Direct Connections And Ecommerce Are You Losing Money?

Computer to Computer Connectivity for Order Transactions

When we talk about ‘Connectivity’ in the Business Technology world, we are referring to the ability of a computer at a buyer’s office and a computer at a seller’s office to send and receive information about products and product ordering without human intervention.

Images of box here box there, data flowing between. Some Data marked as information about the product, some data marked as information about a specific order.

Way back in the olden days (OK, some of you are still doing this), the buyer’s inventory would show that they were getting low on a Lund part. Purchasing would fill out a purchase order and send a fax to Lund to order 6 more. Someone at Lund would grab the fax and type the order into accounting software and order processing software. Then the warehouse guy or gal would gather up the stuff and put it on a truck. When the parts arrived, a receiving clerk would have to go find the paper work, match it to the shipping documents, enter it into the accounting software and inventory and put it on the shelf. But what if Lund has the product on back order while they rebuild the machine that makes them? What if someone hits the wrong number key when they’re entering the part number? What if the price has changed? The process quickly bogs down into a time-consuming and inefficient mess that we all assume is normal business procedure. The fact is, this process costs our industry billions of dollars per year.

If you’re a WD, like Keystone or a big box retailer or a chain of 1600 stores, like O’Reilly Auto Parts, you live or die by your margins. The price you buy a part for isn’t going to change much, nor is the selling price. Other costs just seem to keep on rising; insurance costs, labor costs and certainly fuel costs. The only way to maintain or improve your margin is to become more efficient. Automated order processing is one important way to reduce costs. As a matter of fact automated document transfer is a requirement of doing business with most (soon to be all) of these larger buyers. This has been an expensive hurdle for our manufacturers until recently.

That’s the stick. Here’s the carrot. Both seller and buyer reap financial and other rewards from automated order transfer.

Take a look at these benefits.

Buyer Benefits

• Lower Inventory Levels: Reductions in order processing time can result in shorter delivery cycles.

• Quick Order Acknowledgment: If a supplier can not provide the product desired, the buyer can quickly seek an alternate supplier.

• Efficient Invoice Processing: Time spent matching invoices to purchase orders and re-keying invoices into an Accounts Payable System is reduced.

Supplier Benefits

• Elimination of problems and delays caused by order entry errors:

Manual order entry can result in errors in as many as 50% of all documents. Errors in order entry mean missed ship dates, shipment of wrong items or quantity, and lower customer satisfaction.

• Personnel Reductions: There are estimates that as much as 70% of all computer output becomes computer input. With Electronic Order Processing, the supplier is relieved of the process of re-keying and verification of orders.

• Inventory Reductions: Production schedules can be tuned more closely to customer demand thereby reducing supplier inventory.

• Improved Cash Flow: Time taken out of the invoicing/payment cycle improves the cash flow of the supplier.

• Improved Customer Service: Automated order processing benefits participants on both sides of the sales equation.

• Improved Sales Tracking: Because orders are already in the system, analysis can take place in real time.

• Cost Savings: One survey estimated the cost of a manually prepared and transferred document to be about $40 and the cost of an electronic document to be only $2.10.

OK, Sounds good. How does this work, exactly?

EDI, AS2, XML, Partnership Network

EDI Most of the larger stores and chains use a document transfer protocol that originated in the late 60’s called Electronic Data Interchange or EDI. EDI (or one of thousands of EDI ‘flavors’) is the standard document transfer format. Every other version of document transfer is either a version of EDI or a way to manage EDI-like documents through other means.

AS2 AS2 is nothing more than a secure, reliable way to transfer EDI documents using the Internet instead of dedicated phone lines.

XML utilizes Extensible Markup Language to transfer EDI-like documents via a web browser interface.

Partnership Network was developed by O’Reilly Auto Parts and then made available to the entire aftermarket. It is a software package designed to transfer EDI-like documents over the Internet. Partnership Network is used by CARQUEST, CSK, O’Reilly and Advance Auto Parts as well as over forty aftermarket manufacturers. It is available through the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association.

Because an EDI installation is expensive for a smaller business to implement and maintain, numerous EDI service providers have emerged including GCommerce, MISG, and TrueCommerce, among others. These service providers accept documents from trading partners, translate them from EDI to multiple other formats and transmit them. In other words, if a buyer who has EDI capability sends you an order, the order might be translated into a fax, an email or into an XML document and delivered to you. When you send a document back to the buyer it is then translated by the service provider into EDI and delivered to your customer.

Well, that sounds pretty good in theory, but now let’s talk to some folks with ‘skin in the game’ who are engaged in electronic document trading to see how these theoretical benefits stack up in the real world of business.

Stories from the Front Lines

Jessica Miller, Director of IT at Crane Cams said, “For us, EDI is a necessity of doing business. It’s a must-have in order to work with our biggest customers, but even if it wasn’t, cost savings from reduced errors and data entry would have driven us to it.”

“We’re a driving force for manufacturer implementation of EDI” said Cheryl Ives, EDI Director for a large mail order retailer. “There are less order errors and we need confirmation when products leave our vendor’s factories for planning purposes.”

Jim Riden, Director of IT at Hypertech said Hypertech has only implemented EDI with 3 or 4 of their biggest customers, but that reduced processing time and fewer errors is a real benefit. “I wish more of our buyers would jump on the bandwagon and accept EDI documents” he said. “It would make our lives at Hypertech a whole lot easier.”

Flowmaster’s CIO, Alan Glazier seconded Riden’s statement. “If more of our buyer’s accepted EDI documents, we’d be able to reduce order processing costs even further. I came out of another industry where we used EDI for many years. I’ll take as many additional connections as I can get. It just doesn’t make sense in this day and age to pay a bunch of data entry people to type in orders.”

It seems that as a SEMA manufacturer, you may come to electronic document trading because you’re forced to by a customer or because you want to expand your market to include large volume buyers who demand it, but lower order transaction costs may be the real ongoing advantage.

As Jerry McCabe, Senior Vice President of Business Architecture at Affinia Group, said a few years back:
“Of all the ways you could allocate your company’s resources today, I believe your best ROI will come from investments in perfecting your data and in ways to deliver your data … in that order.”

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Choosing the Right Leather Work Gloves

Comfort, dexterity, durability, flexibility, protection, and cost are the key considerations when choosing leather gloves for a specific job environment or as a general purpose work glove. A comparison of leather work glove material options, pattern variations, styles and applications will help you choose the most suitable glove.

Glove Leather Types and Quality

The type and quality of leather used are significant considerations in choosing leather work gloves. Gloves are manufactured primarily in cowhide, pigskin, goatskin, and deerskin, each offering unique characteristics specific to the animal.

Cowhide leather is one of the most rugged and economical leathers used to manufacture gloves due to its availability, comfort, and durability. Specifically, cowhide is good for dexterity, durability, pliability, abrasion resistance, and puncture resistance. Cowhide is also very good in keeping hands warm, but is limited in the leather’s breathability. Cowhide dries stiff when it gets wet, becoming hard and losing its flexibility.

Pigskin leather is a soft and supple leather that is more porous, which makes a glove that is comfortable and resistant to moisture, but not quite as warm as cowhide. High lanolin content keeps this leather soft which does not dry out and crack after repeatedly getting wet. Pigskin is an economical alternative to cowhide, offering more dexterity and breathability with superior pliability. Pigskin leather is the most durable and provides the greatest abrasion resistance of cowhide, goatskin, and deerskin.

Goatskin leather has the highest natural lanolin content, which makes a very soft and flexible glove that retains its pliability after getting wet. Goatskin offers the improved dexterity, pliability, and breathability of pigskin over cowhide, but does not offer the durability. Abrasion and puncture resistance are about the same as cowhide, while goatskin does not provide as much protection from the cold as cowhide.

Deerskin leather is extremely soft and supple offering very good dexterity and excellent pliability. Deerskin gloves do not stiffen after getting wet repeatedly and form to the hand over time. Their flexibility also causes them to easily lose their shape with rough wear. Deerskin gloves are the best for comfort, but sacrifice durability, abrasion and puncture resistance. Deerskin glove breathability is limited, like cowhide, and they provide less protection from the cold, similar to goatskin and pigskin gloves.

Leather types are further classified by cuts or splits which offer different levels of quality.

Full-Grain leather, also called top-grain leather, refers to the finest raw material including the outer waterproof skin which provides a thicker, more durable glove with greater abrasion and puncture resistance.

Split leather is obtained by splitting the rougher interior side of the skin (drop split) from the supportive outer part (grain) yielding a softer and more pliable glove with greater dexterity. Split leather can be divided into 3 types, depending upon which part of the animal the hide is cut:

Side split leather is made by splitting the hide in half along the backbone and is the most durable and uniform split because of its high fiber density.
Shoulder split leather is taken from the neck and shoulder area of the animal and provides abrasion resistance in a more economical grade of leather.
Belly split leather is cut from the underside or belly of the animal and is less consistent in texture and appearance, but the most economical split leather.
Leather Work Glove Linings
Obviously, the lining of the glove is a big factor in hand comfort with a variety of options from no lining to synthetic and natural materials. The most popular leather work glove lining options are listed below:

3M Thinsulate utilizes extremely small fibers of polyester to provide one of the most effective insulation linings without the bulk of natural materials. Manufactured by 3M, it is breathable and retains its exceptional insulating ability in damp conditions.
Pile is synthetic wool that is very popular due to its low cost and similarity to wool.
Thermal linings are manufactured by creating a first layer overlapped by a second layer of material creating a heat insulation pocket between the layers.
Fleece is soft bulky napped cotton with a deep pile and is one of the most common glove liners.
Foam lining features a layer of foam insulation between cotton fleeced jersey and a layer of interlocked cotton.
Thermo lined gloves are thermal gloves with waterproof linings.
Wool linings are odor resistant and provide excellent warmth, even when wet.
Leather Work Glove Patterns
The most common construction for leather work glove styles is the Gunn pattern, but the Clute pattern offers an economical alternative:

Gunn pattern is manufactured with fully wrapped fingers and thumbs, while the palm side is a separate glove pattern which is sewn at the base of the middle two fingers. This cut allows flexibility with the seam at the natural crease of the fingers and the seamless back affords greater comfort. The finger seams being away from the work area help the glove to last longer.

Clute pattern refers to gloves with a roomy comfortable fit and seams along every finger and the thumb, down the back of the glove. The palm and bottom of the fingers is covered with one piece of material and no seams on the palm side of the glove.

Leather Work Glove Cuffs

Leather work gloves are available in a wide range of cuffs. Hemmed cuffs offer medium wrist protection; shirred and knit wrists prevent debris from getting into the glove, and safety and gauntlet cuffs offer maximum wrist and forearm protection:

Rolled hem or turned cuffs feature a narrowly rolled hem and create a very finished and clean look.
Hemmed cuffs may use color-coded fabric to hem the cuff of the glove.
Knit Wrist cuffs provide a snug fit to prevent debris or liquids from getting inside the glove.
Shirred cuffs use elastic to gather the glove around the wrist when worn, but not as tightly as the knit wrist.
Safety cuffs provide a higher degree of wrist and arm protection with large 2 1/2″ cuffs. Safety cuffs are manufactured from a variety of materials and include: rubberized, plasticized, starched, denim, leather, and canvas cuffs.
Gauntlet cuffs are a larger form of the safety cuff and provide the highest level of wrist and arm protection with large 4 1/2″ cuffs.
Leather Work Glove Thumb Types
Work gloves are manufactured using one of the following thumb types:

Keystone thumb is a type of thumb stitched separately to conform to the natural position of the thumb. The keystone thumb offers the greatest flexibility and comfort.
Wing thumb is manufactured with the thumb angled diagonally across the palm to improve comfort and natural movement without a seam between the thumb and palm area.
Straight thumb is manufactured with the thumb lying vertically straight from the wrist and is good for gripping.
Leather Work Glove Styles
Leather work gloves can be divided into three basic style groups:

Leather driving gloves or drivers are one of the most rugged and comfortable work gloves made, featuring flexibility and abrasion, puncture, moisture, and heat resistance. Leather drivers are excellent in a variety of applications, including equipment operation, such as farm, construction, tractor-trailers, and forklifts. Leather drivers are also ideal for general purpose work environments requiring greater dexterity and flexibility, such as material handling, general industrial work, stamping, packaging, fabricating, lumber industry, chainsaw operation, automotive, mining, furniture industry, pipe fitting, assembly and other medium to heavy duty industrial applications.

Leather palm gloves are one of the most popular and widely used work gloves because of their lower cost, abundance, and ability to handle a wide variety of general industry work applications, such as agricultural, automotive, gardening, construction, landscaping, parks and recreation, large material handling, oil rigging, refinery work, and other heavy industrial environments.

Welding gloves or welders are a very heavy duty superior heat resistant leather work glove providing hand protection from metal splashes, flames, sparks and ultraviolet radiation for applications in welding, molten metal, and foundries.

Choosing the right leather work glove for you or your workers is simply a matter of understanding your options and their benefits. Leather work gloves offer durability, dexterity, flexibility, comfort and protection in a wide range of quality and costs to accommodate virtually every industrial job setting.

Deciding on the Correct Leather Work Gloves

With regards to selecting and purchasing the appropriate leather work glove for your project, the wide range of options may be overwhelming. How can you determine which kind of leather work glove can provide the protection that you need? And what about durability and dexterity? This article will supply the answers to those questions and provide you with the knowledge you will need to decide on the leather work glove that is suitable for you.

Leather Type and Quality

You will find four main varieties of leather that can be used to manufacture leather work gloves. These include: cowhide, pigskin, goatskin and deerskin.Every sort of leather provides different degrees of protection, durability, dexterity, and comfort based off of the inherent characteristics within the animal leather. In production, each variety of leather will be classified as cut or split, which denotes their level of quality.

Leather Type

Cowhide:

• One of the most available leathers, which makes it highly economical

• High amount of dexterity and durability

• High degree of abrasion and puncture resistance

• Best leather to keep hands warm

• Limited breathability

• Dries stiff after being wet,as a result it loses flexibility

• Appropriate to be used in a range of applications including industrial work, automotive, packaging, landscaping, and construction.

Pigskin:

• Known for being a soft and porous leather,that produces an incredibly comfortable glove

• Water and moisture resistant, leather stays soft and un-cracked after repeatedly getting wet

• Does not keep hands as warm as cowhide

• Higher amount dexterity and breathability than cowhide

• Out of the four leathers, it offers the greatest level of abrasion and puncture resistance and is also the most durable

Goatskin:

• Very soft and flexible glove

• Stays pliable after repeatedly getting wet

• Greater amount of dexterity, flexibility, and breathability than pigskin

• Lower degree of durability

• Similar puncture and abrasion resistance to cowhide

• Does not keep hands warm as well as cowhide

• Appropriate for applications where dexterity is especially important

Deerskin:

• Very soft and supple, much like pigskin

• Offers great dexterity and pliability

• Leather forms to the hand over long periods of usage

• Can get wet repeatedly without stiffening the leather

• High flexibility contributes to decrease in shape under rough wear

• Most comfortable, but least durable and least puncture/abrasion resistant

• Breathability is much like cowhide, in that it is limited

• Equal to cold temperature protection with goatskin and pigskin leather

• For particular use in welding applications where dexterity as well as heat resistance is required

Leather Quality

Full-Grain:

• Also identified as “top-grain” leather

• Finest raw material

• Has natural outer waterproof skin

• Thick and durable glove

• Offers superb puncture and abrasion resistance

Split:

• Created by splitting the rougher interior from the supported exterior of the animal skin

• Offers pliable gloves with great dexterity

• Side split leather is considered the most durable and uniform split quality

• Shoulder split leather is comparatively economical and possesses the greatest abrasion resistance of the split quality

• Belly split leather is the least consistent in texture and appearance, yet the most cost effective of the split quality

Leather Work Glove Features

Leather work gloves are typically classified in three categories: driving gloves, palm gloves, and welding gloves. These three categories focus on the style of the glove; all kinds of leather could be manufactured in these three styles.

1. Driving gloves are frequently the most rugged and comfortable style appropriate for just about any application.

2. Palm gloves are particularly popular due to their low price and can also be used in a wide range of general industry applications.

3. Welding gloves tend to be more heavy duty and possess extremely high heat resistance.

In addition to the correct style of leather, various features like linings, glove cuffs, and thumb types provide more customization and distinctive advantages to leather work gloves.

Varieties of Glove Linings:

• 3M Thinsulate is a synthetic material which offers quite effective insulation minus the added thickness of a natural material

• Pile is a man-made wool which is inexpensive, and bears resemblance to natural wool, making it extremely popular

• Thermal Linings are a manufactured double layer of material which delivers really great heat insulation

• Fleece is the most common glove liner composed of napped cotton

• Thermo lined gloves have heat insulation of the thermal linings, and are also waterproof

• Wool linings deliver protection against cold no matter if they are wet, and are also odor resistant

Varieties of Glove Cuffs:

• Knit wrist cuffs give you a snug fit that prevents debris from getting inside of the glove

• Shirred cuffs are designed with an elastic band that provides an effective fit, but not nearly as good of a fit as the knit wrist cuff

• Safety cuffs have a great level of wrist and arm protection since the cuffs are 2 ½ inches long.

• Gauntlet cuffs are fundamentally the identical to the safety cuff, but boast a 4 ½ inch cuff

Types of Glove Thumbs:

• Keystone thumbs are stitched separately from the other part of the glove. This offers the maximum degree of flexibility and comfort simply because the thumb is kept in its natural position.

• Wing thumbs do not possess a seam between the thumb and the rest of the glove. The thumb is designed to be positioned diagonally across the palm, which adds comfort and maintains natural movement.

• Straight thumbs work best for jobs that demand gripping since the thumb is designed to