Vol II - Edition I (February 2006)

Wishing to maintain everyone informed with the changes and new products that we offer, we have decided to start sending this News Letter. If you do not want to receive it, please send to me an email tonymedina@threadandtrim.com, and I will take you out of the list.

Scovill is nominated prefer vendor by JCpenney

Michael Hannaford, Manager of Technical Design Services has confirm that Scovill is now nominated as the approved fastener supplier for all private brands.

The letter from Mr. Hannaford reads as follows: "J.C. Penney recognizes the importance of acheiving consistency in the construction, performance and apparence of our garments regardlessof where they are manufactured. Scovill meets our criteria as a global supplier with worldwide manufacturing and distribution capabilities. J. C. Penney has nominated Scovill as an approved fastener supplier for all private brand production placed by our Sourcing Team.

J.C. Penney will communicate our recommendation of Scovill as a fastener supplier to all contracting partners. It is our desire to improve the integrity of our garments by partnering with our nominated suppliers."

SATO America Introduces Neonatal Secure ID™

New neonatal patient ID band enhances SATO’s HealthCARE ID Solutions™ by reducing medical errors and improving patient safety

CHARLOTTE, NC – January 6, 2006 – SATO Corporation, a global leader in barcode printing, labeling, and EPC/RFID solutions, today announced the introduction of its latest patient identification solution for healthcare – its new, neonatal patient ID band, Neonatal Secure ID™. 

Neonatal Secure ID™ provides a platform for point of care barcoding and further ensures the mother/child identification processes.  Points of administration include birthing wards, delivery rooms, maternity wards, neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and obstetric wards.

SATO’s HealthCARE ID Solutions offer healthcare providers a path to compliance using the latest in cost effective patient identification technology, SATO DuraMark thermal wristbands, CTMD thermal printers, and Label Gallery HC application software.   Label Gallery HC seamlessly interfaces to any hospital information system and allows the use of advanced identification technologies.

As with all of SATO’s DuraMark wristbands, the Neonatal Secure ID™ bands are latex free, virtually indestructible, patient comfortable, and easily read. 

According to Jamie Stallings, SATO America’s Healthcare Product Manager, “Neonatal positive identification is a relatively new application in comparison to adult, child, and infant identification. And even though the solution is new, it’s critically important to recognize that the mandates on patient safety, privacy, data security, and patient identification apply to this group of patients, too. Neonatal Secure ID™ is a comfortable, secure, and easily applied ID banding solution never before realized for neonates.” Read more about SATO PRODUCTS.

The People Side of Lean

By Bruce Hamilton, President, Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership

Recently a customer passed along to me an article from the business press which he described as “mind-numbing.”  He was referring to an announcement by Fujio Cho that Toyota would post a profit for 2004 of $11 billion!  This number was especially dramatic given recent laments by both Ford and General Motors of losses for the first quarter of 2005 each exceeding one billion dollars.  Unfortunately, by now the bad news from domestic manufacturers has become so commonplace, it hardly seems like news.  When GM announced in June that it would lay off an additional 25,000 employees this year it was pretty much viewed as “more of the same.”  But when Toyota suggested that it might raise prices on its cars to help increase Ford and GM sales, that seemed strange indeed.  In this topsy-turvy move Toyota sought to protect itself from a “giant killer” image, fearing backlash from American buyers.  How, we ponder, can one manufacturer consistently do so well in the same market that is sinking others?  There is no simple answer to that question, but there are several misconceptions which illuminate “the people side of Lean.”... to read the rest of the article click HERE