MFGx Blog

Another Online Collaboration Tool For Manufacturers - Clavardon

aj — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:07:06 GMT

Clavardon (www.clavardon.com) is an online tool that allows you to invite others to co-browse any Web site with you and chat live with everyone in the process. As you surf a site, others can see what you're looking at, what you're pointing at and any text or item you want to highlight.

According to Clavardon, the utility was created to help e-commerce businesses and sales staffs to demo their sites to prospects. It certainly does that.

But SMB manufacturers can use it to their advantage as well. For example:

Review your own Web site with offsite resources to develop or refine.
Review and collaborate on any item - drawings, plans, or projects - that you've uploaded to the Web beforehand.
Review documentation and information with customers or prospects.

Clavardon is free for up to 100 sessions per month, and requires no setup or registration.

One downside that I noticed is that the chat window is pretty large, which limits the size of the window that displays the site being shared.

But for the convenience and usability, this is a hard utility to beat - especially for the cost.

Hat Tip: Robin Good

Spreed

aj — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:40:31 GMT

Here at MFGx, we’re all about the collaboration (for proof, look here and here). And now is a great time for manufacturing SMBs without the resources to build their own network to find inexpensive solutions to collaborate online with customers and prospects.

Here’s another one: Spreed.

Spreed allows you to conference online with up to 3 colleagues for free (with registration) – and you can share files, video chat, share power point presentations, whiteboard and even screen share. If you want more than 3 others, you can step up for as little as $20 U.S. per month.

Spreed is based in Europe, and is available in English, German, and Russian.

Google Sites - New Web Site Options For All Manufacturers

aj — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:43:45 GMT

Google has just announced a new Web service called Google Sites, and it offers manufacturing professionals large and small several options to promote and serve their businesses, and collaborate with others simply and effectively.

In essence, Google Sites is about building a Web site without needing to know how to build a Web site. No coding, design or advanced computer skills are needed.

Check out these features and descriptions:

Single-click page creation - Creating a new page for your Google Site just takes the click of a button.

No HTML required - Creating a Google Site is as easy as editing a document, which means there's no markup language for you to learn - just get started.

Make it your own - (Google's) customization options let you give your Google Site your own look and feel.

Get started with templates - (Google) offer(s) a growing list of page types -- web page, announcements, file cabinet, dashboard and list -- to help you get started with your Google Sites pages.

Upload files and attachments - Use the file cabinet to upload files up to 10MB in size. Each Google Apps account receives at least 10GB of storage in Google Sites. Google Apps Premier and Education editions get an additional 500MB for each user account.

Embed rich content - Google Sites is integrated with other Google products, so you can insert videos, docs, spreadsheets, presentations, photo slide shows, and calendars directly onto your Google Sites pages.

Work together and share - (Google's) permission settings let you designate owners, viewers and collaborators (meaning they can edit pages) for your site. And you can make your Google Sites available to just a few people, your entire organization, or the world.

Search with Google - You can search across Google Sites pages and content using powerful Google search technology. You'll find specific pages and documents instantly, the same way you would on Google.com.

What does all this mean for manufacturers? You can create a useful Web site for your company. You can create an Intranet (internal site) to serve you company, employees, sales force, etc. You can create private sites to serve a project and only invite the project members. You can create training sites for your employees.

The point is that you can create a Web site - without knowing how.

Do YouTube?

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:05:10 GMT

Videos presented on machining and manufacturing Web sites vary wildly in both quantity and quality. Don't believe me? Take a trip around the Manufacturing Web and tell me what you find.

Granted, some are pretty good (mostly on capital equipment manufacturers' or other big boys' sites). But the vast majority of what little you can find shouldn't be.

A big part of the problem is MIP (Manufacturer's Internet Phobia). This is a condition that afflicts many managers, presidents and owners of small to mid-sized shops and plants that are on the cusp between their kids that can setup a LAN with their eyes closed and their parents who still marvel at the first time they saw the Smothers Brothers on color TV.

Videos can be incredibly valuable in presenting your value as a technology and service partner. They can also go a long way in differentiating you from your competition.

But the question for MIP sufferers is: How do I create and manage videos efficiently and do my business justice?
Answer: Have you thought about YouTube?

Obviously, many manufacturers haven't. Check out these search results from YouTube a few days ago (keyword/phrase – results):

Machining – 174,600 (looks impressive until you start finding Jimi Hendrix "Machine Gun" and Rage Against The Machine clips on the 3rd SERP
High Speed Machining - 100 (much cleaner results, but c'mon – 100?!?!)
Gear Hobbing - 8 (including a House Of Blues reference)
Machining - 122 (not as bad as you'd think, but just know there aren't a lot of Davenport references)

YouTube isn't the place where your customers are going on their own to research in ways meaningful to you. There's too much "space junk" to make it a valuable research channel for your prospects.

Instead of producing and hosting your own videos on your site or posting random videos on YouTube hoping they're found in the haystack, consider creating a Channel on YouTube.

It's easy to create (create an account on the YouTube home page) and your profile page is your Channel. Give it your company name, and start uploading videos of the processes you're best at. As your collection grows, link to it/them from your own Web site – both as a collection (click here for videos) and individually (click here to see this turbine blade machined).

Following this advice is free, effective (by linking to it from your site, you increase the value by sending prospects to videos in context to their research) and it's easy (no hosting or other technical requirements).

Related Link: Joining the YouTube Community – And Creating Your Own Channel

Flipped Out

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:24:39 GMT

Let me tell you about a new product (new to me, at least) that offers many small-to-medium sized manufacturers a fantastic opportunity to market themselves more effectively.

Mitch Free, CEO/Founder of MFG.com, loves his gizmos. If there was a stronger word than love, I'd use it and not be exaggerating. When Mitch gets a hold on any new tech-toy, he's done. Imagine the excitement of kid on Christmas morning, mixed with the concentration of a neurosurgeon - that's Mitch in that zone. He just absorbs these things.

So, Mitch stops by yesterday with the latest object of his affection, the Flip. It's a point-and-shoot, stupid-simple-to-use video camera. About the size of a cell phone. Brilliant user experience. Looks really cool. Records up to 60 minutes of video/audio. Its name comes from the USB plug that "flips" out of its side. Plugs right into your computer, or any USB-enabled device.

Mitch made a 10-second clip of me. Plugged the Flip into his laptop, D&D'd the file, and played it. I was astonished at the quality of the video and audio.

Pure Digital, the company that makes the Flip, has been around for a few years. They introduced the Flip in May of '07. It sells for $149 - $179 on its Web site. I found a top-end Flip for $149 on Amazon.

The importance of this product to manufacturers is this:

Many manufacturers either don't have the time, resources or ability to create quality video of their processes, capabilities and products to complement their Web presence. Or enable their sales or support staffs in the field to share videos. The Flip heralds a moment in technology when you can record effectively and efficiently and share or post those videos easily - regardless of how comfortable you are with the medium.

Record processes or facilities or interviews with a Flip, post videos to a channel on YouTube, link to them from your site. Simple, quick, and all for less than the cost of a weekend at a Holiday Inn.

Your Customers And Prospects Are Impatient, Too

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:02:42 GMT

In "Impatience Is A Virtue," we reported on a survey conducted recently in Europe that shows the vast majority of people that submit requests to a company online expect an answer in 24 hours or less.

Your customers are no different. As a matter of fact, it's not unreasonable to surmise that they are even more impatient than that - likely a LOT more.

Think about it - the referenced survey was conducted across a collection that included a lot of consumers. While they are likely very anxious to get information on a book, corkscrew or gift, their sense of urgency can't possibly approach the significance of a manufacturer approaching a deadline. Or a crisis.

Assign someone in your company to frequently check your Web site's e-mail account for incoming requests.

When a request is found, make a call right away to let the prospect or customer know you got the message. Get them the answers they need for their questions or concerns. Be diligent.

When an event - a job, an award, a project - from a fresh prospect doesn't go your way, contact the prospect and keep the conversation going. Many times a selected supplier doesn't work out for a buyer, and they have to fall back to other sources. Maintaining that dialogue that originated online can lead to other work outside of the original contact. Use that contact to your advantage, and don't give up if the first response you get is a negative. As clichéd as it sounds, it's an opportunity.

And here's another tip: Don't be afraid to communicate with your customers when you have nothing to say. Sometimes an unsolicited call (just to ask if there's something they need) can forestall an issue before it gets out of hand. Or, at the worst, keep the lines of communications open.

Bottom Line: Manufacturers are often not good communicators. Work at improving and continuing the dialogue with prospects and customers you engage online (or that engage you).

Ning: Do It Yourself Social Networks - For Manufacturers, Too

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:38:00 GMT

Yes, manufacturers of all sizes can benefit from social networks - actually, call 'em "procial" networks to be more accurate.

These models can have a huge impact on the quality of customer service, marketing and prospecting. Many large manufacturing companies are leveraging communities like Second Life, LinkedIn and MySpace to help build brand, improve products/services and expand their markets. More are developing whole sites dedicated to serving both their external and internal customer bases.

Small and medium sized manufacturers (SMMs) can (and should) take advantage of the former; but the when it comes to the latter, it gets difficult. And expensive.

Enter Ning - a Web site that lets anyone start and manage their own "procial" network. Now. For free.

If you're an SMM, you really ought to look into this as a viable option. For inspiration, enter "manufacturing" in the search box on Ning's home page and check out some of the communities in place now (or just click here).

Meet The Instapreneurs - On-Demand Manufacturers

aj — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:02:38 GMT

As a revolution, on-demand manufacturing/3-D Printing has yet to take off. However, as a concept and technology its potential continues to grow.

(Do you still think this is a pipedream? The photo at right is of injection molding tools made with 3-D printing. +Photo source: U.S. National Science Foundation.+)

A recent article in Wired Magazine revisits many of the on-demand manufacturing play-yuhs and touts the obvious impact these technologies and models will have on the supply chain.

Welcome to the age of the instapreneur. With nothing more than a design, amateurs can manufacture jewelry, robots, T-shirts, furniture - anything. No warehouses. No minimum orders. And no money down. The digital economy isn't just digital; the same market forces that allowed midlist musicians to make a living distributing their songs online now give amateur clothiers the chance to sell their wares without having to persuade (a retailer's) buyers to carry them.

Unlike the industrial revolution - which transformed the physical world in obvious ways, and saw reactions that created new technologies and business acumen - the on-demand revolution will (+is+) happen(+ing+) outside the peripheral vision of most manufacturers.

Just as the Luddites were upended by technology, what we know as traditional manufacturing protocols, practices and channels to sustain businesses will morph completely. In their place, instarpreneurship will emerge - the path from concept to market will dramatically shorten, supply and materials chains will skew and reinvent themselves, and the value of the traditional hands-on craftsman will drop.

Also from the Wired article:

Large brands are starting to see the appeal of manufacturing-as-a-service, too. Lexus recently used Blurb, an on-demand publisher, to print 1,800 copies of a book promoting the automaker's green practices. Franchises from Dilbert to the Discovery Channel sell licensed merchandise on CaféPress. Disney has uploaded more than 3,500 of its designs to Zazzle, allowing the company to sell a wider range of products than just the blockbuster Mickey Mouse T-shirts favored by conventional retailers. The service also gives the Disney machine unprecedented agility. "Here, I can see that Hannah Montana is taking off, we can upload a design right into Zazzle's system, and in a day or two it's a product," says Patrick Haley, senior manager of customization for DisneyShopping.com.

And Ponoko, the model that best compares to the channels for discrete parts manufacturing, now has 5,000 merchants on their platform after 1 year of existence.

From idea to part to market in an instant. With minimal technical savvy. That's instapreneurship.

Wanna Sell Stuff Online? Here's A New Option

aj — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:41:16 GMT

Are you a small manufacturer with limited Web resources or knowledge? Are you a shop with a product line? Do you want to test the e-commerce waters but not sure how or where to start?

Take a look at Web Store by Amazon.

For $59.99 (U.S.) per month + 7% commission, you get an easy to set-up, fully functional online sales channel. That includes credit card processing, fraud protection, and search engine optimization. And - maybe best of all - you don't have to mess with maintenance or support of the server: Amazon handles it all.

And, if you add Amazon products to your products, you can earn "referral fees" from Amazon to offset your costs.

Not a bad deal.

Sure, you can use eBay. That's a fine way to go. But if you want to enable your own Web site with this functionality without the time and effort, give Amazon a shout.

Skype: Strong Communications Medicine For Manufacturers

aj — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:12:56 GMT

You've heard this before, but it's worth saying 100 times more: Manufacturers, in general, are horrible communicators.

Anything we can use to improve our communications skills with customers, prospects and our own suppliers deserves a strong shout.

Have you heard of Skype? If you haven't, I'll make this simple:

Skype allows you to make phone calls and chat (instant messenger IM) over the Internet. It's free to call/chat with anyone that has Skype downloaded onto his or her computer. Works all over the world. For very little money, you can up the account to communicate with landline or cell phones. It's genius. It's Web 2-point-whatever. Slip "Skype" references into conversations on the shop floor to up your hipness quotient. You're welcome.

What makes Skype so powerful for many manufacturers is its global capabilities. It'll connect you with anyone with Skype, and its IM and file transfer capabilities can improve communications with nodes in your supply chains - no matter where they are.

Skype is particularly useful for those of us with international customers & suppliers. Skype's IM utility can take up some slack by reducing language frustrations, and you don't need me to tell you the benefits of a phone call over an Email.

But along with Skype's value for your business, there are several tools and services you can add to Skype that allow you to record conversations and IM exchanges to help document product life cycles, customer relationship management, and project deviations and adjustments. (Skype currently doesn't provide recording capabilities.)

Here are a few recording utilities for your review (these utilities are either free or cost very little):

Skype plus a recording addition can quickly and inexpensively give your business tools that improve communications with your customers.

Inspiration, In Miniature

aj — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:09:07 GMT

It's hardly a new concept - reducing a population or market or workforce or demographic to an easier-to-digest number. We've seen it in school, in business and our personal lives - complex collections simplified to measure results and conditions.

Miniature Earth isn't new, either. Born from a text published in 1990 by Donella Meadows, it is a "presentation" with a simple but powerful message:

Reduce the population of the Earth to a community of 100 people to understand our differences, our shared experiences, our challenges, and our place in it.

The economy. Shifting manufacturing bases. Contracting customer bases. Change.

The cost of everything, and the value of nothing.

Too often, we get wrapped up in our own condition. We take things for granted and don't count our blessings. We lose sight of where we are, the opportunities and the possibilities.

Stop what you're doing. Right now. Take a moment to watch the Miniature Earth presentation here.

Be hopeful. Enjoy your weekend, and your life.

Online Calculators For Engineers

aj — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:59:15 GMT

The collections are slim pickin's - there just aren't many to choose from. But there are options available, and you may wanna bookmark these in case they suit your needs:

Engineers Edge Engineering Calculators - Decent selection, simple layout and accessibility. Many of the calculators here are in different formats, but who cares? They're free and wide open - no registration required for use.
Efunda Calculators - This collection is thorough, well designed, clean and efficient. Only problem is that an annual fee of approx. 60 bucks US is required to use 'em.

Give Me 200' Of 303 Keystock And A Book On Feng Shui

aj — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:04:26 GMT

Your options for raw materials, mechanicals, fasteners, bearings and other standard parts just got a whole lot better.

Amazon.com has launched a beta version of its Amazon.com Industrial & Scientific, a site dedicated to providing thousands upon thousands of products and materials selections online, in one spot.

Timken. Sandvik. Saint-Gobain. SKF. Huge brands, presented in a comparative, easy to use format. They even stock shopfloor products like safety glasses, gloves, and hand tools. What's not to like?

(If you're MSC or Thomas, you really don't have to answer that.)

Make Your Web Site The Center Of Your Universe

aj — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:26:30 GMT

Content online is, indeed, king. Nothing trumps it. And for manufacturing sites that exist to draw prospects and generate business, its importance is even greater. And the work never stops.

A Web site is a living thing, a working "document." Constant feeding is required.

Expressing your strengths, technical prowess, capabilities, and past successes helps to differentiate your site (and you) from your competitors, improves your prominence in the search engines, and speaks directly to visitors and "informavores" looking for YOU.

Photo: European Southern Observatory

But what else can you do to get an edge? Out of all the Web sites that serve the same industries you do, how can you stand out?

By creating your own online universe for your shop, business, or enterprise.
Now, this may take a little time and effort, but the benefits can be astonishing in terms of exposure and search engine prominence. Here's what you can do:

Create "sub-sites" for your business that all link to your primary Web site. Those links into your site from other locations can do wonders. Create pages on the following sites using your business (or, on social sites, even you employees) as primary subjects - and link like crazy to your site.

Myspace - Create a profile, blog if you'd like, include pictures and video of your shop and your work, and link to your primary site.
Facebook - Same as with MySpace; have your employees create personal profiles (they'll enjoy it) and link to your business' site.
Wikipedia - Wikipedia is the world's most popular "crowd-sourced" encyclopedia. Anyone can contribute. Create a page for your business, but don't use flowery terms and marketing jive to describe the company. Keep it straight, describe what you do, what you make, and your history. And link to your site.
YouTube - Take some videos of your business, employees, equipment, workpieces - whatever. Pop them onto YouTube. Feature your name prominently in the title of each video. Link to them from your site, and list your URL in the video. For more on YouTube, click here.
MFG.com - Do you belong to MFG.com, or another online community? Build up your profiles there and don't just link to your site - link INTO your site, to deeper pages showing details of your business and experience.
Directories - Are you a member of an association or trade group? Get listed on those Web sites - with links.
Professional/Technical Forums - Visit technical forums online that speak to the audiences that you covet - your peers or prospects (or both). Post questions. Answer questions. Participate. And link.

Think I'm all wet? Many of the world's largest and most successful businesses have realized the power of this technique. For example, several corporations have created virtual islands and personas on Second Life to improve their businesses.

By creating presence in all or some of these suggested sub-sites, you can improve the likelihood that you'll be seen as the center of your own universe.

Massive Mechanical Mojo

aj — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:03:10 GMT

Now THIS is what we're talkin' about. A site that's stone cold rockin' for manufacturing and design geeks, and devoid of hype.

Can it get any better?

iMechnica is hosted and nurtured with love by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It's a community of students, faculty and professionals that are knee deep in the world of mechanics - "mechanicians," they call them.

But, oh - the content on this site ... you're going to have a hoot just playing "Hide The Cursor" on this one.

Anyone can join the site, gaining access to a goldmine of engineering pragmatism and knowledge. It's entirely community-contributed, so there are rough spots.

But you'd have to click far to find a more complete, competent online technical community.