customers running NEM machines every day that are over thirty years old. They are highly valued on the secondary market because ‘they just don’t die’.

Second, we stand behind every machine we build. Before a machine ships from our plant it goes through a rigorous trial by various departments and individuals. Our ‘inside FAT team’ must each sign off that they have seen the machine running and checked that it meets all the criteria required by the customer. Our President will ask the builder/tuner if he or she would sell that machine to their mother. We won’t ship until it’s completely right, because mostly right isn’t really right at all.

Thirdly, we offer superior after-market sales and service. Many of our customers will take the time to tell us how much they ‘love’ our sales and service personnel. Our after-market employees take their customer’s needs to heart and make every effort to get them what they need as quickly as they can. If they have a problem with a machine, they will get everyone who might possibly help involved to resolve the issue and determine the root cause so the problem can be permanently corrected.

I’m proud to work for a team of individuals who call ourselves New England Machinery. That is what keeps our customers coming back.

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, March 21, 2016

Placing Lids on Containers

The next time you are in a grocery store look to see how many different types of snap on lids you can find on the products. You’ll be surprised at the wide variety of types and sizes available. With that many different types of lids and containers, it makes sense that there should be a variety of machines to sort, orient and securely place the lids on the containers. However, not every lidding machinery manufacturer has numerous models to choose from.

New England Machinery’s (NEM) design engineers have recognized the need to sort different style lids utilizing different methodologies. NEM also realized that the function of securing the lid to the container will entail various requirements, thus have designed several models of machines to accomplish the ends to those scenarios.

If you are in need of a lidding machine for one of your projects, contact NEM to learn more about the different options that NEM has to offer. Don’t settle for a solution that may not be the right answer to your 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, March 14, 2016

The Importance of References

Do you check references when you hire a new employee or before you give a Purchase Order to a new vendor? Checking references is an important part of the process of making a good decision. Ask the potential candidate or new vendor to give you names and phone numbers of individuals you can speak with about them.

Before you place your first call, make up a short list of questions to ask. Keep them short and to the point. Remember that the person you are speaking with is busy and doing a favor by taking the time to talk to you, so be prepared and be brief. But don’t forget to ask the most important question of all. If it is for a potential employee, ask the reference if they would hire them (or hire them back). If it is for a new vendor, ask if they recommend you to do business with the firm.

The best result of checking references is that it will confirm your decision to hire the employee or use the new vendor. But just as important, if you get a reference that speaks poorly about the individual or company, then steer clear and look elsewhere.

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, March 7, 2016

It’s Not the ‘Luck of the Irish’ or March Madness That Makes NEM So Good

We at New England Machinery are the first to realize that what makes our company great cannot be attributed to ‘luck’. It is a result of hard work and caring employees. We are fortunate to be working for a great company that is growing in leaps and bounds, but we recognize that the growth is a result of the hard work and dedication of each and every employee. We love what we do and take pride in our work. We give 100% all of the time.

If you want to work for a great company, you need to be a great employee. Let your actions, hard work and dedication be an inspiration to the others around you. Once it catches on, there is no stopping the amazing things a company can accomplish. Be the start of something great where you work!

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, February 29, 2016

New England Machinery’s 2016 Trade Show Schedule

We are looking forward to seeing all of our customers at the packaging machinery trade shows in 2016. May 17-20 we will be exhibiting in stand #1618 in the all new Expo Bancomer Santa Fe, Mexico City. The Expo Pack Mexico show will be held there this year in May as opposed to holding it in June at Centro Banamex. We look forward to the new venue and seeing all of our Mexican customers!

In November we will be exhibiting at the co-located Pack Expo International and Pharma Expo shows in McCormick Place in Chicago. We will be in booth #2422 in the South Hall at the Pack Expo International show and in booth #906 at the Pharma Expo show. Make a point to visit us at either or both locations. We look forward to seeing you there!

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.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

NEM Introduces Its Product Guide

New England Machinery has compiled a new Product Guide. The guide is a complete listing of all NEM products broken out by category. Each product line has its own section that gives a general description of the products included. Inside, the sections break down the individual models and outlines their capabilities.

The new Products Guide is a great resource for learning more about all the various NEM machines. For a copy of the Product Guide visit our website at: www.neminc.com or for a hard copy call us at (941) 755-5550.

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, February 15, 2016

How Do You Hire for Success?

One of the most important decisions you can make in business is to hire the right individuals. The company you work for is nothing without the individuals who do the work and create the product and/or services you sell. The employees are the heart of the company and the soul that keeps it alive. So it is vitally important that you make the right decisions when hiring new ones. Don’t be fooled by someone who sounds impressive, but has a resume that can’t back it up. You want to hire someone whose experience matches your needs. But beware, the truly important factor in hiring is ‘attitude’. You can train a smart person to do almost everything. But you can’t train attitude.

A ‘can do’ attitude can overcome a lot of missing experience. Look to hire individuals who are excited about the possibility of going to work for your company. They will bring a breath of fresh air into the workplace. Keep in mind that if they are ambivalent in the interview, they won’t suddenly get all excited about your company on the first day. So if you find an individual that is somewhat lacking in experience, but has a really positive attitude, you can train them on what they don’t know, and you will have a great employee who will really appreciate your confidence in giving them the chance.

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, February 8, 2016

How Do Your Customers Love You?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous sonnet begins “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” With Valentine’s Day upon us, it comes as a good time to ask how do your customers love you? Do they rave about your products, service, attentiveness? Can you give examples of how they have communicated their love of your company?

Well here are ‘the ways’, let’s count them: 1. If you are doing your job right, your customers should be writing to you about what they like and how happy they are with your company and/or products and services. 2. They should be willing to be used as a reference for your company. 3. They should be giving you names of other companies that could benefit from your products and/or services. And, finally, 5. They should be talking about your company in a positive manner to everyone and anyone who will listen. These are ‘the ways’ that your customers can tell you how they love you.

If you aren’t ‘feeling the love’ from your customers it is time to up your game and turn your customers into your best sales team. If you can’t count at least the above five ways that your customers show you how much they love you, you need to re-commit to your customer satisfaction relationship.

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, February 1, 2016

Advantage - NEM

It was recently brought to our attention that with all of our products and innovation, our greatest competitive advantage is the versatility of our machines. Dating back to the origins of NEM, our ‘better method’ has always included the ability to handle a wide variety of container shapes and sizes. Our customers can’t always invest in separate machines to run numerous production lines. They need machines that can easily and quickly change over to different products and different containers and/or caps. We are often told that other machines have a limited range of the sizes, shapes and styles of containers they can handle.

The versatility of NEM machines is unsurpassed. Frequently, when faced with an unusual range of containers, or new shapes and sizes, we have a standard model that will work. Other times, we can make some minor design changes that makes it happen for the customer. This underscores another of NEM’s competitive advantages and our core competency, our full Engineering Dept.

NEM was founded by packaging engineers and continues to invest heavily in R&D to be a true leader in the packaging machinery industry. Our team reviews our customers’ needs and determines exactly what will be the right machine for their specific application. We don’t try to sell a ‘one machine fits all applications’ solution. Because, quite frankly, it doesn’t work and it’s not what’s best for the customer. And don’t let anyone tell you that our machines are too complicated because of their versatility. The beauty of our versatility is what keeps our customers coming back again and again for more machines. It’s not complicated, it’s easy and flexible and we would be more than happy to show you how easy it is to be versatile. We can’t promise to ‘do it all’, but we can promise to do more than our competition. Which is why so many companies have standardized on NEM machinery.

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, January 25, 2016

A Solution for Companies Using HPP (High Pressure Processing)

HPP, high pressure processing is growing in popularity. It is an effective means for destroying harmful microbes and bacteria without the use of heat. It allows food processors an alternative to heat pasteurization. The method requires the filled and capped product to be placed into high pressure chambers that are filled with a fluid and pressurized. At the end of the pressurization, the product (usually plastic bottles) is re-introduced to the production line. Currently, there is only one company that offers a means to effectively re-introduce the product without the use of human labor. That company is New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM).

NEM is known for their packaging machinery engineering prowess. They have developed a machine that will automate the integration of the plastic bottles back into the production line. If you are considering HPP to destroy the harmful microbes and bacteria without destroying beneficial vitamins, minerals and flavor, you need to learn more about how NEM can help in your production line. Call us today at (941) 755-5550.

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, January 18, 2016

Your Company’s Values & Ethics Start With You

If you want to work for a company that deals honestly and ethically with everyone, it has to start with you. Look at the manner at which you approach your work, duties, and responsibilities. Are you always giving 100%? Do you cut corners occasionally? Do you overlook things because it is easier than correcting them? Do you spend company time on personal matters (such as surfing the internet)? It is easy to make excuses for what seems like a minor thing. However, if you add up each and every minor infraction and times it by the number of employees in the company, it is suddenly a ‘big thing’.

The ethics and values of a company must be practiced by every employee, every minute of every day. If you want your company to be a company you can be proud to work at, become an employee that reflects that attitude in all you do, all day long. Make 2016 the year for improving your own personal performance. If we all improve by just 10%, collectively our companies will improve exponentially, and we will all benefit as a result.

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, January 11, 2016

Make Your Travel Plans Now for Open House 2016!

The Tampa Bay Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Open House is coming soon. February 22-26, 2016 is the week we will all open our doors for tours of our facilities. Make your reservations now to travel to the Tampa Bay, Florida area to see over a dozen different packaging machinery manufacturers. You can visit the manufacturing plants of unscramblers, cappers, orienters, lidders, pump placers, fillers, labelers, case packers, form, fill and seal machines, check weighers and more! The plants are all located in the Tampa Bay area within a one hour’s drive of each other.

New England Machinery, Inc. is proud to be a part of this great opportunity. Our plant will be open for visitors to see us in action building the best machines for your packaging lines. February is the ‘busy’ tourist season in Florida, so don’t wait to make your reservations. Call us at (941) 755-5550 for information on local accommodations and attractions. Or visit our website at www.neminc.com for a copy of our Visitor’s Guide. For more information on the other companies involved in the Open House week visit www.tampabaypackaging.com

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.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Welcome to 2016!

We hope you are as excited about the start of a new year of opportunities as we are. We have great plans for 2016. Have you plotted out your new year and determined what changes you want to make and challenges you want to surmount? If not, it’s not too late to do it now.

2016 can be a banner year for your company, but it will require planning to get it right. Put a plan in place and then start right in on the execution. Don’t wait until you ‘have more time’ to work on this. You will never ‘find the time’, you have to make the time. There is no obstacle you cannot overcome if you are determined to do so. Some obstacles just take more creative methods to resolve. So start off 2016 by being proactive and creative and shake up something wonderful for your business.

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.