Friday, June 7, 2019
ASSOCIATION NEWS
WMA Welcomes New Members
WMA Welcomes Brand Vaugan Lumber Co., Inc. as a new Distributor Member and Machine Tool Camp LLC as a new Associate Member. Read more
MEMBER NEWS
WMA Members Call to Action!
National Labor Unions Pressure Iowa 3rd Congressional District
WMA Members in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District (Des Moines and Southwest) are encouraged to contact their Member of Congress (Cindy Axne) on a time sensitive labor bill. National labor unions are pressuring Congresswoman Axne (D-IA) to co-sponsor H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and the Congresswoman is looking for feedback from businesses in the district. Read more
Woodworking Network Features Powell Valley Millwork
Powell Valley Millwork in Clay City, Kentucky, is not your typical millwork company. In the first place, it is dedicated to working with only one species of wood: poplar. Read more at Woodworking Network
Glenbrook Announces Two Lettings at Liverpool Docklands Development
Door and window manufacturer ODL Europe and Bootle Containers are between them taking 37,000 sq ft of industrial space in Baltic Road. Read more at LBN Daily
INDUSTRY NEWS
Canada Appeals WTO Ruling on U.S. Lumber Duties
Canada has appealed against a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruling in a case it lost in April that would allow the United States to use “zeroing” to calculate anti-dumping tariffs on lumber, a WTO official said on Wednesday. Read more at Reuters
New Home Building Geography Index Shows Single-Family Growth Limited to Exurbs
In a sign that housing affordability is becoming a growing issue nationwide, as of the first quarter of 2019 exurbs were the only region that registered single-family permit growth on a year-over-year basis. Read more at LBM Journal
Strong Economy Supports Remodeling Amid Slow Housing Turnover, RRI Finds
Big-ticket residential remodeling activity nationwide in the first quarter of 2019 rose 4.1% year over year (YOY), Metrostudy announced in its release of the latest Residential Remodeling Index (RRI). The index reached a new high of 117.5 in the first quarter, a 0.7% increase from the fourth quarter of 2018. Read more at Remodeling
Pending Home Sales Trail in April
Pending home sales declined in April, a modest change from the growth seen a month before, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only one of the four major regions – the Midwest – experienced growth, while the remaining three regions reported a drop in their respective contract activity. Read more at LBM Journal
ECONOMIC NEWS
The Fed is ‘Indicating That a Rate Cut is Coming,’ Says Former Central Banker
The U.S. Federal Reserve has sent a “very strong signal” that it’s ready to consider cutting interest rates, according to a former Fed governor. Read more at CNBC
10-Year Treasury Bond Yields Fall to Lowest Rates Since August 2017
Slowing global growth and ongoing trade policy uncertainties pushed interest rates lower last week, with yields on 10-year Treasury bonds falling to 2.13 percent on Friday, the lowest rate since August 2017. Read more at NAM
GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Trump Unveils Up to 25% Tariffs on All Mexican Imports
The Trump administration will enact a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports on June 10 that will incrementally increase to 25% in October. President Donald Trump says the tariffs will remain until Mexico’s government curbs the number of people entering the US illegally. Read more at Reuters
CODES AND STANDARDS NEWS
No Move To Tighten Building Codes As Hurricane Season Starts In Florida
On Florida’s panhandle, communities are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Michael and many are uneasy about the beginning of another hurricane season. Michael was a category 5 hurricane with 160-mile-per-hour winds that shredded thousands of houses in Panama City and surrounding areas. It’s an area that’s long had some of Florida’s weakest building codes. Read more at WJCT
Can Building Codes be Copyrighted?
Startup UpCodes has created a free, searchable database of building codes, and the company is at the center of a lawsuit by the International Codes Council. The ICC writes the most widely used building codes in the United States, and they claim they have copyright over the codes and require a license fee for their use. Read more at ArchDaily
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
How Distributors Can Leverage Their Unstructured Data
According to blogger Earl van As of Conexiom, distributors should use a combination of structured and unstructured data to analyze customer behaviors and reduce inefficiencies. “Unstructured data are capable of deciphering customer information, including purchasing habits, peak order times, order sizes and inefficient business operations,” he writes. Read more at Modern Distribution Management
How AR Could Offer a Glimpse Into The Mind of a Robot
The subject of machine automation naturally raises a number of questions for those that work side by side with mechanical leviathans: how can humans understand what a robot is about to do next, and be sure that it will not accidentally cause harm? Read more at Automotive World
SAFETY NEWS
There’s Still Time to “Take 3 in 30”
Management leadership is a core element of a workplace safety and health program. Accelerate your program and show your commitment in your workplace. Take 3 in 30! Read more
Using IoT to Put Safety Data into Workers Hands
When workers are responsible for safety and need to carry out procedures that ensure a safe working environment and recommendations on how to improve safety are not acted upon, it’s possible to tap into that disconnect and create accountability and transparency through a digital platform. Read more Industry Week
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
How to Design a Disaster Recovery System
David Linthicum offers a three-step process for designing a disaster recovery system in the cloud: determining what needs to be backed up, writing a macro playbook that explains necessary activities and how often they should be done, and selecting one or two solutions that can meet those needs. Read more at InfoWorld
Sales Reps Must be Quick to Disqualify Buyers
Sales representatives should be taught to disqualify prospects as soon as they realize that a deal isn’t going to happen, writes Tom Williams. Sales managers should encourage reps to disqualify buyers promptly in order to free up time for working with more promising buyers, Williams writes. Read more at Sales Hacker
5 Strategies to Improve Warehouse Workflow
E-commerce is imposing greater demands on warehouse operations. Adam Robinson, a marketing strategist for Cerasis, recommends five ways to speed workflow, beginning with continuous training. Read more at Cerasis Blog
Why Manufacturing-as-a-Service is an Opportunity for Distributors
As distributors transition to a business model dominated by services, there is a growing realization that suppliers are customers too. Distributors must offer a compelling vision of how to revitalize the value chain in response to disruptive threats. The key to success is not to merely replace today’s arrangements with a new approach, but to identify strategic problems and opportunities for manufacturers. The best ideas may be solutions that suppliers haven’t identified themselves. Read more at NAW
PODCASTS AND WEBINARS
Podcast: Transitioning the Family Business with Marshall Jones, The Distribution Team
Jason Bader catches up with Marshall Jones, former owner of Marco Supply Company. They cover a lot of ground from life in and out of the family business to the merits of various talent assessment methods. And, if you’ve got kids of your own in the family business, you’ll want to hear Marshall’s views on sending them to gain experience elsewhere. Listen to at The Distribution Team
