Energy Solutions - STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!

Energy management is a crowded marketplace with a variety of messages and value propositions made by a motley group of various interests, technologies and consultants. It isn’t simple. There is a wide range of buying motivations that will greatly impact how a company looks at energy management and what value proposition they are looking for. How is anyone supposed to make sense of all of it?

Here’s an idea…a phrase from my childhood where I lived across the street from a busy railroad track: Stop. Look. And Listen.

STOP!

That may seem like an odd first step, but there is a method to the madness. Chances are, in your company there are a variety of individual efficiency projects that are going on in quiet corners of almost every facility. The marketing department, looking for a new P.R. campaign that shows the company is concerned about the environment, is trying to push through a solar array on any building that it can take pictures of and distribute through newswires. Every day, lighting contractors are trying to create an ROI for installing new efficient lighting while HVAC contractors are trying to create an ROI for an upgrade, and there are plenty of solar companies out there happy to talk with your marketing wizards.

Pushing through all of those requests for individual projects overwhelms an already over-burdened purchasing department. They compete for dollars with Operations who is asking for money to upgrade production equipment that will increase productivity and/or lower unit cost. The constant barrage of “saving energy” projects eventually dulls the senses and devalues an important message. Most importantly, in the world of carbon accounting – efficiencies gained prior to the creation of an energy baseline are lost forever. That is what is called “Leaving dollars on the table.”

LOOK!

The most recent studies by energy management thinkers are finding that most companies would benefit from a holistic approach to energy management. A recent study by Groom Energy found that “No single energy management system meets all needs.” It is also important to look outside of your company to see what your competition is doing. Many companies now see the benefits of energy management as a competitive edge with regards to cost, risk and good P.R. (see last month’s article for more on that). Opportunity costs must also be calculated – what is the cost of doing nothing? Taking a look at all of these items will help you make better energy management decisions for yourself and your company.

LISTEN!

Listen to your employees. They want the company to succeed and may have good ideas that simply need attention, direction and data. Listen to your customers. Those that don’t care about sustainability and the environment won’t change their buying patterns regardless. Those that do care vote with their pocketbook – strongly. Listen to a trusted advisor – like Telamon. Our flexible, holistic approach will ensure the right results for your company. 

-Mark Brown

Channel & Business Development
Telamon Energy Solutions

Business Process Solutions - Problem/Solution

The Problem: 
In today's economy companies are looking to their finance function for insights that will drive business improvement. Telamon's Business Process Solutions division has the next-generation approach to help. Recently, a well-known bank in the Midwest approached Telamon looking for a more efficient method to organize and centralize storage retrieval of bank signature cards (the account holder's signature) across multiple bank locations.

The Solution:
Only the signature area from a document is captured and clipped as an image file and appears as a field, not a scan of the entire bank signature card document. Next, the account holder's details, account number and branch identification number are indexed into the cloud-based document management system. Telamon also audits and reports back to bank managers any bank signature cards that are missing signatures so they can follow-up. Because the solution doesn't capture the entire document and only the signature area, uploading and scrolling the entire document to locate the account holder's signature has been eliminated. The search and validation process is now much more efficient - saving significant time and cutting costs! 

Medical Solutions - Recent Events

Recently, Telamon's Medical Solutions division has participated in various activities involving the healthcare industry. Read on for an update from our medical solutions team!

FIME Show

The FIME show is the largest medical-related trade show in the U.S. The show occurs once a year with more than 2,500 medical-related vendors attend from all over the world. It provides a great opportunity for attendees to learn about the trends for medical suppliers and devices. Telamon has attended the show throughout the years to seek potential partners and learn about the major players in the medical arena. 

Entrepreneur Bootcamp 
The Entrepreneur Bootcamp was hosted by Launch Fishers and put on by Techpoint. The event was held to help equip 100 early-stage to seed-stage entrepreneurs with the skills and information they need to be successful and catalyze the next wave of start-up activity in Indiana. Entrepreneurs also had the chance to compete for thousands of dollars in investment and services. Telamon's participation was to attend and learn about the current trends in the technology market from the dozen or so start-up experts and companies. Current funding and market trends are moving heavily on Internet/SaaS (Software as a Service) and more specifically in Healthcare IT and Big Data. This plays well into the current focus that Telamon's medical division is pursuing.

Hoosier Healthcare Innovation Challenge (HHIC)
HHIC is a dynamic, results-driven competition intended to bring together healthcare and technology professionals from around the state to identify and create solutions to some of the most challenging problems in healthcare. The challenge was started by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2012, and Telamon has participated for the last 1 years. This year, Telamon submitted a solution called IN-PERCENT (Indiana Pregnancy Resource Center) to the Pregnancy Application challenge that was submitted by the Indiana State Department of Health. The challenge was to help reduce the state's infant mortality rate by delivering important educational information to expectant mothers. While Telamon was not chosen as a finalist, we generated some great ideas and quite possibly a new product offering within the medical solutions product portfolio!

Telecom Solutions - Technology Deployment

Almost 30 years ago, Telamon was asked by a major telecommunications company to perform the integration work described in our last blog.  As we learned more about the sophisticated telecommunications equipment that we were packaging for them, it became a natural evolution to begin installing these products into their networks. 

This sounds easy, however, Telamon needed to build a new division from the ground up which mirrored our clients installation organization. This required hiring and training high quality individuals who understood the importance of maintaining very stringent quality standards.  Knowing that one is potentially working with critical circuits such as 911 has a way of reminding a technician of the importance of doing your very best work all the time.  As the years go by and technology advances, Telamon has been able to nimbly adapt to these changes and continue to provide the installation services beyond central offices to small telecom sites – remote terminals or service units – and cell sites for wireless traffic.  We now enjoy a reputation for providing quality installation and engineering services nationwide to a broad range of customers.  Several of our large OEM partners have also chosen Telamon to be their installation team for their customer base which has taken us into industries such as education, utilities, manufacturing and healthcare.

Installation Equipment

The telecom giant that gave us our start continues to be one of our largest customers and works with us to find new opportunities to take mutual advantage of our capabilities.  Telamon is very proud of how we have contributed to the growth of the telecommunications industry and constantly adapts to address this dynamic, changing environment.

-Suzanne Beck

VP Business Development

Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Industrial Solutions - Two Challenges & One Key Point

I have a challenge for you: 

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
2. Now, take a step forward with your right foot, but leave your left foot in place as if you were in mid-step.
3. Now, without lifting your left foot, take another step forward with your right foot.

Result:  It probably didn’t work out very well.  You might have been able to do it but it was awkward, difficult and not very efficient.

Here’s another one:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
2. Now, lift your right foot off the ground - it doesn't matter how high, as long as it isn't touching the ground.
3. Now, slowly, gradually, without putting your foot down, lift your left foot off the ground.

Result:  As cool as it would have been to actually do this, I’ll bet you didn’t even try this. Once you read the instructions; you realized that it is not possible.  (If you were able to do it; look me up – we’ll make millions!)

My point is this: There are many ways to do things the wrong way and far fewer ways to do things the right way.  Typically, there is only one, really effective and efficient way to do anything.  Since we cannot levitate, we usually have to walk to get from one place to another and there is really only one efficient way to walk – one step at a time, alternating feet.

Doing things effectively and efficiently is part of Telamon Culture.  This is reflected in everything that we do but none so clearly demonstrable as in Telamon Industrial Solutions’ assembly services.

When the Telamon Industrial Solutions’ engineers design an assembly process for our customers, they break the assembly down until a simple, step by step process emerges.  They then take it one step farther and incorporate “interlocks” between the steps to ensure that the previous step in the assembly process was done correctly. 

This attention to detail and clever application of quality checks is one of the key ways that Telamon industrial Solutions ensures the highest level of quality for our customers. 

“Prove it!” you say?  OK…

• 14 PPM (parts per million) over the last two years with initiatives to drive it to zero 
• 99.5% OTD (on time delivery) for nearly two years straight 

I have one last challenge for you:

1. Let Telamon Industrial Solutions simplify your business
2. Enjoy your reduced cost of ownership 

Result:  Satisfaction!

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 - Four Motivators in Energy Management

If you have even casually looked into energy management services for your organization, have you noticed the wide range of options? The differences are more significant than simply branding. It is a more difficult (and meaningful) choice than asking “Do I want a Coke? Or Pepsi?”

Have you ever asked yourself why? 

Some of it is related to the lack of a common consensus of what certain terms are, what constitutes a “best practice” in energy management, or companies who exploit customer confusion as to what energy management is. But under the hood and behind the jargon, there are several very different approaches to a class of products and services that are loosely grouped under the energy management umbrella. I find there are four main drivers that support energy management services – each with its own motivations, risk tolerance and financial needs. 

The four areas are a.) Cost Containment, b.) Public Perception, c.) True Green Believers, and d.) Risk Management. 

As we cover each, I encourage you to consider your motivations and interests. The more you can share with your energy partner, the better job they can do in helping you achieve your goals. 

Cost Containment

The number one driver for energy management today is to contain or reduce costs in the production of goods or in the delivery of a service. Consider the following: heating and forming metal in a foundry to produce automobiles, or the cost of running heat generating equipment that must be kept cool in data centers, providing the right kind of lighting, temperature and humidity to keep shoppers comfortable in a retail setting: all of these are very different and yet intensive users of energy. 

Energy costs are rising quickly – more quickly than the general public is likely aware of. However, in a stagflation-like economic climate that is combined with increasing competition from overseas – these costs are not easily passed on the consumers. With economic turmoil having lasted over 6 years now, everything that was easy has been done. You may have noticed fewer pieces per package, or that a half gallon of ice cream is no longer a half gallon. Today I even noticed my stick of Trident gum is noticeably smaller than it was a few years ago. These types of cost cutting methods without raising prices are common in the grocery industry. As companies look for new ways to cut costs, energy is getting its share of the limelight. 

Public Perception

Public perception is a driving motivator for companies that rely on the general public to buy their products, but are generally seen as harmful to the environment. Automotive companies, chemical companies, paper mills and others look for ways to “offset” byproducts of the manufacturing process (or that are produced by their own product) by investing in clean technology and energy conservation. For them, cost containment is a side benefit. As they implement projects, they publicize their “achievements” so that consumers will consider them as caring about the world that we all share.

True Green Believers

The believers are those who are passionate (or want to be seen as passionate) about sustainability and conservation and put their company money and resources where their heart is. Their motivation is not about money saved or their customers knowing what they do – but in knowing that they are doing the right thing and possibly setting an example for others to follow. These companies usually form the vanguard of the “bleeding leading edge” of innovative energy-related conservation and sustainability efforts. 

Risk Management

Companies whose products are impacted by rapidly swinging commodity prices, or those who have mandates or extremely profitable services require guaranteed up time are concerned with energy management today to help manage their risk exposure. An example of this would be phone companies that are investing in solar energy at remote cell sites (for lower maintenance), or those close to population centers (to replace noisy diesel generators). The Department of Defense is perhaps the best example of looking at their energy portfolio as an extension of managing the risk to service members, allies and American citizens. 

Looking at energy from a risk management point of view reduces pricing sensitivity and in many cases, they don’t want the publicity either. They are concerned solely about reliability, experience, case studies and understanding how you can help them reach their goals. 

Regardless of the catalyst for energy management, any company can benefit from looking at ways to manage energy as an asset. When we pay professionals to manage our money, they put it to work for us and increase the value of our portfolio. Saving energy, much like putting money into a savings account, will not extract the maximum value from your assets, investments and initiatives. 

If you are interested in developing the best energy plan for your business, we would suggest the following: 

1. Create a methodical, enterprise-wide energy strategy aligned with company goals and needs.
2. Inventory existing assets, investments and initiatives. Establish an energy baseline.
3. Be more concerned with best-in-breed solutions than brand names.
4. Drive your data and allow the results to drive your organization: Plan, Do, Check, Act.
5. Last but not least, call Telamon Energy Solutions for a complementary overview of your energy strategy and environment. As complicated as energy can be, Telamon makes it…..simple. 

-Mark Brown
Channel & Business Development
Telamon Energy Solutions

Business Process Solutions - Best Practices

Committed to Delivering Best Practices to Accounts Payable Clients 

Initiating the adoption of accounts payable "best practices" should be the mid-summer goal for all mid-sized company executives. Empowering mid-sized companies with an accounts payable solution that matches the world's best finance and accounting departments will affect two very important business matters: cash flow and supplier relationships. Both cash flow and supplier relations can play a significant role in maintaining a level playing field against the competition. 

Most mid-sized company executives are aware of the implications of improving their existing accounts payable process but struggle when they begin designing and implementing a new solution. Improving performance by streamlining the process and reducing the associated costs requires special practices. A partnership with a virtual back-office services company is the rationale choice. These companies are experts at queuing different types of invoices from different locations while managing clerk roles, responsibilities and accessing permission, which is tough to tackle for many mid-sized companies.

Telamon's Business Process Solutions Division is committed to helping mid-sized companies minimize late-payment costs, such as a late-payment penalties, interest charges and lost prompt-payment discounts.

Best Practice Focuses

1. Pay invoices on a predetermined schedule of the company's choosing.
2. Ensure the accuracy and authenticity if invoices that the company pays.
3. Process accounts payable paperwork with a minimum of handling and expense.  

Reference: http://www.inc.com/articles/2000/02/17065.html.