Welding & Gases Today Editor’s Blog 
  

It’s a major annual event for the Gases and Welding Distributors Association—the announcement of the new GAWDA board of directors, who will help lead the association through the coming year.

For 2009-10, we thought we’d handle the introduction a bit differently than in years past, when we would publish photos along with brief Q&As to help association members get to know the board a little better.

This time around, we centered the introduction on the theme of the board of directors as “superheroes” of the association, giving of their time and sharing their industry expertise to help make the association and the industry stronger.

In keeping with that theme, this year we developed a five-page comic-book style treatment to introduce the board, which you can see online at http://www.weldingandgasestoday.org/content/1q10/meetboard2009.pdf.

I hope you like it.

In our ongoing efforts to stay abreast of the latest in online networking, Welding & Gases Today now has its very own Facebook fan page. If you’re a Facebook aficionado, we hope you’ll take the time to visit our page and join our fan club. We already have more than 100 fans, and there’s plenty of room for more. Check it out!

Considering that cylinder tracking through bar coding has become such an important part of many gases and welding distributors’ businesses, I thought you might be interested to know that today is the 57th anniversary of the first patent for the bar code.

Inventors Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver filed the patent in 1949, which was granted on October 7, 1952. The original patent was for a system that would encode data in a bulls eye pattern so that it was scanable in any direction.

In the world of gas cylinder distribution, the bar code is a technical innovation that has become an essential part of business. So much so, in fact, that the feature section of most recent issue of Welding & Gases Today devotes considerable space to the topic of bar codes as an invaluable tool for your business.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check it out at Welding & Gases Today Online.

You can learn more about the history of the bar code here.

Jenny McCall named first woman president in the association’s 65-year history.

As you read this, the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) has just concluded its convention in San Antonio, Texas, where association members reconnected with fellow distributors, learned from industry experts and gathered information on how to grow their businesses.

The convention also served as the backdrop for the election of a new GAWDA president for 2009-2010.

It was a historic moment for the association, as Jenny McCall, 39, president of WESCO Gas & Welding Supply in Prichard, Alabama, became the first woman to lead the 65-year-old association, which is composed of North American distributors, manufacturers and suppliers of gases and welding equipment and materials.

I recently interviewed Jenny for a “Presidential Spotlight” to run in the next issue of Welding & Gases Today. During that conversation, she told me about her first GAWDA Convention 15 years ago and the moment when she was sitting at the back of the room watching the new president, Randy Squibb, being introduced.

“I can still recall as if it was yesterday, thinking: What a feeling that would be, walking down that aisle as the first female president of GAWDA,” she said. “I didn’t know how I was going to do it or what it took to make something like that happen—but here I am! Now my plan is to give it my all and do the very best that I can to make GAWDA a stronger and better organization.”

It’s hard to imagine what an exciting moment the election must have for Jenny McCall, or how demanding the next year will be for this newest GAWDA president. One thing’s for sure—she is clearly ready to tackle whatever challenges lie ahead.

How well are you managing your number one asset?

For the latest issue of Welding & Gases Today, I spoke with a number of distributors on the importance of keeping a sharp eye on cylinder inventories.

Beyond knowing how many cylinders these distributors own, by maintaining an electronic tracking system—typically bar codes or transponders—they are able to know precisely how many cylinders are sitting idle at the main facility or accumulating at branches, how many are with customers, how long they’ve been with customers, the type of service they’re in, which cylinders are due for retesting…the list of benefits goes on and on.

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that more welding and gases distributors do not employ tracking systems. Considering the cash value of a single cylinder, the idea of losing even one is tantamount to lighting a cigar with a $100 bill.

Then there is the strain created on business relationships – like when inventory records show that a customer has 20 cylinders but he claims to have only 15 – resulting in a pitched battle over who is in error and ultimately responsible for paying for the lost assets.

In “Managing Your Number One Asset,” GAWDA distributors who have become real experts in the field of tracking technology share their wisdom and experience and explain why they can’t imagine operating their companies any other way.

It’s interesting stuff—and just may help you decide once and for all if the time has come to invest in a cylinder management system for your business.

I am very pleased to announce that the latest issue of Welding & Gases Today is now in the mail and already available online.

The issue is chock full of information that is not only invaluable to those in the welding and gases business, but those working in allied industries as well.

Topics include:

Managing and Safe Handling of Cylinder Assets

An Update on the Economic Recovery

Liability Issues for Business Owners who Provide Company Cars

Advice for Family and Non-Family Members working in Family Businesses

An Update on GAWDAwiki

Ways to Make LinkedIn, the Professional Networking Site, Work For You

And that just scratches the surface. Visit Welding & Gases Today online and load up on all sorts of information that will help you and your business succeed.

I welcome your feedback on the latest issue and encourage you to contact me with topics you’d like covered in the future.

It’s your input that insures we are covering the stories you want and need to read about.