The Pillar Surplus Moment

Staying Competitive in Your Industry Consistently asking questions keeps a business on its toes and creates the drive for an answer. The question, “How can your business stay competitive?” leads to so many other questions like, “Who is your competition? What makes you different? Can you expand what you offer?” Establishing who your competition is, can provide guidance to figure out what makes your business different. It also helps one observe the repetitive behavior of competition to back-up your future strategic planning. Though, GREAT businesses are not predictable and are always analyzing the path ahead. Analyzing information already obtained is also a good way to know which way to approach when it comes to expansion in a business. When expanding, what you offer can separate you from your competition. Your business should be organic and ever-evolving. Break it down to your employees, are they good at what they do? When bringing in talented personnel, your busine...

The Power of Comparative Shopping In this era, customer loyalty means a lot less. When shopping, it’s normal for a customer to be uncertain about what they are exactly looking for; most people naturally comparative shop in order to define their actual goal of what they want and need to buy. Without even realizing it, consumer’s attention becomes selective and encodes congruent information of their goal, building certainty over time. Factors like price, quality, features, and sometimes service (like the speed of shipping and supportive assistance, if needed) go into consideration between different brands or locations when comparative shopping. Marketing the business’s sales, and/or the strength of the brand’s presence can also create a greater amount of attraction for the product being compared by consumers. Online shopping helps to put all these factors to compare at the touch of your hands. In fact, 59% of shoppers prefer e-tailing because of that convenience, outpacin...

The Value of Preventative Maintenance The primary goal of maintenance is to make sure things are operating at a satisfactory level to avoid failure. All technology needs some sort of maintenance at a point in time, whether it be your vehicle, tractor/machinery, heating and cooling systems, or even just a toaster. I have personally seen preventative maintenance not be prioritized at another place I’ve worked. When the program was not prioritized, our toaster broke down and later on short-circuited the rest of the equipment within the store.   After the toaster, it was the coffee brewer, then the water pumps, then the water heater, one breaking down after another. It felt like there was a new problem every day. Luckily, the store eventually went back to normal after 2-3 weeks and after multiple expenses... This situation brought on many inconveniences for us employees and a few guests. The Preventative Maintenance Program creates habits to help maintain a successful bus...

Optimizing Your Hydraulic Systems with Cartridge Valves Cartridge valves are one of the many hydraulic parts we have in stock that associate with the pressure, directional, and flow control valves that screw into captive fasteners to provide substantial energy savings. With advancing electronic controls and greater flexibility, they will become even more affordable with a design that allows customization for hydraulic circuits using a machined manifold block.   Using a cartridge valve in a hydraulic system eliminates the amount of piping, creating efficiency.  That efficiency allows the lightweight and compacted valve to accommodate simplified installation, reducing labor and costs. The whole system becomes, ”50% lighter when using the cartridge valve compared to using the smallest common-cavity valve,” (Gordon Dow, 2017). Though the load capacity of the machine relies on every pound of each hydraulic part installed, so lifts have to have an equivalence for safety. ...

After Reading “Eight Major Upcoming Industry Trends—And How to Prepare for Them” (Forbes, 2018) The other day I was looking for industry news that could educate me and create an interesting post for Blogger. I was led to the article written by Forbes about upcoming industry trends, reminding me that way we communicate is always evolving. All of the upcoming industry trends will strengthen the field of marketing (yay for me), advancing relationships with customers and sales increase. The “Eight Trends”, presented by Forbes’s Communication Council are: 1. Convergence of Brand and Performance Marketing* 2. Ads Used to Promote Industry Changes 3. Increased Focus on Experiential Marketing* 4. Using more Marketing and Sales Automation 5. Re-targeting and Programmatic Advertising 6. Content Marketing* of Industrial Brands 7.   Advocating for Diversity of Thought 8. Changes in Customer Data Collection and Use So, what does this mean for businesses? The changes...

Meet the Pillar Surplus Team! Meg Spiece – Department Manager/Team Leader Company Experience: She was originally a Receptionist at Pillar Manufacturing starting in 2012. She then stepped up in May of 2015 as the Pillar Surplus Team Leader. Job Description: She helps us Burros solve most of the problems we encounter daily. Meg works with the Research and Inventory Specialists of Pillar Surplus identifying parts as well as handling customer calls and emails. When working with her, she strives to give the best customer service possible.  Fun Fact: Meg used to rescue reptiles a lot when she was younger. Sy Overmyer -- Research and Inventory Specialist Company Experience: He joined our company in September 2017. Job Description: He is responsible for ensuring that inventory records are accurate. Daily, he is organizing and researching information on the parts we have in stock and sell and prepares item listings for the products on our website. He also doe...