Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

Here is our feature editorial lineup for our March 2016 issue of Fluid Power World. Mobile Hydraulics in Forestry Equipment There are many great mobile markets for hydraulic components and systems.   Forestry remains a significant user of rugged hydraulics fit for the environment of harvesting lumber. Offshore Applications While the energy markets in North America remain a challenge due to low oil prices, this market still consumes lots of fluid power components.   We will review applications and preview the Offshore Technology Conference Pneumatics in Packaging Packaging equipment remains one of the largest consumers of pneumatic components and systems.   This article will review how to optimize designs of packaging equipment with pneumatics. Gages Our product focus in March will be on gages in fluid power systems.   Monitoring of pressures and flows is very important to maximize the effectiveness of any system. ...

Would you like to attend a free webinar on the subject of hydraulic pump designs?   Hydraulic machines are nothing without their hydraulic pumps. In this webinar, Josh Cosford describe the basic operation of a hydraulic pump. Josh describes the various types of hydraulic pumps available, as well as the merits and disadvantages to each design.  Josh is a regular contributor to Fluid Power World magazine. Here is a link to the registration page If hydraulic pumps are part of your OEM designs or if you repair and replace hydraulic pumps, this very informational webinar will be of interest to you.  I thank our sponsor for the webinar, Servo Kinetics. If your company would like to sponsor one of our remaining five editorial webinars, please let me know.  In the meantime, I hope that you will register and enjoy Understanding Hydraulic Pump Designs.

It is located in Milwaukee on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  Here is a link to their website http://www.msoe.edu/about-msoe/grohmann-museum/ It is home to a fantastic collection of artwork that depicts the evolution of human work.  Why am I bringing this up?  Well, we will be holding the 2016 Fluid Power Technical Conference at the Milwaukee School of Engineering at the Kern Center on June 21 and 22, 2016.  The kickoff of the second day of the event will be a breakfast at the Grohmann Museum. If your company is a manufacturer of fluid power components or related products, please consider joining us at this event as an exhibitor and presenter.  If you are a user of fluid power technology either as an OEM designer or an aftermarket professional, please consider joining us as an attendee.  Either way, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the Grohmann Museum. Contact me for details at mference@wtwhmedia.com

Let's face it, 2015 was a difficult year for fluid power.  The stagnation was caused by a slow oil and gas market due to low oil rates, a slowdown in China, and an exchange rate not favorable to exports. With all of that said, I am still very optimistic about 2016.  Speaking of the overall economy, the GDP is still in positive territory, the Manufacturers Index is still hovering around 50 even though negative at the moment, but the employment picture is improving. All said, we should see a recovery from a down year in 2015.  I am looking forward to the next report from the Institute for Trends Research on fluid power.

Millennials can be defined as people who reach adulthood in the early 2000's.  That is a fairly broad definition but you could also call them people at or around early 30s and younger adults. I have witnessed the characteristics of many different generations, including the "great generation," baby boomers, Gen X, and millennials.  I am a boomer myself so I can communicate easily with those peers.  I have, however, found the people who fit into the millennials a bit more different from me than most other generational groups.  They have a whole set of rules that are different from most of the others I have mentioned and I mean this in a good way. Getting along with all generations is essential for business success.  I am very fortunate to have many millennials at the company I work for, WTWH Media.  In the two years that I have been hear, I can say that I learned a great deal about millennials and I consider all of them my friends.  It is all good. ...

I have re-listened to a CD program from motivation and etiquette expert Shawana Schuh and having done so, remembered so many things that I learned the first time and when I attended one of her seminars. The title of this program is Connecting in a Disconnected World. She gives so much great advice in this session that it is very difficult to summarize even the most important parts. However, one theme keeps recurring with regard to making connections and that is "make it about them, not yourself." Whether you are connecting with customers or connecting with friends, it is alway more connecting to focus on other and not yourself. Putting the focus on other involves all communication that you do both verbal and non-verbal. If you always place others first, you will be a desired communication partner. If you make it about them, you both win. There are two very big upcoming events that will help all of the participants make connections.  One is the NAHAD Annual Convention be...

I have written in the past about using content across multiple platforms including our print magazine, websites, e-newsletters, and e-blasts.  Now add our in-person event, the 2016 Fluid Power Technical Conference to that mix.  If your company has articles and white papers, and all fluid power companies should, you can present this information live and in-person at our Conference. It will be held on June 21 and 22 at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  Your content does not need to be a highly technical paper, in fact it is better if it is not.  We are looking for content to be presented at our Conference that relates directly to users, both OEM and aftermarket. So if you have content to share, then please consider joining us in Milwaukee in June.  Come and shake hands with new prospects and customers, present your content, display your products, and increase your chances of sales success in 2016.

Let me tell you about an in-person fluid power event planned for 2016.  It is the Fluid Power Technology Conference and it will be held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering on June 21 and 22, 2016. The event will feature several speakers and exhibits from fluid power component manufacturers and distributors.  The speakers will include experts from fluid power exhibitors as well as experts from the industry.  Our lineup already includes:  Carl Dyke of CD Industrial Group, a well respected fluid power trainer who has conducted hundreds of hands-on training sessions and fluid power classes. Also on the schedule is Tom Wanke is the Director of the MSOE Fluid Power Institute.  He is one of the industry's most popular trainers with more than three decades of fluid power courses to his credit. The presentations will include Introduction to Hydraulics Parts 1 and 2. Electro-hydraulic components and systems, how to maintain & troubleshoot hydraulic system...

Let me tell you about the Fluid Power World  Webinar series.  We have six planned editorial webinars directed to the fluid power user audience including both OEM design engineers and aftermarket specialists. Here is the lineup: February 16:  Understanding hydraulic pump designs April 16:  Proper hose assembly guidelines June 16:  Considerations for pneumatic valve selection August 16:  Seals for fluid power applications October 16:  Dealing with contamination sources December 16:  Solutions for particle contamination These presentations, as I mentioned, are editorial webinars to be presented by our experts, Josh Cosford and Carl Dyke.  They are editorial as we will gather and present the content to our audience. If your company sells components related to any of these topics, please consider sponsoring a webinar. Your sponsorship will include promotion of your company and products during the webinar as well as in the e-mail ...

I have written about this book before, called  Knock Your Socks Off Service.   I have revisited it several times and each time I learn more.  Being in a service mode with customers is common sense but this book makes many points about how to best carry that out. Being in service mode all the time is really difficult and is probably only possible if you incorporate that into your way of living.  If you make it a regular practice of making service to others a way of life, then Knock Your Socks Performance not only becomes possible but it comes naturally. This is not to say that the content of this book is not important, it is very important.  Day-to-day practices of providing excellent service to others requires attention to details of personality,  use of words in conversation, readiness to serve, and a variety of other characteristics and practices. Incorporating service, Knock Your Socks Off Service, into your standards of living can lead to using th...

It's a brand new year for the Fluid Power Industry.  From what I have heard, it should be a good year at least in the second half.  Last year was quite challenging and we should recover from that.   Fluid Power World  magazine and digital network will be better than ever with new issues and lot of great content both in print and online. Our websites include Fluid Power World , Mobile Hydraulic Tips , Pneumatic Tips , and Hose Assembly Tips  and they have all had the benefit of another whole year's worth of new content that we now share with our audience.  If your company sells fluid power components, I invite you to send us product press releases or case studies on the success of your products. We will be posting new information daily and we have room for your input.  If you have any questions about how to submit content, please contact me at mference@whtwhmedia.com . I am looking forward to a great year for fluid power in general, a rebound year...