HGR Blog

HGR helps manufacturers navigate buying and selling used equipment

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aisle of machines at HGR Industrial Surplus
Photo courtesy of Bivens Photography

Manufacturing overhead, including factory supplies, depreciation on equipment, and replacement parts, can take a toll on a company’s wallet. Then, when they need to add equipment or replace aging systems, they’re faced with the complication of choosing among options to buy used, buy new or lease. When replacing equipment, a manufacturer needs to sell the old equipment in order to free up floor space and capital.

That’s where HGR Industrial Surplus comes into the manufacturing pipeline to assist a business’ growth and investment recovery by providing used equipment for sale or lease and by buying used equipment to help companies turn surplus assets into cash that will help pay for the upgrade or replacement.

Since scrap prices are at an all-time low, most companies can probably can do better by putting the equipment back into service through resale, which also is environmentally responsible. And, someone else will be able to save capital by buying it used or may even use the equipment for parts in the repair of another piece of equipment. Reselling to HGR also saves the seller the time and frustration incurred in finding potential buyers or in spending money to place ads in industry publications or resale websites then monitoring and responding to inquiries.

If a company is looking for a piece of equipment to replace one being taken out of service or to expand its line, it either can buy the used piece of equipment or lease it through HGR. If they choose to buy it, we have a 30-day, money-back guarantee that mitigates risk, and we are a Machinery Dealers National Association member, which means that we abide by their stringent code of ethics.

Should a company choose to lease a piece of equipment, we have a relationship with a finance source that, essentially, will buy it from us and lease it to the company. Once purchased or leased, our Shipping Department can set up transportation. Then, from the date that the item is purchased, a customer has 30 days to pay and 45 days to remove it from our showroom.

SHOPPING HINT: As soon as the item is received, our Buy Department prices and photographs it then posts it online. Some items never make it to the showroom floor because they are purchased as soon as they are listed. So, it’s important to have a relationship with one of our salespeople who can keep a customer in the loop if something comes in, or a customer can check our website or our eBay auction for the most recent arrivals.

And, though we sell used equipment, we sell tons of other stuff, including shop supplies, fans, fixtures, laptop bags and printer ink cartridges. You never know what you will find. We get 300-400 new items each day in many equipment categories, including welding, machining and fabrication, supply chain/distribution, plastics, chemical processing, electrical, furniture and finishes, hardware, motors, robotics, shop equipment and woodworking. There’s something here for everyone. Many makers and hobbyists shop at HGR and upcycle equipment pieces and parts into other useable objects.

HGR Lifecycle infographicFacts about HGR infographic

OSHA: What manufacturers need to know for 2018

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safety first card in gloved hand

 (Courtesy of Guest Bloggers Joseph N. Gross, partner, and Cheryl Donahue, associate, with Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP)

Joseph Gross partner at BeneschCheryl Donahue associate with Benesch

Although many manufacturers are upbeat about the changes in leadership that will be coming at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and having a full complement of commissioners at the OSHA Review Commission, new OSHA standards could mean a few non-compliance surprises.

Recordkeeping: Who, what, and when

OSHA revised its recordkeeping requirements for tracking work-based injuries and illnesses, now requiring many employers to submit their records electronically. This new electronic recordkeeping rule affects all employers with 250 or more employees that were previously required to keep OSHA injury and illness records and employers with 20-249 employees that are classified in any of 67 specific industries, including manufacturing, which, according to OSHA, historically have had high injury and illness rates. To be compliant, affected employers must submit their 300A Forms by December 1, 2017, per OSHA’s latest notice of proposed rulemaking. Forms are to be submitted to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application. After the forms are collected, OSHA will post each employers’ specific illness and injury data on its website, to, as one of OSHA’s announcements explains, nudge employers to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

Recordkeeping in 2018

In 2018, the electronic recordkeeping requirements change again. Employers with 250 or more employees are required to electronically submit all of their required 2017 forms (Forms 300A, 300, and 301) by July 1, 2018. Employers in the specified high-risk industries, including manufacturing, with 20-249 employees are required to submit their 2017 Forms 300A by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019, the submission deadlines change from July 1 to March 2 each year.

Anti-retaliation protections

In addition to the electronic submission requirements, the new recordkeeping rule prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who report their work-related injuries and illnesses. The rule also requires employers to inform employees of their right to report their injuries and illnesses free from retaliation. Employers’ reporting procedures must be reasonable and cannot discourage or deter employees from reporting. Although OSHA did not go so far as making safety incentive programs unlawful, OSHA made clear that rewarding employees for having a good safety record is not permissible.

The dead Volks Rule

In April 2017, President Trump signed a resolution that killed the Volks rule. The Volks rule permitted OSHA to issue citations for certain recordkeeping up to five years after the noncompliant conduct. OSHA’s authority is back to six months. Changes to other rules and policies, including the electronic recordkeeping rule, are probably one to two years away, so stay tuned.

New compliance standards: beryllium & silica

On May 20, 2017, OSHA’s new beryllium standard became effective. Beryllium is a strong, lightweight metal used in industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense, and nuclear energy. The new standard reduces the permissible exposure limit for beryllium to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour day. The new standard also requires employers to use practices such as ventilation or enclosure to limit employee exposure to beryllium and to provide respirators when exposure cannot be limited.

On October 23, 2017, OSHA’s silica standard began limiting employee exposure of silica dust to 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour day. Silica exposure occurs when employees cut, grind, or drill silica-containing materials such as concrete, rock, tile, or masonry. The standard now requires employers to limit employees’ access to high exposure areas, to provide medical care to employees who have been exposed, and to train employees about silica-related hazards.

Walking and working surfaces and ladders

OSHA’s new fall-protection standards became effective earlier this year, but manufacturers will not get the full impact until they have to buy new ladders. They are changing. In 20 years, employers will have to replace all cages and wells used as fall protection on ladders of more than 24 feet with more effective systems. But, starting November 2018, employers purchasing new fixed ladders over 24 feet will not be able to use cages and wells for fall protection.

First-annual student art show held at second-annual Euclid Art Walk

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Euclid Art Show first-place winner "Hot Sauce in my Cup of Noodles" by Brady Wilson
Euclid Art Show first-place winner “Hot Sauce in my Cup of Noodles” by Brady Wilson
Euclid Art Association first-place winner "Losing Faith" by Madeline Pflueger
Euclid Art Association first-place winner “Losing Faith” by Madeline Pflueger
Euclid Art Association first-place winner "Self-Portrait" by Chazlyn Johnson
Euclid Art Association first-place winner “Self-Portrait” by Chazlyn Johnson
Euclid Art Association first-place winner "This is How Euclid will Look in 2050" by Zania Jones
Euclid Art Association first-place winner “This is How Euclid will Look in 2050” by Zania Jones
Euclid High School fine art students
Euclid High School fine art students (first-place winner Brady Wilson on the right)
Euclid high school photography students
Euclid High School photography students

(Courtesy of Guest Blogger Joan Milligan, Euclid Art Association program director)

How do you start an art movement? By making connections! During a planning meeting in June for the second-annual Euclid Art Walk, the Euclid Art Association brought up the idea that an art walk should have an art show for the students of the city. That was how the All-Student September Art Show was born.

The goal of the student art show was to connect the community to the local schools to promote the arts. Art is an important, but often limited, part of curriculum. Art teaches students be creative and to look for and recognize designs and patterns all around them. By developing this ability, students can be led to careers not only in art, but also in computer science, graphic design, architecture, engineering and more. Because of limitations in school budgets or family resources, many talented students don’t have access to quality art supplies. We realized the art show could serve another purpose – create a forum to display and recognize budding talent and award that talent with access to good supplies for various media.

Once the seed was planted, the show began to grow! A local landlord offered a vacant storefront to use as a gallery. Businesses, including HGR Industrial Surplus, made donations so that good-quality art supplies could be awarded as prizes to the students and classrooms. The prizes presented to the winners included:

  • Large and small tabletop easels
  • Pastel sets
  • Framing certificates to Driftwood Gallery
  • Drawing tablets
  • Canvases
  • Paint sets
  • Paint brushes
  • Crayons
  • Gift certificates to Dodd Camera
  • Photo paper
  • Art books

Additionally, the Cleveland Museum of Art sent its mobile art truck complete with hands-on art projects for children, and even a troupe of stilt walkers!

The Euclid Art Walk was held on Friday, Sept. 22, from 6:00-11:00 p.m. The Student Art Show was held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the donated storefront. We created a mini-gallery-feel in the store with art racks and tables from the Euclid Art Association. Live painting opportunities for both adults and children were available in front of the store.

This inaugural art show had 46 entries from elementary through high-school students ranging. There were enough entries at the high-school level that we were able to designate two judging categories: Photography and Fine Arts.

 

HGR’s Thanksgiving hours 2017

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We will be open our normal hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Wednesday and Friday, but we are closed on Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the holiday with our families.

Remember to give thanks for all you have. We are grateful for our wonderful customers!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the crew at HGR Industrial Surplus.

Thanksgiving wishes

Take the Northeast Ohio Regional Manufacturers Survey and make an impact

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man taking survey on phone and tablet

MAGNET: Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network is inviting manufacturers to impact the future of manufacturing in Northeast Ohio through its second-annual Northeast Ohio Regional Manufacturers Survey. To thank you for your time, you’ll be able to pick one of 10 different business books – and they’ll send it to you for free! They’ll also make a donation of $5 to Harvest for Hunger in your honor.

It will take less than 15 minutes to answer the 40 questions. Your response this year will shape legislative policies and regulations, better align the workforce development system, and much more. In late January, you will get real results on how your company stacks up against other companies in your region, and in your industry, in critical areas like workforce, operations, and growth. The survey questions revolve around workforce, operations, perspectives on growth in 2018.

Feel free to forward this to whomever in your organization that you think is the most appropriate person to fill out the survey, and feel free to share it with other manufacturing companies, as well. The more the merrier!

The final results will be shared widely, and you’ll receive an email as soon as the results are released.

 

What type of employer is HGR? Q&A with HGR’s Marketing Department

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HGR marketing team
l to r: Gina Tabasso, Matt Williams, Joe Powell and Paula Maggio

(Courtesy of Guest Blogger Matt Williams, HGR’s chief marketing officer)

What does your department do?

The Marketing Department at HGR Industrial Surplus is responsible for all inbound and outbound marketing. Core responsibilities of the department include: e-mail marketing, social media, events and tradeshows, graphic design, videography, blogging, public relations, and community relations.

Over the past two years the marketing team at HGR has focused intently on content marketing (hence all these great blog posts!) in the company’s efforts to learn more about its customers, vendors, and community and to serve as a connector in the manufacturing sector.

How many people work in your department, and what are their roles?

The Marketing Department currently has three full-time employees and one part-time employee and also relies upon the expertise of several contractors and consultants. Gina Tabasso is our marketing communications specialist and is responsible for developing content, interviewing customers and other stakeholders in the community, and managing a variety of different departmental functions integral to the team’s success. Joe Powell is our graphic designer and videographer. Joe designs fliers, website landing pages, internal communications, and a variety of other internal and external communications pieces used throughout the organization. He is also an FAA-licensed drone pilot. Paula Maggio is our social media specialist. She manages our Facebook, Twitter, and other social media posts. She is also a skilled public relations professional and drafts and distributes press releases for HGR. Matt Williams is the chief marketing officer at HGR and is responsible for managing the marketing team. Matt also has principal ownership of the website and e-mail marketing and manages the activities of several contractors.

What qualifications do you need to be successful in your department?

The Marketing Department receives daily requests from various departments at HGR. Organization to make sure that deadlines are met is critically important. It’s also important that team members are able to bring creative ideas to the table and to synthesize the ideas of other stakeholders in the company to help bring those ideas to life.

What do you like most about your department?

The Marketing Department at HGR has the latitude to pursue creative and innovative ideas to drive engagement. This has been evidenced recently through the F*SHO modern furniture show that was hosted at HGR and which drew somewhere around 5,000 visitors during a five-hour period on a Friday evening in mid-September.

What challenges has your department faced, and how have you overcome them?

Working on the website was very difficult just two years ago. The website was developed by a South Korean firm. While the firm is very technically sound and capable, the language barrier required the use of a translator for e-mail and phone calls. Additionally, the difference in time zones slowed things down. The Marketing Department worked with a local Web-development firm to redevelop the company’s website on the WordPress platform, which makes it much easier to publish posts just like this one. It has become the foundation for our content marketing efforts.

What changes in the way your department does business have occurred in the past few years?

The Marketing Department at HGR was retooled in 2015. All of its current employees were hired in 2015. This created an opportunity to take the company’s marketing efforts in a different direction, and the feedback from other employees and stakeholders has been very strong. One of the biggest changes has been the launch of a new website in 2016.

What continuous improvement processes do you hope to implement in the future?

Gina Tabasso has been interviewing customers for the past several months and has conducted more than 100 interviews. These interviews will be used to develop a customer satisfaction survey that will be sent out in the first quarter of 2018 to gauge opportunities to improve how we do things.

What’s HGR’s overall environment like?

HGR is a relaxed work environment where people care about one another. It’s a fun place to work. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we’re serious about the work that we do.

What is your perspective on manufacturing, surplus, investment recovery/product life cycle/equipment recycling?

HGR helps customers to extract the last measure of life out of older capital equipment. Our company serves a role in the manufacturing ecosystem where we help entrepreneurs, startups, and high-growth companies to preserve capital for growth by putting equipment that might otherwise have been scrapped back into service. We also help to validate end-of-lifecycle of capital equipment. If no one buys a piece of equipment from us, it has probably met the end of its useful life and will be recycled. Finally, we are seeing an uptick in interest in industrial elements (e.g., machine legs) that are upcycled into other products, such as modern or steampunk-style furniture.

Auburn Career Center multimedia technology students seek internships

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Auburn Career Center Career Fair student

On Nov. 8, Joe Powell, HGR’s graphic designer/videographer, and I had the opportunity to attend a “reverse job fair” with Interactive Multimedia Technology (IMT) students at Auburn Career Center in Concord, Ohio.

These students are currently enrolled in a two-year Tech-Prep program that focuses on the various creative aspects of computer technology. Under the supervision and guidance of their instructor, Rodney Kozar, these students learn everything from Web design to design techniques (digital photography, graphic design, Adobe Photoshop), audio/video production and animation.

The focus of the job fair was to provide potential internship opportunities for Auburn Career Center’s students and manufacturing organizations who are currently members of the Alliance for Working Together, which puts on the annual RoboBots competition. Organizations had the opportunity to interview these students in order to consider hiring them for an eight-week program that would benefit both the organization and the student by working on a marketing project of the organization’s choosing.

When Rodney asked for suggestions prior the event about how to better match students to organizations, HGR suggested that the students set up booths and allow the organizations the opportunity to come around and view their work in a “reverse job fair.”

It worked out extremely well. Each student had his or her own booth featuring that student’s own work, which included large posters, short animation films, photos and even video productions. Hiring managers were able to visit each booth, see small demos, ask questions and then circle back to sign up for interviews. Each organization was allowed four interviews of 15 minutes each.

The 14 students were well prepared to speak about their work and answer various questions. With 11 organizations in attendance, student interviews were booking quickly; so, we had to make our decision fast so as not to lose out on the opportunity. With so much talent, narrowing it down to four was difficult.

During the interview process HGR’s Joe Powell was able to ask our candidates the technical questions: what software programs were they familiar with, camera angles, editing, sound booths and Photoshop. The flow of dialogue was smooth between them. I was able to get a good feel for how well our candidate managed his or her time, dealt with project deadlines, worked as a team and what he or she potentially could bring to the table. All four of the candidates that we interviewed were on their game.

Our goal at HGR is to bring on one intern in early 2018. We have it narrowed down to two candidates who we’ve invited out to interview us. Stay tuned.

Auburn Career Center Career Fair with HGR's Tina Dick in background
In the background, HGR’s Tina Dick interviews an Auburn Career Center student
Joe Powell of HGR interviews Auburn Career Center student
HGR’s Joe Powell interviews an Auburn Career Center student

HGR hosts MAGNET’s annual State of Manufacturing event

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MAGNET State of Manufacturing at HGR

(Courtesy of Guest Blogger Dale Kiefer, freelance journalist)

On Nov. 10, HGR welcomed members of the public to its headquarters to gain insights about important trends that are likely to affect Northeast Ohio manufacturers in the coming year. The third-annual State of Manufacturing event was organized by MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network whose mission is to help area companies grow and thereby contribute to the manufacturing renaissance in Northeast Ohio.

MAGNET State of Manufacturing breakfast at HGRThe morning event began with a networking breakfast that gave attendees a chance to connect with other industry professionals, including HGR associates and expert consultants from MAGNET. Ethan Karp, president and CEO of MAGNET, launched the formal part of the program with opening remarks. This was followed by an expression of thanks to HGR and all of the participants from Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail.

The first presenter was Joseph N. Gross, an OSBA certified specialist in labor and employment law who is also a partner at Benesch Attorneys at Law. He spoke about changes at OSHA and what manufacturers can expect when dealing with the agency in the coming year.

He was followed by Mark Wolk, the central region manager for Bank of America Leasing & Capital, who gave an overview of the equipment finance market. This included a lease versus loan benefit comparison for capital equipment.MAGNET State of Manufacturing guest speaker at HGR

The third and final speaker for the morning was Dr. Ned Hill who teaches economic development policy, public policy, and public finance at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. The focus of his presentation was Manufacturing 5.0, or the Fifth Industrial Revolution, which describes the most recent major shift in the economy’s structure. Under Manufacturing 5.0, all aspects of enterprises will see full digital integration. In this new economy, soft skills will be just as valuable and essential among the workforce as harder technical skills.

Following the presentations, the speakers opened the floor to questions. Thereafter, attendees were given a chance to take guided tours of HGR’s facility and learn more about the history of the company and the value that HGR itself provides to manufacturers. More than 40 attendees toured HGR’s 500,000-square-foot showroom and newly renovated offices.

The State of Manufacturing 2017 event was sponsored by MAGNET, The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Benesch Attorneys at Law, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

 

Enter HGR’s November 2017 “guess what it is” Facebook contest

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HGR November 2017 guess what it is Facebook contest

Head to our Facebook page to guess what piece of equipment or machinery is pictured. To participate you MUST meet the following three criteria: like our Facebook page, share the post, and add your guess in the comments section. Those who guess correctly and meet these criteria will be entered into a random drawing to receive a free HGR T-shirt or other cool items.

Click here to enter your guess on our Facebook page by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. A winner will be drawn and announced the following week.

Organic SEO tips and tricks

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Tips & Tricks iconWhat is SEO?

Many companies have websites or social media pages but don’t maximize them for search engine optimization (SEO). So, first, what is SEO? Basically, it is all the techniques (paid and unpaid/organic/earned) that affect the visibility of your website in key-word search results that potential customers are conducting. Then, these potential customers will be better able to find your website or product and, hopefully, be converted into customers.

As you may know, this search hinges on algorithms created by the leading search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!. Their bots or spiders “crawl” your website for key words then index your website in the search results based on a complex mathematical formula. This is called unpaid, organic or earned SEO.

How can you maximize organic SEO?

Tip #1: Optimize your images by creating alt tags and descriptions. Yes, images count.

Tip #2: Use internal linking to drive traffic to a poorly performing page on your site and get backlinks to your website from other websites.

Tip #3: Keep your content fresh since the spiders crawl the pages regularly.

Tip #4: Use key words in your page titles, subheadings, product descriptions, category landing pages, file names, link text, URLs and blog posts.

Tip #5: Create a Google Plus and Places page and get reviews since Google also indexes these.

Tip #6: Create a YouTube channel and add videos since Google ranks YouTube videos highly in search results.

Trick: If you create meaningful content that can be shared on your social media pages, mention others to increase the likelihood of shares, likes and saves. That way, you get in front of their followers, as well! Social media content also is indexed in search engine results.

What else can you do?

You also can increase the likelihood that potential customers will find your website with paid SEO or search engine marketing (SEM). This is where you gain traffic by buying ads or conducting pay-per-click campaigns on search engines through Google AdWords, Bing Ads or Yahoo Search Ads.

We’d like to hear your book suggestions

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person reading a book

Do you love to read about technology, trends in manufacturing, history, the trades? We do. We’re also invested in helping to educate young people about the manufacturing industry and careers in manufacturing. And, we admire our maker and hobbyist customers who are curious and invested in learning new techniques and applications. To this end, we’ve created a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) Resource Center in our customer lounge. Since our renovation of the front office is complete, we’re working to populate the resource center with new and updated materials.

Do you have a book suggestion that others in the industry might enjoy reading? If so, comment below. Here’s a list of some of the books that you’ll find on our shelves:

  • Machining Fundamentals: From Basic to Advanced Techniques by John Walker
  • World Class Manufacturing: The Next Decade by Richard Schonberger
  • Poorly Made in China by Paul Midler
  • Inexpensive CNC Projects by Robert J. Davis II
  • The Everything STEM Handbook by Sawah Rihab
  • The Welding Business Owner’s Handbook by David Zielinski
  • Making it: Why Manufacturing Still Matters by Louis Uchitelle
  • On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers by Charles Babbage
  • The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
  • Faster, Better Cheaper in the History of Manufacturing by Christoph Roser
  • Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in WWII by Arthur Herman
  • Welder’s Handbook by Richard Finch
  • Getting Started with 3D Printing by Liza Wallach Kloski
  • African American Women Scientists and Inventors by Otha Richard Sullivan
  • The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941 by Richard Guy Wilson
  • Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson

Homemade hamburgers in the heart of Euclid

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Stevensons Bar & Grille

I heard rumors about a hamburger joint in Euclid with some of the best burgers around and had to check it out. The colleague that I was meeting for lunch is a longtime Euclid resident, and she had never been there either. So, off we went to Stevenson’s Bar & Grill.

Stevenson’s is a local, neighborhood bar where the bartenders and regulars make you feel welcomed. Alysia took care of us this time. It was Halloween; so, she was dressed as a skeleton and handing out candy. And, we got to meet Bruce, the kitchen owner. Yes, the kitchen and the bar are owned by two different people. Paula is the bar owner, but she wasn’t in when we visited.

The menu is no frills, bar basics: French fries, onion rings mozzarella sticks, jalepeno poppers, other breaded and fried delights, two salad options and sandwiches. But, everyone comes for the “Big Guy” double cheeseburger with lettuce, pickle and special sauce. So, I had to try the “Big Guy” and fried pickles (slices, not spears) with a homemade horseradish sauce. My friend had the turkey burger with fries. Everything tasted homemade. The buns were good. The service was great.

Bruce says that Stevenson’s has been around for 64 years with the first 60 years on Lake Shore Boulevard and the last four at its current location on E. 200th Street.

So, if you’re shopping at HGR, it’s not a Wednesday when we have free lunch, and you’re in the mood for a burger, Stevenson’s is just around the corner.

Ohio Strong Award recognizes those who excel in manufacturing and the trades

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Ohio Strong Award for manufacturing and the skilled trades

As Josh Mandel, treasurer of Ohio, states, “There is a quiet crisis upon us with a shortage of young Americans pursuing careers in manufacturing and the skilled trades. According to a recent Skills Gap Survey by the Manufacturing Institute, approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled nationally because employers can’t find qualified workers.” In order to encourage young people to enter these fields, that state has created the “Ohio Strong Award.” The application form is available here.

If someone you know or work with demonstrates an excellent work ethic and passion for what he or she does in manufacturing and the skilled trades, you can nominate him or her for helping to make Ohio strong. These stories, which will appear on the Ohio treasurer’s website, will recognize those laborers as well as inspire the next generation of Ohioans to pursue careers in manufacturing and the trades.

 

The State of Manufacturing 2017 Event at HGR Industrial Surplus

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DESCRIPTION

Will the manufacturing industry keep growing at a healthy pace in 2018? How will government regulations and new legislation affect the industry? How will Northeast Ohio manufacturers take advantage of new opportunities – and face their challenges – in the new year?

Join us for a morning devoted to uncovering economic trends that will affect your business in 2018. Attend MAGNET’s third-annual State of Manufacturing event and stay ahead of your competition.

DATE AND TIME

Fri, November 10, 2017
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Add to Calendar

LOCATION

HGR Industrial Surplus
20001 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44117

View Map

Agenda:

8:00-8:30 AM: Networking / Breakfast
8:30-8:35 AM: Welcome Remarks (Ethan Karp, President and CEO, MAGNET)
8:35-8:50 AM: “OSHA 2018 – What You Need to Know” (Joseph Gross, Benesch)
8:50-9:05 AM: “Capital Equipment: To Lease, Own, or Other?” (Mark A. Wolk, Bank of America)
9:05-9:45 AM: “Manufacturing, the Economy, and the Future” (Dr. Ned Hill, The Ohio State University)
10:00-10:30 AM: Optional tours of facility / small group discussions with speakers

Sponsored by:

Vote for your favorite HGR costume, office decorations and tricked-out tow motor

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Little Debbie costume

Our offices are decked out with Halloween decorations. We have donuts. And, we have costumes (not for sale). Stop by for a ghoulishly good time.

Cast your vote by Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. for your favorite costume and share photos of yours with us here or on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Halloween!

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Scary jack o'lantern in the woods

Whether you dress up in costume, pass out candy, bob for apples, tell scary stories, watch horror films, carve pumpkins, remember those who are no longer with us, or play tricks on your friends, we hope that you have a safe and happy All Hallows’ Eve and don’t eat too much candy! If you visit HGR on Oct. 31, you’ll see some of our employees in costume and the office decorated thanks to Libby! You may even find some treats along the way.

What does a company that sells industrial surplus have to do with archaeology?

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skeleton and archaeological tools

Well, what is archeology? According to the Society for American Archaeology, “Archeology is the study of ancient and recent human past through material remains. Archaeology analyzes the physical remains of the past in pursuit of broad and comprehensive understanding of human culture. Artifacts are objects made or used by people that are analyzed by archaeologists to obtain information about the peoples who make and used them.”

HGR is full of artifacts! Do you like to dig around at thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales? Do you have a love for building, fixing, making, history, machinery, manufacturing, bygone days? Our customers are archeologists. They come to HGR’s 500,000-square-foot showroom and dig around in the remains from other businesses, offices and manufacturers looking for that prize, that find, that deal. The building is full of clues about the past.

When I walk the aisles I think about what these machines made, who ran them, and, even, who designed and made the machines. It’s a huge part of our culture. Everything is manufactured. Everything you use, wear, drive in, live in. These are all products made somewhere by someone. We can’t even begin to imagine how or the process that goes into it if we’ve never worked in a factory. Those who do know the rigor that goes into making a quality, precision product from the concept to design to materials to manufacture to distribution to sales to use by the consumer. It’s a huge pipeline on which our economy and culture hinge.

When a company upgrades equipment, changes a process or, even, goes out of business, it has material assets that it needs to sell in order to recoup some of its assets and reinvest them. Selling surplus also keeps these items out of a landfill and in use, allowing smaller or startup companies to buy the equipment that they need affordably. That includes everything in its offices (chairs, desks, tables, anything in or on a desk, computers), maintenance department (cleaning supplies, light bulbs, gloves, bathroom/hygiene products) and on its production floor (storage bins, solvents, tools, machines, equipment, welding shields, fire extinguishers).

Think about it as anything and everything that keeps a company running. HGR Industrial Surplus sends its buyers into these customers’ facilities to bid on whatever they are selling. If they buy it, HGR transports it to Euclid, Ohio, and resells it to local customers in the Cleveland area and to international customers through its website at hgrinc.com. Whatever that manufacturer made may also be for sale if they had unsold lots of their product (wine glasses, rugs, safety glasses, leather). That’s why you can find anything and everything at HGR Industrial Surplus. Aisle 1 is a favorite of many customers when they go “digging.”

 

HGR Industrial Surplus and local furniture designers raise more than $600 for hurricane relief

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44 Steel desk
Desk by Jason Radcliffe of 44 Steel

3 Barn Doors table for HGR Industrial Surplus hurricane-relief auction

Rust Dust & Other 4 Letter Words lamp table
Lamp table by Larry Fielder of Rust, Dust & Other 4 Letter Words

HGR donated items from its showroom to three local furniture designers – 44 Steel, 3 Barn Doors and Rust, Dust & Other 4 Letter Words. These designers took their materials to IngenuityFest 2017 and did a live build of a desk, a table, and a reading lamp and table. The three pieces were auctioned through HGR’s eBay site and raised $606 that is being donated to Fresh Arts, a nonprofit arts organization in Houston, Texas, that is funding the Immediate Disaster Relief Fund for Texas Artists to help artists in the area rebuild after the hurricane. Thanks to everyone who participated for this good cause!

 

Get to know a zoo vet tech turned fabricator: A Q&A with David D’Souza

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David D'Souza with gorilla at the Los Angeles Zoo

   What do you do for a living?

I’m actually a veterinary technician at the zoo in Los Angeles. I’ve always been an animal lover, and I’ve worked with animals since I was 16. It’s such an exciting and often dangerous job that it keeps me sharp and motivated. Every day is an adventure. I would honestly do it for free, but luckily it pays enough for me to enjoy my other hobbies.

How and why did you get into welding, art and making?David D'Souza welding

Speaking of my other hobbies, many of them center around motorsports. I’ve always enjoyed building fast cars, trucks and bikes. Welding is a necessary skill in fabricating many high-performance parts and “one of” custom setups; so, I had to pick up welding both MIG and TIG along the way. Once I immersed myself in the metal fabrication hobby It quickly developed into a real passion and from it my creative side started to blossom.

What types of items do you design and make?

I typically design and create industrial-style items, as well as a few more delicate things. Custom tables are my favorite along with mobile carts and other heavy items. Almost everything I design incorporates a blend of heavy steel and wood. I particularly like building butcher block or farmhouse-style slabs and mounting them on industrial steel frames. I like playing with different wood finishes such as epoxy resins. I feel that wood has a warm, deep beauty that is brought to light if the correct finishing technique is used.

David D'Souza cartDavid D'Souza TableDavid D'Souza chicken feet potsDavid D'Souza book endsDavid D'Souza industrail coffee table

How do you market or sell your creations? Do you attend shows?

I haven’t focused on the marketing or selling aspect too much until recently. This is still mainly a hobby, and I’m constantly learning and improving. I recently started Red Dogs Crafts, and I currently only have an Etsy website as a marketing tool. I do plan on becoming a vendor at a few local flea markets here in Los Angeles to see if I can find a target audience for my style of fabrication. I plan on attending a few shows to get some ideas of what other fabricators are doing out there. I love seeing new ideas and techniques because it motivates me to learn more.

How did you learn to do this?

I’m 100-percent self-taught in everything that I do. I’ve never taken classes, had a mentor or worked in the industry to have someone show me the ropes. I believe I’m a fast learner in anything that I do, and I also know that I learn best when I do things on my own by making mistakes and doing my own research on different techniques. Nowadays, with the Internet and YouTube there isn’t anything that you cannot learn online. Heck, there’s even YouTube videos on how to do cardiac surgery for that first timer doing a valve replacement. LOL. My usual mode of action is to buy the tool first then figure out how it works and then practice until I’m proficient at it or at least achieve the end results that I can be proud of.

What artists, designers or makers do you most admire?

I like Kevin Caron’s work. I think he’s very practical and down to earth with his techniques. He’s also a wealth of knowledge and experience; so, I respect his abilities and his work because he’s constantly learning like the rest of us. He’s also on the WeldingWeb forum where I met HGR for the first time; so, he adds to the knowledge base, as do many other experienced guys.

What inspires you?

I think I’m inspired by the challenge of creating something that I visualize in my mind and having to physically take the steps to make it materialize to as close a rendition of what I see in my mind’s eye. I feel that many people love certain things but always feel that they’re unattainable either because it’s too difficult, it’s too much work or they just can’t figure out how to do it. I love figuring out how to do new stuff. That is what inspires and motivates me.

What do you do when you aren’t working or making art?

Whenever I have free time I spend my time pursuing my other hobbies. Typically, I’m out in the deserts of Southern California riding my dirt bikes or drag racing my cars. I think the feeling of being on two wheels ripping through our beautiful landscape gives me the exhilaration that I’m constantly chasing. I also enjoy spending time outdoors at the beach with my two dogs and my girlfriend. Sometimes, I just love my family time staying home with my girlfriend and the dogs just relaxing.

What advice do you have for makers?

My advice is that you can go as far in this hobby/profession as you choose. It’s all dependent on the effort that you put into it. I would advise anyone starting in the hobby to take classes first. I think this would set you up with a good fundamental foundation which would expose you to the different techniques, tools and options out there which would then allow you to make intelligent choices going forward with the hobby. Being that I’m self-taught, I feel that I’ve gone around in circles a few times and would have wasted less time had I gained the experience a class provides. Also, if you can work in the industry do so, even as a volunteer. It’s invaluable the skill you develop by immersing yourself into the industry.

What is your personal philosophy?

I’ve never been asked this question before so I’ll have to think of one now. I think of life as a journey that is based on choices or decisions. Every decision we make has an effect on the direction that our life takes. If we make good decisions early in life, we are started on a path to success or happiness. I realized the consequences of my decisions in my late 20s and it was at that point that I started in the direction that I’m headed now. My philosophy would probably be something along the lines that life is a constant test of your character. If you make good choices based on good character you’ll be on the path to success and happiness in whatever you pursue.

Anything that I missed? The two red dogs?

Ah, my babies. “ShyAnne” and her daughter “Lil Cheese.” These are my two red dogs. A mom and daughter pair that have been part of my life for the last 15 years. ShyAnne has been by my side through thick and thin and good and bad. It’s amazing how having a strong bond with your dogs can keep you positive through so many difficult times in life. These two are a part of everything I do. Hence, I decided to name the fabrication shop after them as they are a part of everything I build. I’m glad to have my workshop at home because it allows me to spend time with my two dogs while I’m building stuff. I take lots of breaks to play ball with them and build cool dog toys to keep them occupied. In return, they only ask for more of my attention, and treats, which I am always glad to give.

David D'Souza's two Red Dogs after which Red Dog Crafts is named

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