LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR
The second
part of the year is right around the corner, ALREADY!
Please don’t listen
to economists and government officials when they
tell you that this is the time of year that you
stop giving all your earnings in income tax and
‘’start working for yourself ’’
! What a pessimistic way to look at it…..
In this month’s leader.com,
you can read about:
 One
of Nancy's favorite topics, racing.
Summer is beautiful but comes with its drawbacks,
so read Linda’s article about the great
St-Lawrence River.
Luc’s article about another of Guitel’s
manufacturing facilities, Point M.
As for me, I am writing this
little introductory note from my hotel room in
Brampton, Ontario.
Some of you probably know that our work involves
intensive travelling. I think I will write something
on business travelling tips because it’s
sometimes funny how the most simple things can
make a trip a lot more easy and fun.
In the mean time, you
can read the first part of a two-part article
about the ergonomic issue we deal with as wheel
and caster salespeople.
Happy
reading !
Signed,
Frederic Lagace
Editor |
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| Thought
for the month of June:
Courage
is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage
is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Sir Winston Churchill
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| Colleague
of the month
This
month, we’re bringing you to Eastern Quebec,
the territory that is covered by our colleague,
Gilles Drouin. As technical/sales representative
for Bleutec for the past 7 years, Gilles is the
one we know the least as he is always on the road
and works from his home in a southern suburb of
Quebec City.
A shy and reserved fellow,
Gilles is the ideal type to work on his own. He’s
autonomous, hard-working, and good at communicating
which makes him very appreciated by his customers
and co-workers. During his monthly visits to our
office in Longueuil, Gilles shows some of his
personality traits, but rest assured that it’s
only a small sampling!
The little that we
know of Gilles inspires confidence. He’s
a good guy with a good sense of humor who knows
when to laugh, even when it’s at himself.
To be his friend, his client, and his superior
is reassuring because Gilles is a real team player.
Luc Turcotte
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Happy
Father's Day !
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| The
Grand Prix is almost here!
You may remember
from last month’s edition that I would
write an article about my favorite sport and
time of the year, the Montreal F1 Grand Prix.
So, ladies and gentlemen, start your reading
engines!
If I’ve had the opportunity
to speak to you about more than casters, you
will know that I’m a die-hard racing fan.
I’ve been following the sport for over
10 years, and I still get chills when I see
and hear the cars throughout the race weekend.
When my favorite driver, Damon Hill, was driving
in F1, I’d have my complete gear ready
– Damon hat, Damon shirt, and Damon flag!
Now that Damon’s retired, I’m often
asked, “who’s your favorite driver”?
My answer is that I don’t have one, and
that I cheer for all the drivers.
 Last
year was the first time that the Cart series
came to Montreal and I had my tickets and paddock
pass before you can complete a lap at Indianapolis!
Summer 2002 was “my” year for meeting
present and past drivers. In Montreal, I was
in awe to meet and shake hands with the legendary
Mario Andretti. At the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres,
I had my picture taken with LeMans driver and
ex-F1 driver, Johnny Herbert. Lucky me!
So, only 7 days left
until the first car appears on the track here
in Montreal. Can’t wait!
Have a great month of June, and expect a race
recap from me in the next issue.
Nancy
Allen |
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D'ONT FORGET
TO WRITE US...
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Ergonomics
Have you
ever heard of tractive resistance, rolling resistance,
or starting effort ? This article will cover
some of the basics about ergonomics, and because
there’s just too much information, I’ve
decided to make this a two-part article, with
graphs and technical information to follow in
the next edition of the leader.com.
In our business of selling
casters, we sometimes run into “industrial
ergonomic maniacs”. I have to be honest
here: when I started selling casters 7 years
ago, I used to be annoyed by them….. sorry
!
As an inexperienced sales
rep., I didn’t understand the importance
of the starting effort. I guess I just wanted
the big sale while forgetting a very important
thing: listening to my client’s major
“pain”. Today, rolling resistance,
starting effort and ergonomics are issues that
are discussed on many of my calls.
I often refer to cheap
hard rubber wheels as “hockey pucks with
holes in the middle”, especially when
they have plain bearing hubs….(Hello ergonomics!).
Today, the market seems to be much more educated
than it was 7 years ago and I am noticing a
drop in popularity for the hockey puck type
of wheel.
Throughout the years, I’ve
learnt that ergonomics is, in short, a way of
thinking that should guide equipment manufacturers
to design their products in ways that will improve
the users’ comfort, safety, and productivity
at work. If you take a close look at our Web
site, you will see that part of Bleutec’s
mission IS TO IMPROVE THE USERS’ COMFORT
!
In our own way of achieving
this mission, we believe that it is vital to
predict the amount of effort required to manipulate
a load on casters in a material handling environment.
That is why we ask so many questions about the
application before recommending a wheel type.
Make sure you check
next month’s edition to see the graphs
and tables that I’m working on!
Frederic
Lagace
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| The
St. Lawrence River is thirsty
The St. Lawrence River’s
water level is so low that the Port of Montreal
will probably face a difficult summer if there
isn’t sufficient precipitation. In fact,
there would have to be an exceptional amount of
rain in order to maintain the required water level
for heavy cargo ships. Even the spring snowmelt
failed to increase the level.
The Great Lakes, which are
75 – 80% of the St. Lawrence River’s
flow, dropped over the winter. Lake Ontario was
about ¾” lower than the record-breaking
low of 85 years ago. It’s the fourth time
in ten years that the water level is unusually
low and this is due to lack of rain throughout
the basin of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
River.
Low water level causes problems
for ocean freight companies because they can’t
fill their ships to their full capacity. The lower
the water level, the more there are cargo ships
sailing with lighter loads, which in turn means
higher shipping costs.
From all of this, we
see that low water levels are a problem, not only
for ocean freight, but also for pleasure boating,
the environment, and drinking water. For all of
these reasons, I believe that we  should
try to avoid wasting our water, and we should
remember that our water is the envy of many countries.
Linda Bertrand
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| POINT
M
Guitel’s logistics
platform, Point M, is in Goussainville near
the Charles de Gaulle Airport. It has been
in operation for 3 years now and has already
attained its objective to ship within 48
hours a range of 6,000 products to its European
customers.
Point M concentrates
on customer follow-ups, as well as being
dedicated to the manufacturing and shipping
of wheels and casters to its biggest customers.
The warehouse is 22,900 sq. ft in size,
with 3 receiving docks, 7 shipping docks,
and 2,600 sq. ft. of office space.  Point
M receives products from other factories,
does the quality control of parts from sub-contractors,
inventories finished and unfinished products,
assembles, and prepares orders for customers.
Luc
Turcotte
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In case
we don’t get the opportunity to complete our next
issue before July, we’d like to wish you a Happy
Canada Day, and to all our American customers and friends
a very Happy July 4th!
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