Industrial Solutions - Westbrook Mfg. Inc. Acquisition

Telamon's Industrial Solutions officially acquired Westbrook Mfg. Inc. on July 1, 2014. It's been about a month since then and we are very excited to have over 400 new employees based in Dayton, Ohio & Mexico! Be on the look out for more updates in our future blog posts, but for now, we wanted to take the opportunity to share our big news announcement once again.

Westbrook is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio and their primary manufacturing facility is located in Fresnillo, Mexico. Westbrook was founded in 1977 and since then has grown into a global leader in contract manufacturing with over 400 employees globally. Their core activities are focused on the assembly of components and custom wire harnesses.

Custom wire harness.

Stanley Chen, Telamon's COO, explained that this acquisition was a well-planned, strategic growth decision. "We have been looking at the harness industry for a while now. We believe the transportation market is primed for growth with increasing safety requirements and evolution of telematics. Finding a company with similar operating philosophies and culture that would provide an entry into this market was a challenge. That is why we were excited to find a company of Westbrook's caliber."

Telamon's acquisition of Westbrook will not affect current operations at any of other company's facilities. It will be "business as usual" with the exception of the name change to Telamon. Westbrook's customers can expect the same superior level of service and high quality products that is the hallmark of Westbrook. "In making this acquisition, we are adding additional value to both organizations. We believe that current Telamon services can add value to Westbrook customers and Westbrook services can add value to Telamon customers," commented Mr. Chen.

Westbrook's (now Telamon) office location in Dayton, Ohio.

Busines Process Solutions - To Outsource or Rightsize, That is the Question!

It's an interesting global economy as you have companies trying to figure out how to survive the downturn while others are expanding at a rapid pace. If there is one thing that I have learned over the years - the time for planning for survival is not when you are looking down the hole you have just dug. In fact, many times companies in this predicament cannot see past today to figure out the best solution, they are in "putting-out-fire" mode.

Ideally, a forward thinking organization has a strategy ready to execute either prior to any economic downtown or has already implemented the solution now to prevent future repercussions of a devastating blow. Whatever your company's strategy is, the question I would ask is "did you choose to outsource non-essential functions, or rightsize the organizational structure due to necessity"?

Any client-facing activity, in my opinion, should be kept in-house. Most organizations make the mistake of outsourcing critical areas of customer service, like call centers. Call center outsourcing may be fine for a service or product of low dollar value, but the higher the dollar value, the more reputation is at stake with customer retention. Look to outsource those functions/applications within your organization that are routine, time-consuming, and repetitive. With a good workflow process-design company like Telamon, these tasks are easily identifiable and the ROI is captured immediately. The task itself may only be 1 hour of an FTE per day, but if you have 20 FTE's doing the same work, then you can see how outsourcing this function not only saves money, but allows your current FTE's to focus on more cost effective, client facing activities.

Rightsizing, according to businessdictionary.com, is the process of a corporation reorganizing or restructuring their business by cost-cutting, reduction of workforce, or reorganizing upper-level management. The goal is to get the company molded properly to achieve the maximum profit. The term rightsizing is often used by companies instead of downsizing because it sounds less drastic. "The company felt that rightsizing was necessary after four quarters of losses."

Rightsizing itself has the perception of negativity. However, if positioned in a way that allows those employees remaining to upgrade their skill sets, then a positive outlook is achieved. This is achieved by combining outsourcing with rightsizing. The perfect time to outsource is during rightsizing. You simply take the tasks that were defined above and work with a solution provider to bring immediate savings. This allows you to rightsize appropriately, leaving subject matter experts (SMEs) at your organization to carry you through the downturn. As your company grows, you no longer need entry-level employees because you have found a strategic partner that continues to scale as you do. You continue to hire the SMEs, which actually get to do the work they were hired for, allowing for routine/non-critical functions to be processed by a true outsource partner.

-John Owen
VP of Sales
Business Process Solutions - Telamon Corporation
john.owen@telamon.com
317-818-6697

Medical Solutions - Future of Wearables, Trackables, and App Integration

A quick update based on the Google Keynote showcasing the future of wearables, trackables, and app integration.

Android Tablet/Phone Market Share 

http://bit.ly/1n7ObV4 

Active Android Users (30 Day Active Users): 

• 2011 - 77M 
• 2012 - 223M 
• 2013 - 538M 
• 2014 - Over 1B 

Tablet Market Share:

•  2012 - 39% 
• 2013 - 46% 
• 2014 - 62% 

AndroidOne (Low Cost Smart Phone) 

http://bit.ly/1xGdNf3

  

AndroidOne is designed for international markets at a low cost. Google identifies hardware components and software for manufacturers in international markets in order to help manufacturers product an affordable/locally-relevant smart phone.    

Android 'L' (Material Design) 

http://bit.ly/1ot702I

Android's next release will change most UI function/design on applications. This will change apps and widgets on smart phones and tablets.

Android Wear 

http://bit.ly/1qbH8cY

Introduction of the Android Wear capabilities, a smart watch with OS...includes built in support for pedometers, heart rate monitors, and nutrition logging. Two watches are currently on the market that include Android Wear OS: the Samsung Smart Watch and LG Smart Watch.

Samsung Smart Watch

 Enterprise

http://bit.ly/VzAOCG

Utilizing the new Android 'L' version, enterprise deployment is easier as data is separated between work and personal. Work applications and data can be managed by a corporate enterprise while protecting personal information on the same device. Enterprise can wipe data and application on the user's device and it will not affect the personal information on the phone.

Google Fit 

http://bit.ly/1oBu6Wv
 
Google Fit is an aggregate of different wearables and fitness applications to store data in a centralized location. Applications can utilize this data with permission from the user. Fitness brands include Adidas, Nike, ASUS, HTC, Intel, LG, Withings, Mio, Motrola, Noom, etc.

Telecom Solutions - What a Difference 7 Years Makes

I have been very fortunate in my lifetime to have been able to travel to Europe several times. As my career path took me into the world of telecommunications, I was always curious about the systems in place where I visited and how much they compared to ours in North America. What I saw 7 years ago shocked me into hysterical laughter - situations like the ones pictured below were commonplace.

 

 

I had been planning a family trip to Italy and was excited to use this theme for my blog. Imagine my surprise... 

In previous visits, telecom cables - sometimes mixed with power cables - were draped from window to window, resembling bunting, coiled into bundles and tacked to an outside wall or just lying on the sidewalk waiting to be tripped on or run over by car or pedestrian. As much as I looked for these outside plan nightmares on my recent visit, I could not find a single instance. What happened during the time I had been here? 

Well, a couple major things had happened - both of them interconnected, pun intended. In one word - data, and especially high speed data. We here in North America have become accustomed to instant access to information via our laptops, smartphones, and tablet devices. We need them to perform even the most basic tasks now - tasks we never would have thought of doing on these devices 15 to 20 years ago. In Europe, these services existed only in the domain of big businesses and government, certainly not ordinary citizens. That has changed and the countries that have embraced technological advances have made huge strides. I was amazed that every airport I visited had free Wi-Fi, something you do NOT see in most US airports, as well as many free mobile hot spots. There is even a name for the new look of the people using devices as they go through their day - iFace. Stand in front of a mirror and look down at your device and just move your eyes to see in the mirror what you look like. They used to be called double chins :) 

There is a second factor in the mad rush to technology. All of those cables dangling around were made of copper. Not only did copper become a very expensive commodity - and therefore subject to rampant theft and loss of services - it was not a good media for high speed data. Enter fiber optic cable - capable of carrying unlimited amounts of data over a strand about as thick as a single hair. So, decisions started being made about what to do in this situation - replace the copper to bring service back quickly or plan for an intensive fiber optic network build? As I mentioned in my previous blog regarding Smart Cities, many countries and municipalities teamed up with telecom, datacom, and broadcast service providers to design a buried network that would carry all of the traffic and build it at one time, causing huge disruption to streets and customers, but only once. These fiber networks also carried traffic, street lighting, irrigation, and security systems. The result is an amazing view of beautiful cities as they were intended to be viewed - without the obstruction of unsightly cables. And, and added bonus of instant data availability. On one stop in Lyon, France, there was evidence of a sense of humor as the communications tower below was made to look like a replica of the Eiffel Tower. 

I thought I would be disappointed not seeing all of the rats nests and gloating about our superior infrastructure, but instead I just enjoyed the beautiful views. Just don't get me started on the Autostrade - where the standard driving speed is 81 MPH...I aged five years on those drives. 

-Suzanne Beck
VP Business Development
Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation