Small Business e-Report

October 15, 2001

Welcome to the INDA Small Business e-Report. This monthly e-publication provides INDA members with insight and advice on operating a successful small business in today's nonwovens industry.

IN THIS ISSUE …

GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL: IS IT POSSIBLE?
As the tragic events of September 11 give way to an increasingly insecure and unsure world, companies in all industries are faced with the daunting challenge of going about their business while taking into account the Scared New World we all live in. Almost everyone knows someone directly impacted by the World Trade Center or Pentagon bombings, and in a manufacturing-driven business such as nonwovens there's a good chance people in your plants will be personally touched by any military action.

Everyone has different ways of dealing with the new reality of our personal lives and of our work places, but there are some things companies can do to facilitate a return to a semblance of normalcy.

  1. Promote individual expression. Everyone copes in different ways and many people need the comfort of others to help them through. Allow for that, either through on-site counseling, religious services or even just more break time to allow people to be together.
  2. Work as therapy. It may sound a little crass, but it isn't. Promote the fact that working is good for you and shows the terrorists they didn't stop us.
  3. Share. In an unsure world, rumors spread even more quickly. So be more open about how your company is doing, how it has been affected by recent events, and what you have planned to help survive in the uncertain times ahead.
  4. Contribute. At the very least you should promote fund raising efforts at work. Even better, your company should match any employee contributions, either through a one-time fundraiser or on an on-going basis.
  5. Free time. Grant employees a paid day of absence so they can volunteer for community efforts. Everyone benefits in the long run.
  6. Hold a service. Even though September 11 is more than a month past, organizing a service or dedicating a memorial connects individuals and your company with the country.
  7. Promote routine. People like routine. So trust the work as therapy concept mentioned above but be willing to make concessions that allow people to cope in their own way. We are all in this together.

HOW TO PROSPER IN A CHANGING LABOR MARKET
Even before the events of September 11, there has been a distinct change in employee attitudes towards work. More value placed on free time, a growing number of working parents and an aging workforce are all factors contributing to this change. John Izzo, co-author of a book called "Values Shift: The New Work Ethic and What It Means To Business," offered the following tips during a speech at the recent Inc 500 conference for small businesses.

NONWOVENS INDUSTRY RANKS TOP ROLL GOODS PRODUCERS
Your company may not be one of the 40 largest producers of nonwovens fabrics in the world YET, but now at least you can know who those Big Boys are, thanks to the new annual ranking of the Top 40 Nonwovens Roll Goods Producers published in the September issue of Nonwovens Industry magazine. The constantly changing list certainly reflects the evolving nature of the business as it provides a glimpse at the marketing and production plans for the leading suppliers of nonwoven roll goods in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Without giving away too much of the list, here's the Top 10: Freudenberg, DuPont, BBA, PGI, Kimberly-Clark, Johns Manville, Ahlstrom, Japan Vilene, Buckeye Technologies and Colbond. Check out the September issue or log onto www.nonwovens-industry.com for more and then take aim at getting your company on that list.

INDA WELCOMES A HOST OF NEW MEMBERS
We like to use the Small Business e-Report to officially welcome new INDA members to the team. This issue we welcome:

* American & Efird, Inc. - thread manufacturers who are also exhibiting at the Filtration 2001 in Chicago in December for the first time.
* BF Perkins/Roehlen Engraving - BF Perkins, together with Roehlen Engraving, supplies calendering and embossing machinery and rolls and also has engraving capabilities.
* Daikin America, Inc. - Daikin America is a roll goods producer of fluoropolymer products used for topical treatments.
* Hyosung (America), Inc. - Hyosung is a producer of elastomeric fibers used in diapers and medical products.
* I.N.C. Corporation Pty Ltd. - I.N.C. is INDA's first Australian member company! They are manufacturer's reps for 3-D nonwoven through air bonded fabrics, acoustic and thermal insulation materials, filtration media, thermo-formable materials, PET, PP, PA, Meta-aramid, para-aramid, Basofil, fibers; automated fiber opening and blending, carding, Struto vertical lapping, thermal bonding; lamination and coating, pressure sensitive adhesives, die cutting and CAD/CAM cutting.

DC REPORT: GOOD NEWS ON OSHA RECORDKEEPING FOR SOME
From Peter Mayberry in INDA's Washington, D.C. office: About 180,000 firms that have long been exempt from federal injury and illness record-keeping requirements will have to comply when a new rule goes into effect January 1, but 120,000 other firms will no longer have to keep these records. According to an OSHA spokesman, about 80% of the six million establishments covered by OSHA regulations will not have to keep records of injuries and illnesses, though there are some exceptions.

Those firms that experience fatalities or "multiple" injuries and illnesses resulting in hospitalization of workers would have to comply. Also, those firms that receive the annual OSHA survey of injuries and illnesses - which the agency uses to target high-hazard sites for inspection - also would have to comply. Firms that will have to maintain the OSHA logs under the revised rule include dry cleaning establishments, janitorial services, personnel services, and auto supply stores.

FINALISTS BEING DETERMINED FOR INAUGURAL VISIONARY AWARDS
Was your company one of the two dozen nominated for consideration as a finalist for the inaugural INDA Visionary Award, which are being presented at the Vision 2002 Consumer Products Conference in New Orleans in January (see below)? The nominees for the Visionary Award, which will recognize the best new consumer end products that utilize nonwoven technology, have been submitted to a special INDA Selection Committee for consideration, and five finalists will be invited to the Vision 2002 Conference to make a presentation. Conference attendees will then have the chance to vote on the winner.

INDUSTRY MEETINGS UPDATE
Nov. 6-8: 11th Annual TANDEC Nonwovens Conference, University of Tennessee Conference Center, Knoxville, TN. For information: http://web.utk.edu/~tancon/.

December 4-6: Filtration 2001 International Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL.

January 21-23, 2002: INDA Vision 2002 Consumer Products Conference, New Orleans, LA.

March 19-21, 2002: Needlepunch 2002 Conference, Greenville, SC.

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS
That's it for this month. Our best wishes to all companies and individuals coping in these challenging times. The INDA Small Business e-Report will come to you again November 15. In the meantime, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at mjacobsen@inda.org to let us know how you are getting along.

See you in November. Enjoy.

Michael Jacobsen
Editor
INDA Small Business e-Report

If you would like to have your name removed from this e-mail list please respond to Ann Pleasants at apleasants@inda.org. Thanks.

e-News Index

 

© 1997-2010 INDA - All Rights Reserved.