Top 3 Holiday Gifts For Your Operation

Not everyone is a fan of the holidays like I am. I absolutely LOVE this time of year…the lights, trees, snow, and PRESENTS! I love both giving and receiving gifts this time of the year. I always say that I will cut back and not spend so much, but it fills my cup. I also like nice things, so I like to buy nice things in return for others. I hate to admit that I’m a bit of a brand snob, I’ve got champagne taste on a beer budget for sure. I keep thinking about what’s on my Christmas list and if I get anything from my favorite brands, I’m going to be thrilled! 

It got me thinking, what do our customers wish for? If I were a plant manager and had to build out the perfect Christmas list for my operation, what would that look like? What are the top 3 things that I’d want my operation to be gifted this year?

#1 Training & Education

Flashback to Christmas past when all the “cool kids” received educational toys, such as:

• Simon - memory retention
• Tamagotchi - life skills to keep virtual pets alive (hard to do when your teacher wouldn’t let you water and feed it during class)
• Alphie  the robot- teaches letters and numbers
• Vtech Talking Whiz Kid - “laptop” featuring spelling bees and games focusing on language arts and math

Kudos to their parents for sneaking in some education in the form of a highly sought-after gadget. We try to make learning fun and interesting as well. This holiday season, you can make your operation cleaner, safer, and more productive by giving your employees the proper industry training and education.

Don’t take it from me, here are a few quotes from past attendees:

• Lots of good, common sense suggestions to help contain dust and material. Should be required for anyone designing conveyor systems.
• The presentation was very clear. Lots of good examples of how to apply the concepts to real-world applications.
• The fundamentals of belt mistracking were covered in detail. So many relatively simple corrective actions to take that my operations and maintenance teams struggle with. Thanks for the education!
• Always amazingly informative. And you found the perfect webinar time frame. The 45-minute window is the sweet spot of being engaged in this format and not board. well done to the whole team.

This training heavily focuses on safety around conveyor belts and could help save lives. New hires and seasoned employees can be naive about the risks or become complacent over time. Returning home at the end of the day should be the #1 goal. We offer several different formats (in-person, webinars, in-house at your facility, etc.)  to suit busy schedules. Back to educational games…I wish I had industry/safety training before playing the Oregon Trail so I could have survived the journey without ailing to a snakebite, leaving my poor husband to forge ahead in pioneer life alone. 

#2 Reliable Products

How to decide? This gives me flashbacks to circling ALL the toys in the toy catalog. Maybe a .  Definitely solutions. A - make that two! A few . And, sound fun - you can’t go wrong with toys that make noise. The innovative makes the list for sure - the gift that keeps on giving:

• Allows for remote monitoring of the belt cleaner blade
• Indicates remaining blade life
• Notifies when re-tensioning or replacement is required

#3 Superior Performance & Service

Have you ever received a Christmas gift that didn’t work? You unwrap that big ticket item you BEGGED for, plug it in, and nothing happens. I can still picture that Easy-Bake Oven…so nice, so new, so ready to make my parents an amazing dessert. And, the piece of junk didn’t work! Oh, and it’s Christmas so the store isn’t open to return it. Being a kid disappointed with a broken, brand-new toy is one thing but now that I’m a parent myself, I can't imagine the hours of complaining my parents endured until we were able to return the item for a new one. Bah humbug! I can’t help but think they wondered if the store was going to make it right and replace it promptly. Did they have the receipt, was the return within the specified time frame, would it be in stock, etc? All of that reflects on the store and how it serves its customers. As an adult, you’ve come to expect good customer service, and you should. And, not just for your Christmas gifts but for your operation too. 

I wish everyone a safe and prosperous holiday season and new year. Keep us in mind as you are making your wish list...I have to go add more to mine! I told you...big fan of giving and receiving!