| LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR
 In
the last edition of the Leader, our letter from
the editor talked about our hopes for warm sunny
days, and how forward we were looking to summer.
Since then, we hardly have had any summery days,
the weather has been cooler than normal, and we’ve
had close to record breaking rain accumulation.
I suppose the only advantage
to the not-so-spring-like weather is that it gives
us more time to catch up on our reading, and rereading
our past editions of the leader.com.
 This
June edition will present you to our new team
member, but at the same time we bring you news
of Patrice’s departure from Bleutec. On
a technical side, Blickle offers us an article
about their success story with the new BMW plant
in Leipzig Germany. In our regular columns, we
introduce you to one of our distributors, JW Winco,
who is Bleutec’s first master stocking distributor
in the US. Also, we have a cost analysis of purchasing
a “price” product versus a quality
caster; a recap of a poll on Quebec’s most
appreciated logos; and finally, Frederic’s
column about his “thoughtful” e-mails.
Signed,
Luc Turcotte
Editor
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| News!
If you have called our
offices recently, you may have heard a new voice
answering the telephone. Yes, since May 1, we
have a new colleague working with us!
Her name is Beth Rezende,
and she’ll be working with Frederic and
I in developing the US and Ontario markets.
I’m sure that you’ll see, as we
have, that she’s always trying to help
and getting things done.
She’s fluent in
5 languages, so make sure that you say hello
in the language of your choice.
Welcome to Bleutec
Beth!
Nancy
Allen
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New
BMW plant in Leipzig Germany – Logistics
with Blickle casters
Since the beginning of
the series production in March 2005, already
50,000 BMW 3-series sedans have left the production
line of the new BMW Leipzig plant. There are
approximately 4,000 people working at the Leipzig
facility. In order to reach the full production
capacity of 650 vehicles per day, it is planned
that the number of people employed in Leipzig
will rise to 5,500 persons, and it is estimated
that the full production capacity will be reached
by the beginning of 2007.
Coordination of the individual
production steps, such as building of the car
bodies, the lacquering, and the assembly, logistics
too becomes very important in the coordination.
Logistics manages the entire production process
in the plant. In the assembly, approximately
10,000 cubic meters of material must be supplied
per day.
In order to keep stocks
low, the deliveries are “just in time”
and in large part, also “just in sequence”.
The heart of the logistics is the supply center
on the factory premises near the assembly.
Customer specification
parts such as seats, doors, cockpits, or drive
strands are pre-assembled before their installation.
They are then supplied in the required order
with automated guided vehicles to the assembly
line. In order that everything rolls correctly,
all trolleys are equipped with Blickle casters.
In close cooperation with
the logistics planning of BMW, the trolley producer
and the manufacturer of the AGV equipment, Blickle
has developed a customized solution based on
the LH series of casters.
All casters have an automatic
directional adjustment and directional reset
device, which guarantees that the casters align
themselves and do not swivel aimlessly when
the trolley is lifted.
One caster per trolley
is equipped with an anti-static nylon wheel,
in order to protect the sensitive automotive
electronics against damage by electrostatic
loading.
Further information
can be found at www.bmw-werk-leipzig.de
Jörg
Eisele
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Measuring
a person
With the objective of having
you read the thoughtful e-mails that land in my
inbox, I’m at it again this month. This
time, this one WAS signed !
"It is not he who criticises
that is important, nor he who points fingers at
those who fall and could have done better. The
honour goes to he who fights in the ring and who’s
face is covered in sweat, he who moves ahead,
makes errors and will make more, because there
is no human effort without errors and imperfections.
The honour belongs to he
or she for which the enthusiasm and devotion is
great, to he or she who devotes themselves to
an important cause, to he or she who will know
success or, if not, will have at least tried to
achieve it while risking.
This is why this woman or
this man’s place will never belong among
the laid back soles who will never know victory
or defeat."
Mahatma K. Gandhi.
 Evidently,
he who risks nothing, obtains nothing.
Frederic
Lagace |
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Monthly
Cartoon
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Quebec’s
#1 logo
As you know, we are in an era of constantly
being solicited and targeted by marketing
companies, and how corporate logos have become
so very important.
Well, the other day I picked up a magazine
that had the top 150 logos most appreciated
by people in the province of Quebec.
  Do
you know what the #1 logo is? Our Montreal
Canadiens Hockey team logo! (I didn’t
even think of that one, even though I’m
a hockey fan!). #2 is Van Houtte (coffee brand
and restaurant), #3 is CAA-Quebec, #4 is St-Hubert
(rotisserie restaurant), and #5 Télé-Québec
(our “PBS” of Quebec).
  
Here is a small excerpt from the list of
corporate logos that I thought might interest
you. Coca-Cola came in at #7, FedEx #34, Air
Canada #42, Burger King (#64) beat out McDonald’s
(#68) and Subway (#92), and I was quite disappointed
to see that our Bleutec logo didn’t
make it on the top 150. Hopefully with our
own continuous marketing efforts in Quebec
and North America, maybe our Bleutec caveman
will make the list in 2007!
(List from Journal Les Affaires, April 15,
2006 edition. www.lesaffaires.com).
Nancy
Allen
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JW WINCO
You may have looked for
machine components and assembly hardware on
the internet before. If you did, you probably
found your way into Bleutec’s most recent
master stocking distributor’s web site,
Wisconsin based JW WINCO.
In addition to metal and
plastic, inch and metric size components, JW
Winco also offers the entire Blickle caster
line with an extensive inventory in WI.
I take this opportunity
to thank all members of JW Winco for their warm
welcome during my first and recent visit to
their premises.
We look forward to serve
the entire team in order to increase Blickle's
caster presence and accessibility on the US
market.
Be on the lookout for
our future editions of the LEADER.COM as we
plan to write more about JW Winco and its team.
For more information about
JW Winco, please visit www.jwwinco.com
Or you can call
them at 1-800-877-8351
Frederic
Lagace |
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Blickle
products vs. Asian products
 In
today’s wheel and caster market, we find
more and more products that are manufactured
in China. Many caster manufacturers do their
own importing from the Far East, and others
have their own facility there.
At Bleutec, we have our
Economax series which are products that we import
from 4 Chinese manufacturers. This Economax
series has been available at Bleutec for over
5 years. At the beginning, we imported a few
wheels and casters to answer some of our customers’
demands, but today, we find ourselves offering
this series in our catalogue.
 Although
the quality has improved over the years, customers
continue to buy products from our Economax series
because it is a “price” product,
regardless of durability and efficiency.
In the long run, we have
to ask ourselves if it is beneficial to buy
these products to repair mobile equipment, considering
that the normal life span of a quality caster
is 12 to 16 months, compared to a “price”
product’s life span of 4 to 6 months?
Here’s a quick cost
analysis which compares an Economax caster at
$20.00 versus a Blickle caster at $40.00 (both
casters have a weight capacity of 300 lbs):
Purchase price for 4 Economax
casters: $80.00
Cost of installation: $15.00
Life span of Economax
caster: 4 months
Therefore, cost of replacing casters over a
period of 12 months:
Casters: $240.00
Installation: $60.00
Loss of time: $50.00
Total for 1 year : $350.00
Compare to:
Purchase price for 4 Blickle casters: $160.00
Cost of installation: $15.00
Life span of Blickle
caster: 12 months
Casters: $160.00
Installation: $15.00
Total for 1 year: $175.00
So, as you may see, sometimes purchasing a “price”
product is not so cost-effecitve.
Patrice Desjardins |
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Good
luck Patrice!
After close
to a year with us, Patrice, our sales representative
in Western Quebec, has decided to reorient his
career and return to his previous industry:
steel distribution.
On behalf of Patrice,
we would like to thank those who worked with
him, and for the support and confidence shown
to him during his time with Bleutec.
We wish him the
best of luck in his new endeavour!
The
Bleutec team
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