The Mheda Journal

Accountability is one of my favorite traits. There’s not much I respect more than someone who makes a mistake and says, “Whoops, I messed that up. Sorry. I will do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” When you think about it, that’s all you can ask. If what’s done is done, a little “I’m sorry” goes a long way. Of course, part of accountability is also following through on making sure that it doesn’t happen again.

In one of the most bizarre, most talked-about moments in recent baseball history, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was deprived of a perfect game on June 2 when first-base umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled that a Cleveland Indians batter beat out an infield hit when, in fact, he should have been called out. (For those among you who aren’t baseball fans, a perfect game means that nobody on the opposing team reaches base. No hits, no walks, no errors, no hit batsmen. 27 batters go up, 27 make outs. It’s one of the rarest feats in the game.) Galarraga eventually retired the next batter to complete the shutout and earn a victory, but was denied only the 21st perfect game in major league history and a chance at so-called immortality by a call that replays confirmed was blatantly incorrect.

After the game, Joyce owned up to his mistake, admitting that he blew the call and apologizing personally to Galarraga. I give him credit for doing so, for holding himself to a standard of accountability, and most of America has been willing to do so as well.

How does all this relate to business, you ask? Well, accountability goes a long way in business too. Just look at BP and the current situation in the Gulf. While their CEO and PR team are busy downplaying the amount of oil spilling into the gulf (only 1,000 barrels of oil daily? Really, BP?), denying their level of blame for the initial explosion, and pointing fingers for reasons why each attempt to close the pipe is failing, the public trust in anything that happens from here forward is plummeting along with BP’s stock price. Some level of public discontent was inevitable given the severity of the situation, but BP could have mitigated the outcry somewhat by some old-fashioned honesty and accountability.

We made it a company exercise a few months back to read “Journey to the Emerald City,” a book  by Roger Connors and Tom Smith about how to create a culture of accountability in your business. It’s a good, quick read and it provides a good framework for setting goals and holding people accountable. I recommend it.

Just one more comment: The oil spill tragedy also is a reminder of the importance of having a business disaster plan in place. Be ready for the contingencies!

Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!

In the February 15 issue of The MHEDA Connection, MHEDA’s e-newsletter, we posted a story called “China Decries Dumping Duties.” It was an update on the ongoing battle between U.S.-based wire decking manufacturers AWP Industries, ITC Manufacturing, J&L Wire Cloth, Nashville Wire Products and Wireway/Husky Corp. and the Chinese government regarding the cost of imported wire mesh decking.

In response, Steve Johnson, vice president of sales at Nashville Wire Products, and a member of MHEDA’s Manufacturers Board of Advisors, sent us the following letter from the counsel for the U.S. Wire Decking Coalition

Please direct any responses or comments to Steve at sjohnson@nashvillewire.com.

“Recently, the Chinese government expressed objection to the U.S. imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties of imports of a variety of downstream steel products, including imports of wire decking. The Chinese Government asserts that these measures are straining its economic relationship with the United States.

“What the Chinese Government neglects to mention is that the actions by the wire decking manufacturers in filing trade cases, and the imposition of duties by the U.S. government, are fully consistent with the international trade agreements China and the United States signed. The international agreements expressly permit the imposition of these duties when unfairly traded imports injure U.S. manufacturers. In response to petitions filed by domestic wire decking manufacturers, the U.S. government preliminary found that wire decking is being dumped, or sold at less than its fair value, in the U.S. market by huge margins ranging from 43 to 289 percent. The U.S. government also found that the Chinese government is providing  illegal subsidies to Chinese wire decking producers. Final decisions in these case are due in May.

“Similarly, in a preliminary decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission concluded that these unfair trade practices are injuring domestic wire decking manufacturers. The Commission found that the unfair imports from China significantly undercut U.S. prices and caused the domestic industry to suffer declines in production, shipments, employment and profits. In an already difficult year due to the nationwide recession, the increasing volumes of low-priced imports from China have decimated U.S. wire decking manufacturing operations and cost many workers their jobs.

“Moreover, the Chinese Government fails to mention the widespread practice by many Chinese industries of illegally circumventing the trade orders. Chinese exporters advertise to U.S. customers their willingness to transship merchandise or mislabel the country of origin of the product to evade the duties lawfully imposed.

“So, while China may ‘decry’ these duties, it cannot argue that the imposition of the duties is unwarranted or unlawful. In fact, the duties imposed are not punitive at all, but are merely intended to offset the amount of the unfair trading practices and to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers. Enforcement of U.S. trade laws to protect domestic manufacturers and their employees from unfair trading practices is expressly recognized as lawful internationally and should not strain relations between countries. The Chinese government should be concerned with living up to its own trade obligations by ceasing illegal subsidies and cracking down on scofflaws who seek to circumvent U.S. trade orders.”

–  Kathleen W. Cannon, Kelley, Drye & Warren

Pretty heady stuff. You can leave a comment here or send it directly to Steve at sjohnson@nashvillewire.com.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act (ARRA), commonly known as the Stimulus bill. Remember that?

One year later, has it stimulated anything? I’ve read many articles over the past 12 months about “shovel-ready” projects and highways and bridges and other infrastructure projects resulting from federal stimulus money. Did any of that bleed over to the material handling industry?

What has been the result of the federal stimulus for all of you out there? Particularly small businesses, how did the stimulus impact you?

So I’m little late getting to this, since the press release is dated January 12, but I still wanted to talk about this topic because I know MHEDA members find it increasingly important.

The state of California has approved the nation’s first mandatory statewide green building standards code, according to an article on logistics.about.com. Effective January 1, 2011, the code, known as CALGreen, requires all new buildings in the state to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible, including mandates that every new building reduce water consumption by at least 20%. Other requirements say that 50% of construction waste be diverted from landfills and installation materials must emit “low amounts” of indoor pollutants. “The California Air Resources Board (CARB) estimates that the mandatory requirements will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020.”

As material handling distributors seek to do more and more for their customers, I know that many MHEDA members have pointed out building codes as one of the things they need to be constantly aware of. These regulations are constantly changing and can vary drastically from municipality to municipality. With California adopting this measure, other states can be sure to follow.

Read more about this new regulation here at http://logistics.about.com/b/2010/02/03/new-green-california-building-code.htm.

On November 21, the employment-related portion of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act will go into effect for businesses. (The healthcare-related part went into effect in May). GINA is intended to protect Americans against discrimination based on their genetic information when it comes to health insurance and employment. The act requires covered entities to obtain and post notices informing covered individuals of their rights under the law.

What does that mean? Good question. According to genome.gov:

GINA, together with already existing nondiscrimination provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, generally prohibits health insurers or health plan administrators from requesting or requiring genetic information of an individual or the individual’s family members, or using it for decisions regarding coverage, rates, or preexisting conditions. The law also prohibits most employers from using genetic information for hiring, firing, or promotion decisions, and for any decisions regarding terms of employment.

This information is not particular to material handling, but it will affect business owners of all sizes. More information can be found at http://www.genome.gov/24519851.

Earlier this week, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a unanimous finding that there is “a reasonable indication of material injury to the U.S. industry producing wire decking caused by unfairly traded imports from China.” This finding is the first step toward a finding of illegal dumping of wire deck imports by China.

The initial petition was brought by domestic wire decking manufacturers and MHEDA members AWP Industries, ITC, J&L Wire Cloth, Nashville Wire Products, along with Wireway Husky, on June 5. On June 25, the Commerce Department initiated an investigation, and the preliminary ruling by the Trade Commission was handed down on July 20. You can read more about the specifics of the investigation here.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. China has denied the claims of dumping, while the companies who brought this petition have been clamoring about it for years. (See the sidebar at the bottom of this article about “The Dumping Problem” that was published almost two years ago.) The findings in the International Trade Commission’s report say that the Chinese imports are priced up to 315 percent lower than their domestic counterparts. That’s pretty significant.

The next step in the process will be another ruling by the end of August as to dumping and subsidies by the Commerce Department.  Look for continued updates in this space and in future issues of The MHEDA Connection and The MHEDA Journal.

Congratulations to John Cosgrove, president of Atlantic Handling Systems (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ) and 2007 MHEDA President, for being the recipient of an unusual local honor. The Borough of Fair Lawn, NJ, and the Fair Lawn 501C3 Non-Profit Committee dedicated the gymnasium at the Fair Lawn Community Center in his name. Cosgrove served as a volunteer firefighter in the community for 34 years and as fire chief in 1997. A dedication ceremony took place last Saturday, April 4. Congrats, John.

Rumor has it that tomorrow (March 10), the Employee Free Choice Act, commonly known as Card Check, will be introduced in Congress. This is very controversial legislation. Essentially, it eliminates the secret-ballot voting process whereby employees may choose to become unionized. Small business advocacy groups are nearly universally opposed to such legislation, claiming that it puts too much of a burden on employers and reduces their rights to negotiate with union organizers. To be sure, that’s not the most eloquent explanation out there. (Here’s a link to an article that will explain it better. NAW, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors is another good source.) But the interesting thing is the buzz this bill has generated, and it hasn’t even been introduced yet! By most accounts, the only beneficiaries of such legislation is the unions, and MHEDA members and other small businesses will be left with little or no recourse to prevent their employees from unionizing. I didn’t know much about unions before I began researching this issue, and I don’t claim to know much now, but i am looking forward to seeing how this legislative action plays out. Keep your eyes open tomorrow.

Anyone out there done any studying of the Recovery Plan/Stimulus Bill? How is it going to be impacting material handling companies? With all the emphasis on energy and infrastructure, will MHEDA members see any of that money? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

With the signing into law of last week’s Stimulus Bill, there has yet to be a discernible improvement in either the economy or attitude among investors. Hopefully that will be coming soon. But here’s one thing that may be of note within the bill itself.

The bill includes provisions, effective March 1, regarding the continuation of health insurance coverage (continuation coverage) that covered employers must make available to certain former employees and their families under provisions of the “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985” (COBRA). The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors has prepared an outline of the key provisions of the Stimulus Bill that touch COBRA continuation coverage and how employers may be affected. The outline can be read here.