Dyno Decisions Depend on Business Model
If you need a dyno only three or four times a year, you’re probably better off renting dyno time from another facility. If you build race engines for a living, an engine dyno is an essential part of how you do your job and ultimately the value you provide to your customer. So what are
Be Careful With Your Email
As technology infiltrates every aspect of your business, you need to know that email has become the most popular communication tool at the office. That makes it all the more important to approach email as you would any other type of communication. For example, there may be people in your shop who don’t treat their
Cultivating Diesel Success Using Unconventional Approaches
While most of Osborne’s customers never even come through the Liverpool, NY shop’s door, their continued patronage has pushed Syracuse Crank to record sales figures over the past few years, he says. “We were at 31 percent growth last year over the year before, and the year before last we were 26 percent higher. Our
HDRG Names Camerota Truck Parts 2011 Heavy Duty Remanufacturer of the Year
Camerota Truck Parts was awarded theprestigious “Mike Hill Heavy Duty Remanufacturer of the Year Award" during the Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group (HDRG) Summit, a division of the Automotive PartsRemanufacturers Association (APRA), in Las Vegas on January 17, 2011. According to APRA/HDRG President Bill Gager, the panel’s decision to award Camerota Truck Parts of Enfield, CT,
Herman Trend Alert 2011 Workforce/Workplace Forecast
1. Recruitingwill intensify. We are already seeing the large companies looking forincreasing numbers of employees. Later in 2011, the small andmedium-size companies will join the scrimmage. More companies that hadeliminated their recruiting functions will hire inside people to offsetthe expenses of headhunter fees. 2. Unemployment will remain relatively high. We expectunemployment to remain over 8
Ohio Technical College Receives 2010 Weatherhead 100 Award
For the third consecutive year, Ohio Technical College – a premierprovider of specialized technical training in a wide variety oftransportation fields – has been awarded the Weatherhead 100 Award byCase Weatherhead School of Management and The Council of SmallerEnterprises (COSE). "We’re proud to have earned this honor three years in a row, and webelieve
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: December 2010
Your Best Salesman “Ring, ring”… Another interruption – Will somebody grab that @%#& phone!? Too often we look at the phone as an interruption to a busy day. Leroy, the owner of a 3 man shop in Missouri, says he “hates the phone.” He says it’s a waste of valuable shop labor to answer the barrage
Parts Sales and Profits: First Admit There
Yes, believe it or not, I am attempting to show a parallel between the famous Twelve-Step programs – plans designed to help one admit the size and scope of addictive or dysfunctional problems and reinforce the need to ask for help for success – and a plan we can create to resurrect parts sales and
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: November 2010
Cleaning Up Cam Bearings After Installation Once in a while you may get an engine block that has an imperfect or misaligned cam bore. Rather than taking the time to scrape the newly installed cam bearings to fit by hand I took old cam cores and made cutter cams. Verifying the cores are straight, I
Classic Muscle: Kammer & Kammer Make Mopar Magic
Most of the time, amateur racers are customers at the nationally known Kammer & Kammer Mopar High Performance Shop in Dayton, OH. Kammer says his business consists of about 65 percent racing and 35 percent street performance, and the most important thing he provides is a good relationship between himself and his customer. “When I
Labor-Related Tax Breaks Businesses Need To Know
Job Corps Graduates: Job Corps is a free educational and vocational training program available to eligible youth between the ages of 16 and 24. Businesses who hire Job Corps graduates not only get a highly trained entry-level employee, but qualify for a $2,400 tax break for at least six months of full-time employment and a
Ohio Technical College Announces The Edelbrock Academy
Ohio Technical College (OTC), a leading automotive training school, recently announced a new partnership with Edelbrock, LLC to create the Edelbrock Academy, a program designed to give students a solid foundation in the building and tuning of American muscle cars and performance vehicles. The Edelbrock Academy at Ohio Technical College will provide students with
Chrysler Honors Federal-Mogul for Outstanding Performance
Chrysler Group LLC recently honored Federal-Mogul Corp. for its outstanding performance in providing a number of key powertrain components and enabling the successful launch of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. “The extraordinary work of the Federal-Mogul plants and the employees was integral to the successful launch of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee,” said Eric Humphrey, Chrysler’s
Parts Sales and Profits: First Admit There
Yes, believe it or not, I am attempting to show a parallel between the famous Twelve-Step programs – plans designed to help one admit the size and scope of addictive or dysfunctional problems and reinforce the need to ask for help for success – and a plan we can create to resurrect parts sales and
What Are The Biggest Safety Risks For Automotive Businesses?
Zurich has compiled the top three areas for concern for three general automotive business department types and suggested loss prevention strategies to address them. Some of these topics were pulled directly from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) list of most frequently cited standards for automotive repair shops (October 2008 – September 2009), while
Rebuilding The 6.6L Duramax Diesel
It was really no surprise, since GM had single-handedly alienated the American buying public against the diesel engine beginning back in the late ’70s and early ’80s with the 5.7L V8 and 4.3L V6 diesel engines that were, let’s just say, “less than stellar.” While there’s no point now in rehashing mistakes of the past,
GM to Add 483 Jobs at Spring Hill Engine Plant
GeneralMotors Co. has said it will spend $483 million and add 483 jobs to itspowertrain complex in Spring Hill, TN, for building current- andnext-generation Ecotec four-cylinder engines. According to GM, the additional work will bring the amount of its newU.S. investment to almost $2.9 billion, along with the 7,417 jobs thatGM has created or retained
Using Games and Play to Boost Productivity
Back in 2004, we wrote a Herman Trend Alert called "The Future of Gaming." The future is here today. According to a recent study from Pew Research, 97 percent of teens and more than half of all adults play video games. Moreover, Gallup’s recent research suggests that more than 70 percent of employees are “somewhat
It
The above statement is bold, you may think. Are you thinking that it doesn’t applyto your business? You may think you’re doing okay. Yet my statementapplies to everyone – from a one-man shop to a shop with 100 employeesor more – because if you don’t do it, your competitor will! The most recent Machine Shop
Holley Performance Reorganizes and Emerges From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
As a result of the reorganization, Holley reduced its debt by over $59 million and obtained new credit arrangements including a revolving credit facility that provides the company with substantial flexibility to pursue its growth initiatives. According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Tom Tomlinson, “Holley has emerged with an extraordinarily strong balance sheet which