Participation is evident with our openness to new ideas and sharing information. Bradshaw promotes an open book policy.  Communication is ongoing and presented bi-weekly with an informal meeting we like to call “Chalk Talk.”  We review business statuses and earnings such as EBITDA.

Creativity is represented through our entrepreneurial way of “think like an owner.”   Have you ever heard someone say, “We’ve always done it this way?”  Bradshaw encourages us to “get outside of the box” and be creative through our independent thinking.

Corporate Citizenship is displayed by caring about others.  We want to become a valued member of the community.  Employees are given paid time off to volunteer for their favorite charity of their choice.

On a lighter side, we have an awesome dress code with options to wear jeans or shorts and flip flops during the summer months.  We like to have fun!   The old saying of “all work and no play” is not apart of the Bradshaw culture.  We have Super Bowl parties with contests that include best dip, chili and slow cooker recipes.  The occasional treat of hot buttered popcorn is definitely a plus!   Our special gourmet coffee is available daily from our coffee maker we like to call Brewtus… now you can’t beat that!

Do you have a Company Culture?

http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/companyculture.htm

We are counting down the days to Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2012 in our neighboring city of Houston, TX.  Convergence 2012 is going to be a fantastic learning opportunity with over 350 sessions and hands on labs. The conference will be held March 18-21 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The concept of Convergence 2012 is different this year than in years past.  It will be bursting with much more information and will be an event that you will not want to miss.  This year the expo has a more community-driven approach which allows subject matter experts to produce many topical and valuable labs.   The labs will also be posted online so that attendees can run through the exercises outside and after the conference. We expect to be very busy networking and very much appreciate the ability to revisit the lab content.

The expo will offer a ton of business solutions and technology, but will also be extremely fun. One of the highlights of Convergence will certainly be the featured keynote speaker General Colin L. Powell. The reception at the end of the conference is always a blast and this year it will be even better with a performance by rocker DAUGHTRY.

This will be a fantastic event.  We are glad to extend to you our hospitality and welcome everyone to the great state of TEXAS!

Although many companies have policies against the use of social media in the workplace, and often block access to those sites, the reality of a new method of communication is facing us.  A large portion of the next generation to enter the workforce depends heavily on social media as a method of communication.  With smart phones, users can access virtually any site and interact socially online at work regardless of their employer’s rules.

To keep up with the changing environment, companies need to reconsider their positions on social media not only as a marketing tool but also as a way to encourage collaboration and communication inside the workplace.  We are experimenting at Bradshaw with an application called Yammer that includes some features of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  It can also integrate with Sharepoint and be limited to users with e-mail  domains inside our company only.  Within a few days of Monty Milliner creating our network and inviting the first two users, representatives from almost every department had signed up.  Now almost all employees are participating.  While it remains to be seen how much value this new tool adds to the business, one thing is clear : It took years for e-mail usage to seem relevant and spread to all employees, but it took days for a social media application to spread through the company.  It has thrust us into a discussion about employee accessiblity of online applications and computers in general that we otherwise would have not seen from this perspective.

As part of the vision for the future of our company it is important to challenge traditional thoughts.  Yammer is helping us move down the road with an open mind and new ideas about what it means to communicate in the workplace.

A service company will convince an end user that they will save on their printing costs by switching their fleet of printers to certain refurbished HP models that will perform better.  Keep in mind, this will also be less expensive for the service company to maintain.  The printers will be monitored by a device (web based, or on the customer’s network) proactively, enabling the service company to replace toners, perform preventative maintenance, etc. before the customer knows anything is wrong.  In return, this keeps their customer’s down time to a minimum and improves productivity.  Of course, the biggest part of the deal to the service company will be that they supply their toner as part of the deal.  The customer will most likely pay for this service based on the number of pages they actually print.  So when it’s all said and done, the end user saves money and the service company makes more money.  Not a bad deal all the way around.

What does all of this mean you ask?  Well to us at Bradshaw, it means we’re selling more refurbished printers than ever before.  In fact, refurbished printers have been the fastest growing piece of our business for the past 2 years.  So if you are an MPS provider, that means you need a source for high quality refurbished printers and parts.  That means you need Bradshaw…

Class dismissed!

-Brett

I just got back from a user group conference for the ERP system we use (Microsoft Dynamics NAV) called NAVUG Forum.  It was my second time attending, and it was a great experience.  Product representatives and experts from Microsoft, VAR’s, ISV’s and users of the product from a broad variety of industries are all together in one place.  The conference presents a great opportunity to network, get questions answered and have a chance to think in new terms about business challenges.  It’s important to have some time to work on the business, and not spend all our time working in the business.

The other really neat part of the experience is the overall power of the user group.  Hundreds of voices speaking in unison get the attention of MS more easily than we can as individuals.  The organization itself can also provide training, webinars and learning materials that would be hard to otherwise find.  On the other hand, the individual relationships you can form provide valuable resources for solving specific problems and new ideas about business processes.

If your company uses an ERP system with any significant user base, I would encourage you to find out if there is a user group and join it.  There is power in numbers, and leveraging the knowledge and experience of a group can pay huge dividends to your business and your satisfaction level with the system you use.

For anyone interested here is also a case study of our company’s usage of the system on the MS website.

Mike Haney

We have put quite a bit of time, energy, elbow grease, you name it – into developing a database of high demand Dell printer parts.  In fact, many of our largest customers started using us because they couldn’t get Dell parts from their traditional suppliers, so they contacted us for help.  We supplied the parts they needed and let them get their customers back up and running quickly.  Now these companies come to us for everything we provide – because we make their lives easier.  By taking the time to figure out an industry challenge – at least to some degree – we’ve been able to provide value to our customers and earn more of their business.  If you’re having a parts challenge of any kind, please contact us and see if we can help.  No one is better at providing hard to find parts than Bradshaw – no one!  Anyone can provide HP and Lexmark parts.  Would you rather just by from anyone, or would you rather buy from a company who can meet every single parts need you have?  Seems like a no brainer to me!

-Brett

You might be asking yourself; how are HP and the breast cancer organization affiliated?

Snapfish is a division of HP serving as an online personal publishing service with over 90 million members.  They have a variety of personalized merchandise from prints, mugs and calendars to stationeries, mouse pads and jewelry.  Throughout the entire month of October, you can shop online at Snapfish and they will donate 30 percent of all proceeds to the Komen fund- up to a total of $25,000!  You can find these designated gifts online under PinkGives at www.snapfish.com/pinkgives.

If shopping is not your cup of tea, Snapfish also invites its members to show how they are supporting breast cancer awareness month.  Write Snapfish with details of an event you are associated with-such as a walk, fundraising campaign or party- and you will have a chance for Snapfish to sponsor your event!  Snapfish will choose four events from all submissions and will fund up to $1,500 in products for each event that is selected.  So let’s get our shop on and think of ways we can help the Komen foundation and the fight against breast cancer!

-Robin Hagmeier

1.   A part number without a suffix is an OEM part.
- It is supplied by InfoPrint, Océ, or LaserMax Roll Systems.
2.  OEM part number followed by a letter of the alphabet, for example Part Number -A
- This signifies a new OEM compatible part.
- Different letters signify that the parts are interchangeable but in some way different
(for example –A vs. –B). Typically the different letters signify different suppliers,
but they could also signify different materials used in the manufacture of the part
or different levels of testing.
3.   OEM part number followed by a letter of the alphabet plus an R,
for example Part Number – AR.
- This signifies a used, repaired or rebuilt part for which no core return is required.
4.   OEM part number followed by a letter of the alphabet, an R and then an X,
for example Part Number – ARX.
- This signifies a part for which a core return is required.  It could be an OEM, used,
repaired or refurbished part.

Now, that wasn’t too complicated was it?  Use this new knowledge the next time that you talk with your Bradshaw Sales Rep, and I promise that they will be impressed.  Just don’t tell them who told you how to break the part number code.  It’ll be our secret.

Jeff

So what does that mean right now to Gen Xers like me and the other generations that Becky described in her blog entry?  It means that if you got upset 10 years ago when your company transitioned from their home grown intranet communication system to Outlook you should call your therapist now and get a head start on the changes coming.  Mankind’s technological improvements have grown at an increasing rate over time.  Based on various online sources, the Hunter/Gatherer Age lasted 590,000 years.  Then we started farming and The Horticultural Age lasted 6,000 years, followed by more organized society and the Agrarian Age which lasted 2,300 years.  The Industrial Age lasted 260 years and took us from the earliest mechanized factories to nuclear weapons.  We are currently in the Information Age.  It will probably last less than 100 years and take us from a landing on the moon, through the development of the PC and internet, and into a debate about the nature of humanity versus Artificial Intelligence.

Those dates may not be correct and the future of “space age” technology is up for debate, but the point is we can be sure that social media, e-mail, IM and handheld devices will continue to merge the flow of communication into a constant stream.  The best thing for those of us already in the workplace to do is embrace the changing communication landscape and get ready, ‘cause here it comes.

Employees born between 1925–1945 were born into the Silent Generation; more commonly called Traditionalists.  This generation lived through the Great Depression and World War II.  Therefore, Traditionalists typically bring frugality, structure, loyalty and a deep sense of responsibility and sacrifice into an organization.  They often measure performance on the number of hours worked.  Traditionalists prefer face-to-face communication and typically do not allow their personal life to integrate into work.

Baby boomers were born between 1946-1964 and are often referred to as the “me” generation.  This generation strived for individual rights in society and the workplace by marching against “the establishment” to bring equal rights and an end to the Vietnam War.  Baby Boomers are workaholics, competitive and independent in their work.

Employees born between 1965–1976 are referred to as Generation X.  These kids grew up in a time when the divorce rate doubled and the number of mothers raising children and working outside the home grew.  They were often left on their own after school, saw the invention of the personal computer and witnessed multiple recessions.  Generation X employees often bring self-management skills, a practical approach to problems and cynicism into the workforce.

Lastly, the largest generation currently in the workforce is the Millennials who were born between 1977–1998.  This generation was raised by Baby Boomers so their relationships with their children was a  peer-like relationship therefore they were constantly coached, praised and encouraged for participation rather than for accomplishments.  Millennials bring confidence and flexibility to an organization.  They are computer and internet-savvy which means that they are always connected and want regular communication from their supervisor.

Knowing and understanding the different generation traits and values can open the lines of communication within an organization and allow the organization to be more productive.

Becky Minyard