Industrial Solutions - Anticipating the New Year!

I have always been a car guy. Even when I was a kid, I was a car guy. It’s odd because no one else in my family was even remotely interested in cars. When I was a little kid (and, no, I did not have a pet stegosaurus), I loved Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. I loved those little friction race cars, too. I’d push the car to the floor, pull it backward and then…wait…I could feel the tension in the little springs inside the car wanting to unleash the built up energy…I’d aim the car carefully and then let it go! It would shoot across my bedroom floor and crash into whatever obstacle I had created for it to destroy. 

Of course, it took planning and execution to create the desired destructive effects.

As Christmas is fast approaching (less than a week from this writing), the automotive industry prepares for the year to wrap up and to a great extent, shutdown for the rest of the year. What happens during that time reminds me of my younger days when I would plan those little destructive scenarios in my childhood bedroom. This is the time of preparation and suspenseful build up…waiting for the next year.

Playing with those cars, I learned that the more planning and effort that went into each scenario, the more spectacular the result. So, I take this time of year to check in with all of the folks that I am working with on the customer side to remind that we are still here and we eagerly await an opportunity to help each of them achieve their goals. 

I remind them that this is what we do.  We help them achieve their goals three ways:

·         By Simplifying the Manufacturing Processes

o   We Improve Efficiency

• By Eliminating Inefficient, Off-Line Assembly & Kitting Processes
• By Opening Manufacturing Floor Space, Allowing Greater Flexibility

·         By Simplifying the Management Processes

o   We Facilitate Fiscal Responsibility

• By Purchasing the Inventory, Improving Your Cash Flow
• By Controlling the Inventory & Managing Your Supply Base, Improving Your Allocation of Resources

·         By Simplifying Your Business

o   We Provide Peace of Mind

• By Using Our Interlocked Assembly System: Ensuring Quality (14 PPM FY12)
• By Using Our State of the Art MRP System: Ensuring On Time Delivery (99.5%)

So, as you prepare for 2014, consider the benefits of contacting Telamon Industrial Solutions to help you reach your goals for 2014 with spectacular results!

-John Weeks

Director of Sales
Industrial Solutions - Telamon Corporation

About Telamon Industrial Solutions:

Telamon Industrial Solutions provides Assembly, Kitting and Third Party Logistics (3PL) services in a culture of quality and efficiency that reduces our customer’s total cost of ownership using robust, unique design processes, creating a worry-free, cost effective purchasing experience.

Energy Solutions - IND Solar Farm Q&A

Vincent Liu, the head of Telamon’s solar division, answers some key questions regarding Telamon’s participation in the IND Solar Farm project at the Indianapolis International Airport.

·        What makes the IND Solar Farm the largest airport-based solar farm in the country?

The IND Solar Farm is a 12.5 megawatt DC solar photovoltaic system that encompasses 75 acres of land. At peak capacity, it has the capability to produce 16.5 megawatt hours of electric energy per year, which is enough to power more than 1,800 average American homes for one year. The solar farm consists of 44,128 panels, each capable of producing 280 watts at peak power production.

·         What will be done with the power produced?

The energy produced will be sold to Indianapolis Power & Light via a 15 year power purchase program.

·         Why was Telamon interested in the project initially?

Telamon was interested in the project because solar was a new market for us. We knew that winning the RFP would present us as a forward thinking leader in the solar industry since the IND Solar Farm is the largest airport-based solar farm in the country. The Indianapolis Airport Authority came up with the idea of putting a solar farm on their property. Telamon simply responded to the RFP.

·         What was it like to get funding for such a large project?

The project cost was $35-$40 million. Any utility-scale solar project developer knows that financing is always key to the success of project execution. Telamon has a strong balance sheet and good industry/banking relationships. Telamon’s core business has had an established, adequate financing mechanism for years and this solar project was of no concern.

·         What were some of the challenges Telamon faced?

Some of the challenges included: 

1. Solar is not big in Indiana, which is mainly a coal country. The incentive program is not widely adopted.
2. The original feed-in-tariff and tax burden makes the project not-bankable. It took a lot of effort to make legislative adjustment.
3. Since it is the first major utility solar project in the state, a large amount of coordination among all stake holders was required.

·         What was the most fun aspect of working on the solar farm?

For Telamon, working on this project was very fun. We were able to garner partnerships that we can continue to use for future airport solar installations. We also built a brand around the IND Solar Farm with a distinct logo and both web and social media presence. This has never been done before for any solar farm in the world. 

·         How long did the project take to construct?

The project began construction mid-March & finished mid-October, so a total of 7 months.

·         Looking back, is there anything you would change about the way you handled the project? What was the most important lesson learned? 

Persistence and having faith. There are always many uncertainties which can kill a project of this size. The biggest lessons are:

1. To build a strong partnership and not nickel and dime on every piece of the project.
2. Make sure the financing partner is strong and dependable.

For more information and to view real time monitoring of the solar farm, please visit the IND Solar Farm website at www.indsolarfarm.com.

Business Process Solutions - Focusing on Faster Resolution Time by Liberating Your Staff

Holiday preparations are well underway. Nothing else seems to remind us about squeezing every moment out of a single day as a typical workday during the holiday season. Therefore, if you're looking for ideas on how to improve customer relationships to kick off the new year, then Telamon's Business Process Solutions division is here to help your business. We help our customers by managing their redundant document management processes, so our clients' staff can focus on improving customer resolution times.

There is no question that speed is considered a hallmark of good customer service. Customer response efficiency metrics often focus on measuring the speed to first response time. Keep in mind that your team could pick up a phone call within two rings or average an hour respond time via e-mail - however, if they are spending 2-3 correspondences with the customer to solve one issue, then you might not be deploying your staff the most efficiently.

Here is one example on how to enhance your document management workflow to empower your staff to solve cases as fast as possible during the holiday crunch. Consider using a business process management partner, such as Telamon, as a resource to process data entry tasks, indexing, post payments, etc. Our skilled staff will integrate with your existing business process methods. While we execute the workflow and handle the majority of e-mail support related to workflow issues, your staff is liberated and gets involved only when needed. The concept allows managers to focus on streamlining faster customer resolutions. 

Medical Solutions - HITECH ACT Takeaways

Telamon recently participated in the Indiana Healthcare Symposium on November 13, 2013.

The symposium focused on many topics, but specifically an impactful presentation on the changes in the HITECH Act. The HITECH Act is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which “seeks to improve American health care delivery and patient care”. The HITECH Act specifically lists IT standards and requirements for security and safety. 

In attendance, Stephen Etter, Telamon Medical Solutions Technical Writer, captured the following summary changes in the HITECH Act that is important for service provider and IT companies to understand:

Final Rule:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-01-25/pdf/2013-01073.pdf

HITECH Increased Enforcement: 

• Reasonably Unaware: $100.00 per violation; $25,000 max per year
• Reasonable Cause: $1,000 per violation; $100,000 max per year
• Willful Neglect - $10,000 per violation; $250,000 max per year; $50,000 violation; $1.5 million per year if not corrected in 30 days

OCR Recent Enforcement: 

Affinty Health Plan - 1.2 million

Wellpoint - 1.7 million

Business Associates:

BA and subcontractors now have direct liability and will be subject to HIPAA Audits.

BA must have Risk Analysis and Policy/Procedures for security safeguards per the final rule.

Breach Notification: 

New breach notification procedures and policies went into effect. BA or Health Organizations have to tell the individual even if there is a minimal risk to their data. Acquisition, access, use or disclosure of unsecured PHI is not permitted by the Privacy Rule unless there is low probability the PHI has been compromised based on risk assessment. Standard of 500 + patients must require notification to the media and notification to the Secretary.

Risk Factors:

1. Nature and extent of PHI involved, including types of identifiers and likelihood of re-id

2. Unauthorized person who used PHI or to whom disclosure was made

3. Whether PHI was actually acquired or viewed

4. Extent to which risk to PHI has been mitigated

Telecom Solutions - The Evolution of a Customer

From my previous blog posts, I have written about how Telamon got its start as an equipment provider to a large telecommunications carrier and how we have grown into providing integration and installation services.  This evolution was predicated on the need of our customers to reduce their costs and speed the deployment of new technologies – two vital components of staying competitive in a rapidly changing environment. 

Recently, Telamon has been awarded several contracts which have not only cemented our future with our existing carrier customers, but have applied our original business model to an entirely different customer – equipment manufacturers.  These manufacturers, seeing the success that we've had, realized that providing solutions (fulfillment, distribution, product integration, engineering, design or deployment) can translate into cost savings and additional market share.

By utilizing Telamon’s vast experience and logistical presence, OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers) have been able to free up their own resources to do what they do best and transfer that work to us.  One can imagine how expensive it is to have a team devoted to product integration or installation – the cost of facilities, specialized equipment and training – but also the loss of revenue if you can’t get the product to market quickly.  OEM’s now ship product directly to our warehouses where we package it into racks or cabinets based upon the end customer specification or configuration.  We then act as the installation team for that OEM – sometimes even wearing shirts with the OEM name on it! – to ensure that the product is deployed properly.  The last step is to perform full test and turn up before leaving the site with two happy customers – the end customer and the equipment manufacturer.

-Suzanne Beck

VP Business Development

Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation 

Industrial Solutions - Reflections on the NMSDC Conference and Business Opportunity Fair

During the last week of October, the National Minority Supplier Development Council held their annual conference and trade fair.  This is a very important event for minority suppliers as it is one of the best opportunities of the year for minority and women owned businesses to network with some of the largest companies in North America.

I have no idea what the final attendance number is but I would estimate that there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 people there.  For the buyers and purchasing agents working for these major corporations, the task of sifting through all of the potential suppliers must be daunting…maybe to the point of paralysis!  There is a concept in psychology called “cognitive overload”, where the mind has way more information coming in than it can handle. I can imagine that is how many people left this year’s conference.

So, for any of you who are suffering from this condition, please allow me to offer some relief by reminding you of what makes Telamon Industrial Solutions the best and only choice for your manufacturing support needs.

Telamon Industrial Solutions had a few competitors at the trade fair but I was struck by four key differences that really make Telamon Industrial Solution stand above the rest:

1.      Attention to Detail.  The level of detail that Telamon pours into each part number assembled is extraordinary.  Every step in the manufacturing process is very precise and intentional for the sole purpose of being the most effective way to endure quality with the end product.

2.      In Process Quality Checks.  Every step of the manufacturing process is interlocked with the step before the step afterward to assure that every step is taken correctly and exactly to plan to virtually guarantee a high quality part every time.

3.       Engineering Expertise and Diversity of Products Manufactured.  The background of our engineering group is diverse and deep.  Because of this, Telamon Industrial Solutions has the ability to assess any kind of assembly of any size. We are also well aware of our limitations and will not quote something that we know that we cannot do with the absolute highest level of quality.

4.       Complete Supply Chain Management. Our capability to manage a large, global supply chain both physically and financially is a major differentiator. Many of our competitors do not have the financial resources that Telamon has and therefore cannot offer the level of service at the cost levels that we can.

We have the background, resources and expertise to provide a worry-free purchasing experience. Our desire is to partner with you to help you be as efficient, focused and profitable as possible.  Call us and let’s talk about what Telamon Industrial Solutions can do for you!

About Telamon Industrial Solutions:

Telamon Industrial Solutions provides Assembly, Kitting and Third Party Logistics (3PL) services in a culture of quality and efficiency that reduces our customer’s total cost of ownership using robust, unique design processes, creating a worry-free, cost effective purchasing experience.

-John Weeks

Director of Sales

Industrial Solutions -Telamon Corporation

Energy Solutions - Bill Payment

I was exposed to "expense management" while working for a consulting research and advisory company a few years ago. It is the outsourcing of corporate bill management (and sometimes payment). Over the last few years, it has become more accepted as a standard "best practice" for business. Here are some basics to help you better determine if expense management is right for you.

The cornerstone of an effective energy management program is the secure collection of reliable, relevant and independent points of data. 

Billing data, metering data, and the like - these are the data points that energy management is built upon.

Next, it is important to understand that what we call "utility bills" are better understood as "customer statements". These are not simply a demand for payment, but rather one of the best and easiest ways that your service provider can communicate with you. Important data points can be extracted from statements that when aggregated can provide visibility on important trends involving cost and usage.

Having a single system that can manage all of the data is one of the first steps in creating an enterprise-wide energy strategy. It is also one of the lowest cost/highest impact steps an organization can take in understanding their company/facility energy position.

When billing data is compared to metering data, an independent measurement and verification process is established, which is also critical to an energy strategy. This process drives erroneous data out of the system and validates future energy savings against projected savings. The benefits of this process cannot be adequately described in a blog post.

Telamon Global Bill Management collects, processes and reports on billing data from over 150 countries. 

Today, one Fortune 300 customer has saved over $200K in the first year by using Telamon's CUBP (Custom Utility Bill Payment) and is significantly expanding the program in 2014.


What does Telamon's CUBP offer you?

• Reduces Late Fees
• Validates/Corrects Proper Rate Structure
• Validates Energy Reduction Activities
• Facilitates Strategic Purchases of Energy Contracts
• Provides intelligence and impact regarding significant energy cost increases
• Over 20 different bill types available
• International Bill Payment
• Automated CO2 Reporting (Domestic & Global) 
• Sub-Metering
• Freight & Fleet

 If energy is one your mind, call us today for help in getting a handle on your energy environment. Telamon gives you the tools and data to make the best decision for your organization.

-Mark Brown
Channel & Business Development
Telamon Energy Solutions

Business Process Solutions - Value Stream Analysis

Whether your business operates from a single region or country, whether your business has five locations or thirty, many of your competitors are global or trying to expand globally. To compete, you must first level the playing field. Continually enhance the quality, control, transparency and visibility of your business workflow. Telamon's Business Process Solutions division embraces these challenges with our proven Business Process Value Stream Analysis and Solution Builder consulting services. We know evaluating business processes can be daunting, especially amid rapid change and growth; our team is committed to sharing our expertise and knowledge sense so your team can make accurate business decisions.

Traditional business process outsourcing is primarily about reducing costs through labor arbitrage, with little incentive to improve business processes through automation or transformation. Our "transformational business process" approach offers more than just quoting a cheaper price. First, we work onsite with you to assess processes and identify potential game-changing opportunities.

Our process engineers will analyze our workflow and draft a value stream analysis map. The map provides insight to your process-based workflow, your assets and resources enabling the right focus, helping you decide where to innovate and what not to change. We then drive this to execution - aligning technologies, mobilizing people through change management, and making rapid adjustments to both.

While many companies offer technology as a one-size-fits-all solution, we provide customized workflow solutions that consider all elements of your unique business processes. The combination of skills, approaches, assets and tools generate value quickly for our customers, delivery measurable and sustaining results.

One of our specialists will spend two to three days onsite proactively collecting, collating, and managing all relevant scanning, document management, and workflow information into a single centralized view of your value stream analysis map. Once the information is collected and organized, a value stream analysis map is drawn. If we determine that a customized solution offers our client the best value, we will propose to develop a custom system for their operation. We are only interested in promoting process improvement while delivering value.

Similar expert business process consulting services usually target large Fortune 100 clients exclusively. We focus on empowering middle market companies with valuable business insights. We apply proven methods to improve processes, integrate technology and establish meaningful reporting mechanisms while gaining overall operational efficiencies.

Medical Solutions - Trade Show Takeaways

The last medical solutions blog introduced 3 key events that the medical solutions team would be participating in. Read on for the takeaways:

Owens & Minor Healthcare Supplier Diversity Symposium: Creating a Formulary for Sustainable Success in the Healthcare Supply Chain 

The 8th Annual HealthCare Supplier Diversity Symposium (HSDS) was held in Short Pump, Richmond, Virginia on September 23-24, 2013. From humble beginnings - the first symposium originated in a conference room - to the fanfare of opening the 8th Annual Symposium: The symposium provided an excellent format for discussion and discovery this year. 

Sponsored by Owens & Minor in partnership with Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council (VMSDC), the Healthcare Supplier Diversity Alliance (HSDA), and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE), this year's HSDS discussed: 

• The challenges of minority businesses to scale and innovate in the face of healthcare reform and healthcare technology convergence  
• The opportunities for minority businesses to partner together and identify single source and innovative solutions to support healthcare systems  
• The importance of technology in supporting efficiency, effectiveness and validating measurements and continued improvement 
• The importance of understanding the healthcare use case 
• The power of healthcare - diverse supplier relationships in Virginia - the extension of the model throughout the US 
• The opportunity for thought leadership and true diversity of thought in healthcare through impacts and influences from all other industries - must adopt mental shift to adapt to physical change 

For daily promotion of how to create a formulary for sustainable success in the healthcare supply chain, continue discovery by: 

• Reading Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect.  Excerpted from the medicigroup.com [Johansson takes us to a] place where ideas and concepts from diverse industries, cultures, departments, and disciplines collide, ultimately igniting an explosion of ideas leading to extraordinary innovations. THE MEDICI EFFECT has been translated into 18 languages.  
• Researching and leveraging your local National Minority Supplier Development Council - www.nmsdc.org 
• Signing up for supplier diversity partnerships in the healthcare industry: http://www.hsdafordiversity.org 

Indiana Employee Health & Wellness Summit 

Behavior Change Process
Wellness Programs are built to inspire behavior changes in the population. Within the behavior change continuum:

• 5% of the battle is making the population aware of what programs are available through education
• 25% is to equip providers and participants with the skills and tools necessary to administer and participate in those programs
• 30% of the process is spent on motivating providers and participants to be a part of the programs
• 40% of the effort is spent on setting the environment and policies to cope with the programs

Actionable Results
In the continuum, the medical solutions group aims to help organizations:

• Collect the (biometric screening event or wellness) data
• Convert that data in to useful information (benchmarks and integrated data)
• Use that information to gain insight through (custom reporting)

Employers' Forum of Indiana

Discussions were centered around the Affordable Care Act and its impacts on the self-insured employers as well as Wellness Program changes. The Act is supposed to create new incentives and build on existing Wellness Programs and encourage opportunities to support healthier workplaces. The Act goes on to define categories for workplace Wellness Programs:

"Participatory" Wellness Programs generally are available without regard to an individual's health status (i.e. fitness center membership discounts, no-cost health education seminars, incentivizing employees to complete health risk assessments, etc.).

"Health-Contingent" Wellness Programs generally requires individuals to meet a specific standard related to their health to obtain a reward (i.e. providing rewards for those who do not use/decrease the use of tobacco, providing rewards to those who achieve a specified biometric reading target, etc.)

The Affordable Care Act also increases the maximum permissible reward from 20% to 30% of the cost of health coverage and further increases the maximum reward to as much as 50% for programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fswellnessprogram.html).

EXTRA: Life Sciences Summit

This year, the Indiana Life Sciences Summit had three focuses:

• The politics of innovation in healthcare with Indiana's answers to the politics of innovation in healthcare (participants were: Hill & Knowlton Strategies, Cook Group, Wellpoint, Biomet Biologics and Roche Diagnostics). The politics of innovation in healthcare analyzed the healthcare trends, government regulations and political influences in the healthcare industry. 
• The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute: A Collaboration to Innovate Smarter, Faster and Better
• Weathering the Capital Crunch Life Sciences Funding Opportunities and Challenges

 

Telecom Solutions - What Does Telecommunications Mean?

The term telecommunications may have different meanings to people even those in the telecommunications industry.  To some, it might describe either equipment - such as your phone or a digital switch – to others, it might describe voice or data traffic carried over copper or fiber cables.

In Telamon’s world, we cover all aspects of the telecommunications spectrum.  From the office desktop to the cell site or central office, we have the capability to design and build a data or telecom network end to end.  From our humble beginnings in the integration of high tech digital switch equipment, we have broadened our horizons to include capabilities within low voltage enterprise networks, video broadband services,  RF and microwave as well as outside plant.  For someone not involved in the industry, these specialties are meaningless but to Telamon each of these areas require a unique skill set and specialized training.  

Telamon has dedicated time and capital to develop not only the personnel but also providing the tools required to deliver the highest quality products at a competitive price.  We pride ourselves on the ability to meet a customers initial needs and then dazzle them with our additional capabilities.  Just as the telecommunications networks of yesterday have evolved to today's marvels of engineering and technology, Telamon has evolved and grown to support these exciting advances in this broadly based word called “telecommunications”. 

-Suzanne Beck

VP Business Development

Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Industrial Solutions - Fish Where The Fish Are!

On Tuesday of this week, I was in Peoria, Illinois for the Heart of Illinois Business to Business Symposium where Ulice Payne, Jr., Managing Member of Addison-Clifton, LLC, was the Keynote Speaker. 

Mr. Payne told us to “Fish where the fish are!” He then explained that the statement is not as obvious as it sounds.

If we take a step back and are honest with ourselves, we may realize that there are times that we are either fishing where there are no fish or trying to herd fish into a space they were never destined to be in so that we can fish in that particular spot.  Once realized, these are easy enough to correct.

However, what is even harder to believe is that sometimes there are fish in places that no one knows are there.

I’m not a fisherman but I have several friends and family members who are and one of the most common discussion points is where and when to fish.  There never seems to be any clear agreement as each has their own idea that they believe is best.  The fun part of these conversations is when someone has to admit that someone else was right.

Pride.  What a nasty thing!  Pride prevents us from so much because we are afraid of how we will look to others around us – and even worse – to our superiors!

One of the hardest things for me to do in selling Telamon Industrial Solutions is to convince potential customers that they actually do need us.  In a way, it is like telling them that we know something about their operations that they don’t.  In essence, it’s like telling the guy who owns the lake that you can find fish in his lake that he can’t.  So the first thing to overcome is the customer’s own sense of personal pride. 

We approach our customers differently in order to avoid or overcome this potential stumbling block.  We approach our customers as potential life-long business partners…not just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, same-as-any-other…customer.

We aim to partner with our customer to simplify their business.  We don’t challenge them so as to make them defensive but rather offer a fresh set of eyes to their situation, often knowing that our customer – make that the actual person we work with – often feels like they are all alone in what they do.  Everyone likes to feel validated. 

So, if you are not currently a Telamon customer-partner, then contact us today and tell us what your pain points are…what keeps you up at night…and let us come along side and help you fix them!

It’s your lake; we just want to help you find all your fish so you can make the most out of your lake!

-John Weeks

Director of Sales
Industrial Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Energy Solutions - Where Green Meets Green

“I am a greedy capitalist.” So began a discussion in Chicago recently by executives of Walgreens to discuss their soon-to-be opened “Net Zero” store in Evanston, Illinois. It is a living laboratory demonstrating what is possible with current energy technologies available today – a regular operating store that produces more energy than it consumes during the course of an 18 hour day.

In the process, they have received INTERNATIONAL coverage on their commitment to the environment. Through the design and construction process, they have already identified technologies and practices that can be implemented throughout the entire network of stores to help further drive energy costs down.

More importantly however are those so called “intangible benefits” that cannot be bought and are seldom handed over on a silver platter. Creating a brand is one thing.

Living your brand – in the case of Walgreens, “Where Happy Meets Healthy” - is quite another.

In a tight and competitive marketplace, they will single-handedly capture a significant percentage of the environmental demographic; simply because they chose to be leaders instead of followers.

It is these types of benefits that change “Happy” to “Healthy”, and is the point where “Green meets Green”…in other words, where environmental sensibility meets economic impact. It’s time to throw off the shackles of “metering this” and “auditing that”. It’s time to examine the big picture as a whole; a building, even an entire organization, as a single living unit.

As I write this today, a dysfunctional political system plays out in the news every hour that I would attribute to slaves of thinking “inside the box”. I say the world needs heroes – people that will challenge the conventional ways of thinking. Maybe your company is the one that can lead changed attitudes in your industry. There are only a few pioneers; the rest are followers.

As the speakers dug into the details yesterday, it was interesting to note some similarities with Telamon’s Energy Lifecycle Management program – that were independently selected as “best practice” efforts. We would be happy to share those with you and to introduce you to a new way of evaluating energy, finances and operations. With proven expertise, and best in breed products, services and strategies; my suggestion is to engage with us and let Telamon’s Energy Solutions be your map to a place where green meets green.

-Mark Brown
Channel & Business Development
Telamon Energy Solutions

Business Process Solutions - Software Is A Service

Yes, software-is-a-service (SiaS) looks different. In fact, the delivery model is quite different from your typical on-demand business application. Telamon's Business Process Solutions division offers a unique delivery model to middle market companies seeking to improve their finance and accounting operation. SiaS shifts the focus from a technology hosted in the cloud to a collaborative workforce where Telamon is the service, not the software.

There is an abundance of overly hyped software as a service (SaaS) delivery models available to middle market managers promising a comprehensive application to streamline their accounting functions, content management, and integration with their current resource management system. Yet, in reality, many of these managers face situations that make it unrealistic or improbable to rely solely on a single application hosted in the cloud.

Middle market managers need help with a myriad of tasks, such as implementation, training, and the overall acceptance of an efficient system that works across multiple locations. It isn¹t uncommon that some of their departments need to link to different management systems. However, the scope of the accounting operation and budgets do not warrant the implementation of a complete organization wide system overhaul or the adoption of a complex and costly enterprise resource planning system.

Telamon understands these challenges specific to middle market managers, and focuses on adding value with proven solutions for accounting operations that revolve around a system of static spreadsheets, Microsoft databases, SharePoint servers spread across disparate departments. SiaS adds managerial checkpoints and audits where they are needed. Telamon empowers middle market accounting departments by preemptively addressing lengthening and declining accounts payable service parameters. As one Telamon client stated, "There was no one single process, no single system out there, we had a lot of little problems, and it was all due to lack of collaboration and communication between our departments. Telamon has provided us with a meaningful solution that accurately processes our accounting AP workflow". Telamon offers much more than virtualization. Telamon provides a skilled workforce that reduces constraints, improves efficiency, and reduces costs while minimizing disruption to your accounting department.

Medical Solutions - Upcoming Trade Shows

In the upcoming weeks, Telamon's Medical Solutions division will be participating in three key trade shows including:

Owens & Minor Healthcare Supplier Diversity Symposium: Creating a Formulary for Sustainable Success in the Healthcare Supply Chain (September 23-24)
The goal of the symposium is to raise awareness of the opportunities for supplier diversity in healthcare, foster business opportunities for diverse organizations with healthcare providers, surgery centers, Group Purchasing Organizations, the Federal Government, manufacturers, and distributors, and to develop diverse suppliers for excellence in the healthcare supply chain. 

Indiana Employee Health & Wellness Summit (September 30-October 1)
At the summit, attendees will learn how to implement effective wellness programs including how to collect and analyze data to find out what's working and how to measure your return on investment. 

Employers' Forum of Indiana (October 8)
The forum includes large public and private employers, physicians, hospitals, public officials, insurers, health plans and other interested parties. The objective of the forum is to work as a community to address the challenges of the local healthcare marketplace. 

Tune in for Medical Solutions' next blog to find out the takeaways from these trade shows!

Telecom Solutions - Success Story

Very rarely does one get the opportunity to hear a customer sell the merits of your company to one of his co-workers.  Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of listening to an “elevator pitch” from a client, who has had extensive experience with Telamon, relay the multiple reasons why his current employer should use us for their telecommunication needs.  He went on to describe how Telamon was tasked, nearly 30 years ago, to become a reseller for a major equipment manufacturer.  This manufacturer had a chronic issue with long lead times and, as a major supplier, was causing serious delays in the upgrade to the digital network. By taking on this responsibility, Telamon was able to reduce the lead time from 3 months to 3 days!

The customer went on to describe how Telamon, after successfully setting up a business strictly stocking and providing product locally, had then been asked to engineer this product into cabinets for easier installation into the network. Telamon built up an engineering group focusing on this new line of business and was able to continuously develop new configurations to meet the evolving demands of the digital network. The natural segue was to then provide a highly trained installation group which would not only understand but ingrain the customers rigorous quality standards and processes into the teams DNA.  

The customer went on to explain how Telamon has been used as the standard bearer and the business model for others wanting to provide these services into this market although none have come close to succeeding as Telamon has.  In his listing of the many distinct areas we have performed services – outside plant, transport, central office, broadcast video – makes one realize the strong relationships that can be formed when a company continuously strives to provide the services required of its customers.  We at Telamon truly believe that our task is to “simplify business” and it’s wonderful to hear direct from our customers exactly how we have accomplished this!

-Suzanne Beck

VP Business Development

Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Industrial Solutions - Chrysler Matchmaker

3 Reasons Why This Event Is So Important

Last week, we posted a link to the 14^th Annual Chrysler Matchmaker event. We have been participating in this event since Telamon Industrial Solutions was created.  Over the last 30 years and even through various ups and downs of their ownership, Chrysler has taken the biggest initiative of the Detroit 3 automakers in supporting minority (MBE), women (WBE) and veteran (VOBs) owned businesses get a fair chance to earn business with some of the world’s largest corporations.  The Matchmaker is one of the largest and most innovative supplier diversity events in the automotive industry.

Reason #1 – Opportunity

Chrysler mandates that their internal Purchasing Department spends a certain percentage of their yearly spend on MBEs, WBEs and VOBs.  This figure has grown over the years to be well over 10% of their annual spend since the first Matchmaker.  Beyond just their internal initiatives, Chrysler has also mandated that their Tier I suppliers create and drive supplier diversity programs through their Purchasing Departments.  However, just creating a program is not sufficient for Chrysler.  They have created goals for their suppliers that parallel their own.  This in turn creates even more opportunities for diverse suppliers.

Reason #2 – Credibility

Chrysler screens all of the diverse suppliers that are allowed to attend the Matchmaker to make sure that they are real diverse companies with enough credibility to earn an invitation.  Not just any diverse company can attend and display at the Matchmaker. Suppliers who want to attend have to apply to Chrysler online for their review.  Only those that Chrysler specifically invites to their headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan can display at the Matchmaker.  This gives the people at Chrysler and their Tier 1s a sense of peace and confidence about working with those specific diverse suppliers.

Reason #3 – Accountability

When Chrysler created diversity goals for their suppliers, they created the Matchmaker as a way to help them find companies that will help them reach Chrysler’s targets.  Chrysler also holds the suppliers accountable on an annual basis for their diversity spend as part of their annual performance review.

Chrysler also went one step farther with the Matchmaker as they also hold those who attend accountable for the connections and business generated from each year’s event.  Everyone has to report opportunities and sales on a monthly basis.  This gives Chrysler not only the information they need to validate the effectiveness of the Matchmaker but also to serve as a constant reminder that Supplier Diversity is not just “the flavor of the day” or “just another metric”, but that it is a part of their culture and their desire that it become part of their supplier’s culture as well.

The Chrysler Matchmaker is one of the most significant supplier diversity events of the year.  It is a place where major corporations can see and learn of the significant value that diverse companies offer to help them improve in virtually every category.  I look forward to this event every year as I know that I will learn something from it and also to see what new and exciting opportunities will develop for Telamon.

-John Weeks

Director of Sales

Industrial Solutions - Telamon Corporation

About Telamon Industrial Solutions:

Telamon Industrial Solutions provides Assembly, Kitting and Third Party Logistics (3PL) services in a culture of quality and efficiency that reduces our customer’s total cost of ownership using robust, unique design processes, creating a worry-free, cost effective purchasing experience.