Safety Awards Celebration 2010

Safety achievements of over 150 employees of JD Smith were celebrated on May 6, 2010 at the annual Safety Awards presentations. As long time members of the THSAO Safe Driver and Safe Worker program, JD Smith recognizes the hard work of its warehouse workers, mechanics and drivers each year for maintaining its enviable reputation for safety and dependability.

The Transportation Health and Safety Association of Ontario (THSAO) sponsor a safety recognition program - to be eligible, workers must go all year without a compensable work injury; and drivers must go all year without a preventable collision. Based on these criteria, over 150 workers received their THSAO Safe Worker pin, while 74 drivers achieved a collision-free year for their Safe Driver pin.

President & CEO, Scott Smith presented the awards to the winners and provided insight on a number of significant milestones that were reached this year within the JD Smith family;
Clarence Mackinnon reached 20 years of Safe Driving, while Paul Costello received a jacket and trophy to go with his 25 year Safe Driving pin. Ross Baker has 36 years of safety under his belt, and Ken Strickland reached the 37 year milestone.

A number of employees, both warehouse and driver, reached 20 years of safety in the industry. Bill Burgess, John Haines, Rob Harland, Bill Mortlock, Vince Panacci, and Jim Turner all received gifts as well as their 20 year pin.

The highlight of the day was the crowning of ‘Warehouseman of the Year’ and the ‘Driver of the Year’ recognizing those who go above and beyond the call of duty in safety and all around performance on the job. As strict as the criteria was in choosing the winners, almost 20% of the driving force qualified for the honour. The candidates were voted on by management and past winners of the respective awards.

The 2009 Warehouseman of the Year was presented to David Sparkes, from the Basaltic Road warehouse and the 2009 Driver of the Year was presented to Don Bone, who works at ASA Alloys on behalf of JD Smith.

Congratulations to all of the Safe JD Smith employees, Dave Sparkes and Don Bone for their outstanding work over the past year.

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The Essentials of Inventory Management

"Inventory management is a complicated subject, so we asked our experts what advice they would give dealers who are concerned about their inventory management.

Jesse Biter of HomeNet advices that, “no matter what system you use the best advice I can give is do it. You can’t completely outsource this job. You wouldn’t leave the vehicles on your lot unorganized and dirty, would you? Then why would you online? You can hire companies to take pictures and print window stickers, but only you can present your vehicles with the passion that will engage shoppers. If you want to move the needle on your sales then you have to manage your online inventory. If you advertise junk then that’s the type of leads you’ll receive—–junk. Advertise quality, and you’ll get quality leads from quality buyers.”

Dale Pollak of vAuto reminds us of the importance of your people, strategy, and process over software. “Software is not the answer for used vehicle performance improvement. Rather, improvement only occurs once the dealership adopts an appropriate strategy and makes the necessary commitment to its execution. It is people working a process consistent with the strategy that produces sustainable improvement. Software simply enables individuals to work the process.”

Doug Hadden of DealerTrack also had some good closing advice for us. “Always have a plan, put processes in place and stick to them, and utilize an inventory management tool.Use factual information to make decisions, don’t go by gut feel.If you or your team cannot answer the ‘what to buy and why’ question thoroughly, more homework is needed before any money is spent.” ~ Source: DealerMarketing.com

hip adopts an appropriate strategy and makes the necessary commitment to its execution. It is people working a process consistent with the strategy that produces sustainable improvemen
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