Management – Page 5 – Specialty Fabrics Review

Jeffrey Schmitt
senior vice president of operations

IFAI member since: 2004
Most valued benefit: Access to experts in the industry

Back to shore

January 1, 2016 | Business, Feature, Management, Perspective

Jeff Schmitt balances the reality of off-shore manufacturing with how to bring production back to the U.S. “At the end of the day we’ve got to figure out ways to be competitive,” says Jeff Schmitt, senior vice president of operations for The Coleman Company Inc., Golden, Colo. “As the pe…

Tapping into innovation

December 14, 2015 | Business, Feature, Management

Innovation doesn’t always come easily, but creating a culture that fosters creativity can improve the process (and results) of continuous improvement. Every company knows that innovation is vital, but knowing how to innovate is a different matter. Why are some companies able to launch one new idea…

A six-letter word

December 1, 2015 | Business, Management

Fabricators take a dim view of extending credit to customers … sort of. On the surface, it seems like a slam-dunk decision for a shop not to extend credit. “Let’s see, when you write off thousands and thousands of dollars—maybe even $100,000 over the 30-year life of the company—you start t…

Charting a course

December 1, 2015 | Business, Feature, Management, Perspective

Incoming IFAI board chair Katie Bradford takes the helm, using business expertise and networking know-how to lead the association. “I believe good leadership encourages participation and embraces differences,” says Katie Bradford, MFC, IFM, incoming chair of the Industrial Fabrics Associatio…

Inventing the game

December 1, 2015 | Business, Management

The Last Word Inventing the game Sy Hyman, company founder and retired CEO of Herculite®, is a long-time member of IFAI and became an Honored Life Member in 2014. He shared with us some insights about the challenges of marketing laminated synthetics with a start-up company when no market existed: a…

Demand + supply = prevail

October 1, 2015 | Awnings & Shades, Business, Feature, Management, Markets, Perspective, Tents

Robert Cole brings decades of experience and common sense to the time-honored but always evolving economic model of supply and demand. One of the great things this industry has to offer is the quality of its suppliers,” says Robert Cole, IFAI Honored Life Member (HLM) and owner of Goodwin-Cole, Sa…

Managing cyber security

October 1, 2015 | Business, Management, Technical

Don’t fall asleep at the computer. The recent headlines about Internet hacking and high-profile security breaches have focused on large retailers such as Target, Neiman Marcus and Home Depot, and big banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. Unfortunately, fraud and financial data losses are not limited…

Estimating for profit: Where to begin

September 1, 2015 | Business, Feature, Management, Marine, Markets

Understanding the customer’s unique wants and requirements goes to the heart of successful custom projects. Larry Schneider, owner of Homestyle Awning & Upholstery in Bay View, Wis., recently worked on a project that seemed fairly simple—adding screens to a car trailer so the customer could …

Explode your business

September 1, 2015 | Business, Management, Marketing

Is your company growing as fast as it should? Over the years, you’ve built a reasonably profitable business; but lately, sales and profits have either increased only slightly or have remained flat. You know your business has far greater potential, but you’re not quite sure how to make it happen.…

Category: Management