USA Attachments Is The Place To Buy Construction Equipment Attachments

USA Attachments of King, NC makes attachments for heavy equipment. They make attachments for mini equipment as well.

A few years ago, GHC highlighted USA Attachments as a business that was a notable company. People at USA Attachments didn't realize it but, they had to meet certain levels of criteria in order to be referred to as notable. The businesses are expected to have good response time to the initial inquiry, offer information, meet product specifications and meet projected lead times for successful delivery. USA Attachments not only met those expectations, they exceeded them.

USA Attachments makes attachments for excavators and backhoes. They make dozer rakes, snow plows, hay forks and tree booms. You need a bucket for a piece of equipment? USA Attachments is the place to call.  If they don't have it, they will make it and their quality is unsurpassed. What more could you need? 

Located at 105 Industrial Drive, King, NC 27021, you can contact USA Attachments Inc. at 1-800-870-3610 through Facebook at USA Attachments on Twitter @excavator.   I don't say it about all but, this company will not disappoint you. 

Georgianna Hardware Corporation

Amazon Is Getting Things Done

Amazon is now offering Home Service in major cities throughout the country!  This is an exciting opportunity for contractors to offer their professional services to customers.

You can apply to be a pro with Amazon but do keep in mind that their web site states that they "only invite pros who have a strong track record of service and quality".  

Let's face it, Amazon guarantees the work so they are not interested in

 offering services that will leave their customer unhappy.

Amazon also requires all pros to maintain necessary insurance and trade licenses.

I can see a lot of possibilities for small businesses to connect with larger companies and

construction companies to find excellent, skilled workers as sub-contractors. 

Win, win opportunities are the best!

You can apply to Amazon Home Services here.  

There are no up-front costs and no lead fees.

Since the professional services are only offered by invitation you can be sure 

you are competing with top-rated professionals in your area.    

Georgianna Hardware Corporation

Chu's Packaging Supplies

Some time during the last few weeks my news feed changed and I missed the update that Chu's Packaging Supplies made to their web site.

They still have the really nice custom printed tape but they have added a few new products to their line.  I especially like the Tamper Evident Security Tape.

Chu's Packaging also has tape for construction purposes.  They supply drywall tape, asbestos warning tape and caution tape.

If you're moving, Chu's Packaging has moving pads and dollies.

Safety is not overlooked by Chu's Packaging Supplies.  Whatever service industry that you are in that requires coveralls, lab coats, aprons or shoe covers Chu's Packaging has those available too.

For over 25 years Chu's Packaging Supplies  has served their customers.  You will be happy to do business with them.

Social Media Tip

I do not claim to be the best person at using social media.  If you only heard the criticism that I receive on a daily basis you would probably laugh at me too!  I have to give it to people though because there is nothing that I love more than a good laugh but sometimes I would rather not be the brunt of the joke. Better me than you.  I was very young when I learned that if you can't take it, don't dish it out.  I love to dish it out!

One of my jobs today was to research keywords.  I haven't been hit with the comments yet on this but I did find this nice, free keyword tool.  I haven't run experiments with it and I doubt that I will use the 750 words that they offered but I still feel strong about social media being on the rise and I don't think it will hurt to get more creative when you are making posts.  Mind you, I don't pay for the service offered and I cannot say that I endorse it.  I was amazed that there are over 750 terms to use to promote construction.

On a side note, it appears that the "Labels" or keywords for this blog are limited to 200 characters. Darn it! I only had about forty more words to enter.

Just wanted to get this out there for you so that you can try it out for yourself.

Georgianna Hardware Corporation  

Resume Help for New Job Seekers

I've posted a new page on the web site for job seekers that are either new to the job market or returning to the job market after an extended period of time.  This page is not really directed at those in upper management.  

I've been hearing a lot from people that want to get a job but feel they cannot meet the requirements so they do not apply.  I think these people have more skills and talent than they give themselves credit for.  

If you know of someone that may be in a rut, please share the link to Resume Help for New Job Seekers.  

Back to Lean Management

Once again, we are back to practicing lean management!  We would guess that your business already has a program in line to use for lean management but perhaps it would be a good idea to try a different approach and incorporate something a little different. Lean manufacturing optimizes processes and eliminates waste.  This helps cut costs and taking a few hours to inspect a situation more closely can also enhance safety of an operation.

People are constantly trying to make sense of the world the live in.  They form opinions about every interaction and situation they experience.  It is only logical to find that when two people stand in different locations they see things differently and though each has a point of view no two are ever quite the same.
 
We at GHC use the Takt Time formula: available production time / customer demand per day.  The variables can easily be modified and we admit that we quickly learned that activities that do not contribute need to be eliminated as these non-value added steps are a waste.  

Large facilities will prefer to use something that is more sophisticated such as the Six Sigma program.  Six Sigma is a set of techniques developed by Motorola in 1985.  Motorola determined that processes vary over time but the company had years of data that they had collected.  The formula for Six Sigma is:
     Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO) = ((Total Defects) / (Total Opportunities)) per million
     Defects (%) = ((Total Defect) / (Total Opportunities)) per 100
     Yield (%) = 100 - (Defect Percentage)
     process Sigma = NORMSINV (1-((Total Defects) / (Total Opportunities))) +1.5

Six Sigma works great when long term information is available to work with but GHC is small and doesn't mass produce anything.

The whole idea of Lean Management is simple and can be applied to any situation.  First, identify the waste. Second, analyze the waste and find the cause of the problem.  Third, correct the cause problem.  Repeat each month or every ten working days.

Both techniques mentioned above are proven solutions for fixing waste within an organization.  Benefits of a company's effort include increase in productivity, reduced space requirements, and improvements in quality.
Visit our This Matters page and find more ideas.   

DRI DUCK

I was cleaning up tonight and picked up a jacket that my husband had worn.  As I walked to the closet to hang it I could not help but to notice the weight and the nice construction of the garment.  Gosh, I must have really been concerned about his warmth when I bought this, I thought!  I looked to see where it was made.  China.  Aaargh.  You know how I feel about this, but something made me look into DRI DUCK farther.  

DRI DUCK has their corporate headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas and a distribution center about five miles down the road in Lenexa, Kansas.  Another story of companies having to send work overseas in order to keep costs under control.  

We published a link on our site for DRI DUCK coveralls at 60% off.  Stop in and get yourself  a pair! www.georgiannahardwarecorporation.com

State of the Union

It seems that the State of the Union is pretty much status quo.  From what I can tell, our government is too afraid to take real action.  Instead our officials are going to talk about it and take some time to think about it. This means we at GHC need to push extra hard to keep sharing information that will help you and other Americans achieve greater success.  

Back when we first started our business we featured toys that we made in America by Melissa and Doug.  I guess that most of us have always wanted to drive a big truck or a loader and fell in love with the thought back when we were children.  Melissa and Doug give children that opportunity and it is great to see that their small company has grown over these few years to a business that simply wows us.   Your business can do that too!  

Remember, we investigate everything that we publish on our website so that you save time and can get the job done.  Visit Georgianna Hardware Corporation to see what is new.

Believe in History

I believe that we are all in the process of making history. Each of us that are pushing for the betterment of America are doing something important that will be remembered for a long time. Once again I turned to history to help me put things into proper perspective and I found an interesting publication, Technology and the Human Dimension. 

The publication is a transcript of an interview conducted by Hal Bowser with Dr. Elting E. Morison of MIT.  The comments made by Dr. Morison during the interview offer the reader a new perspective on science, sociology, and technology.  I think you will find it's worth taking the time to read. 

Elting Morison died in 1995 but there are many people working at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that are doing important things and in the process of making history. 

November Update

Who would have guessed that OSHA would have been included in our final update to our November Notables page?  Yesterday's blog was entitled, December 15th Brings New Regulations for Residential Builders.  The more research we did the more we found that this is not something to be ignored.  Though we didn't find that there were additional OSHA inspectors we did find that citations and fines for lack of fall protection had been issued within the last three months.  Some of these fines were substantial.  Please visit our November 2012  to confirm that you are prepared for the newest OSHA regulations.  

Georgianna Hardware Corporation

On the BIM Soapbox Again!

It happened again.  Two days ago I was rambling on about BIM and VDC software and now it's back in the news.  Contractors using BIM are actually outnumbering the architects that are using it!  Usage of BIM software has increased from 49% in 2009 to 71% in 2012.

It's no wonder that the software is getting so much attention.  The advantages include improved collaboration, predictability, and faster delivery.  Using BIM software also increases safety and reduces waste.  You have to love these win-win scenarios.

GRAPHISOFT is offering free sessions at the Ecobuild America conference in Washington DC on December 5 and 6, 2012.  Visit http://www.aececobuild.com/registration and enter Priority Code SPK12 to receive a free tech user session and other benefits.  (Ref. to GRAPHISOFT offer http://www.marketwatch.com/story/graphisoft-educational-user-sessions-at-ecobuild-america-highlight-open-bim-and-green-building-2012-10-16 )

If you're involved in construction in the slightest way, please take a moment to check out our October 2012 page for a brief overview.  At the very least you can nod and smile when BIM comes up in conversation!  

BIM and VDC Software

I read an article tonight about BIM (Building Information Modeling) and VDC (Virtual Design Construction) that left me wondering why the construction industry has been slow to incorporate the construction modeling software into their business as a standard. I have to agree that the cost and the learning curve, which I see as nothing other than cost, are the root of the problem.

There are many corporations that talk about progress and being open minded to new ideas and since I didn't know much about BIM I started to research it. Come to find out we have already used some of the free software from Google, SketchUp, in our business!  We also made reference to Google Sketchup in September when we highlighted the capabilities of 3D printers. I'll admit, we used Sketchup for 2D graphics and I am still learning to use the software after more than a year but that should not deter anyone.

When I went on the search to find construction companies that use the BIM and VDC software I was able to find a few companies that show very impressive results by using the software that has been around for at least three years. It all makes sense. Improved communication of the design, build, and cost would surely streamline any operation. It's a matter of discipline and commitment to implementing the change of routine.

I appeal to two sectors of business, construction and technology. First, construction companies need to be more accepting of technology and recognize that it might actually make the job easier. Second, software companies need to be recognize that their products need to be user friendly and they do have a place in the construction industry.  I realize that these changes will mean companies will incur a cost, but increased revenue appears to be the final result.

Visit Georgianna Hardware Corporation to learn more about the BIM and VDC software that we found.