Commercial Building Maintenance Tips

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Building Maintenance|Commercial Building Maintenance TipsOwning a commercial property is a hands-on job, and maintenance should be a top priority. Wear and tear is natural, but in order to generate a profit, there are some routine maintenance steps which you should carry out every year. Commercial building maintenance is generally pretty routine. This way, you can also avoid costly renovations which could hurt your profits.

Audit Your Energy Consumption

An energy audit of your commercial building is important to establish where you can lower your costs.

Energy costs are often one of the biggest overheads for commercial building owners, so doing an energy audit is a good way to determine what is eating up your budget.

An energy professional will carry out an inspection of your building and will determine where costs can be lowered, such as:

  • Swapping old lightbulbs for energy-saving alternatives
  • Repairing insulation around doors and windows
  • Replacing window glass
  • Replacing roof insulation and more

An energy audit will also allow you to determine whether your tenants are happy with and comfortable within your building.

Fix Your Fixtures

Another important part of commercial building maintenance of simple things, like the fixtures. You can use preventative maintenance software to help you keep track of what needs to be done and when.

Leaving damaged fixtures to sit will lead to more accidents and damage to the building. Damaged fixtures like broken lights, door handles, small windows, or damaged doors can make the building look shabby too.

Make sure you replace these fixtures when they need it to avoid a backlog of work and annoyed tenants.

Conduct A Monthly Safety Audit

Another major priority for your maintenance should be safety mechanisms and fixtures.

When it comes to an emergency, these safety fixtures need to be in full working order to avoid accidents and lawsuits.

Safety fixtures include things like emergency lighting systems, emergency exit signs, emergency doors, and fire detector systems.

Make sure you carry out a monthly audit of these safety mechanisms to make sure that they are all operating correctly.

Prioritize Remodeling

Remodeling can go a long way to keeping your property looking modern and well-kept. This is what your tenants pay you for too.

Keep your commercial property in the same condition as you would your home. If remodeling work is needed, get it done.

Replace ripped carpets, repaint chipped or peeling walls or ceilings, and refresh the building’s exterior with fresh paint at least once a year.

There are just some of the basic maintenance and remodeling requirements for any commercial building.

Stay On Top Of Pest Control

One of the worst issues to deal with when it comes to any commercial property is a pest infestation. This can cost you a lot of money in extermination, as well as having to temporarily remove tenants while you deal with the problem.

Keep in mind that even if your tenants haven’t complained about pests, this doesn’t mean there isn’t an issue. Stay on top of pest control by carrying out a pest audit with a professional at least once a year to keep pests at bay.

Eliminate Fire Hazards

One of the most devastating hazards which faces any property owner is the potential for a fire to break out. The only way to avoid a fire breaking out is to identify and eliminate all fire hazards throughout your property.

Do routine checks on smoke detectors throughout the building once a month. Replace the batteries once a year.

Make sure all fire exit doors are fully operational and passageways are kept clear. Make sure each floor of the building is equipped with fire extinguishers.

Keep Your Backup Generator Firing

Stagnant parts in a backup generator can spell disaster. As these parts remain motionless, air can get into the unit injector solenoid and render your generator useless. All emergency generators should be started for at least five minutes, once a week, in order to rev all the moving parts and keep things alive.

Transfer load testing should generally be done once a month, while a scheduled full load test should be carried out every year.

Prioritize Maintenance Of Facilities And Utilities

Staying on track with the full function of your building’s facilities is an essential part of keeping your tenants happy.

These facilities include things like elevators, escalators, public bathrooms, staff rooms, and HVAC units.

You should carry out a monthly inspection of the operation of all of these facilities to prevent accidents and maintain the high quality of your commercial property.

5 Qualities to Look for When Choosing Solar Panel Installers in Texas

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |solar panel installers in texas |5 Qualities to Look for When Choosing Solar Panel Installers in TexasIn 2020, solar energy was just 3% of all US electricity. But it’s projected to grow to 20% by 2050, seeing as it’s a great source of renewable energy!

In the past decade, solar panels have become more affordable, which has encouraged more homeowners to decrease their dependence on the grid.

Are you thinking of going green with solar? Then keep reading. Here are 5 qualities you need to look for when you’re choosing solar panel installers in Texas.

1. Certification and License

Solar panels are intricate and deal with electricity, so you want someone who knows what they’re doing. A fully-certified and licensed company has proof that they’ve gone through the training needed to install your system correctly.

Not only should the solar energy company be certified, but also, their electricians. This ensures that your solar panels and all equipment will be installed correctly and safely.

2. Experience

Experience is vital when hiring any type of professional. Not only does it show they have the knowledge and skill to do the job right, but it also decreases the chance that they’ll drop out of the project before everything’s finished.

Years of experience also show a proven track record. After all, it’s tough to stay in business if you don’t have satisfied customers.

3. Confidence

Any solar company worth its salt should have confidence in providing solar panel installation in Texas. They need to put their money where their mouth is and offer workmanship warranties.
These can be anywhere between 1 to 10 years; obviously, choosing a company that offers more years on their warranties is the best route.

4. Transparency

The best solar panel installers in Texas will have complete transparency about their work. They won’t have to resort to tricks to get you to commit.

For example, they should offer a free, no-obligation report, as well as a zero commitment savings report. You should never feel like it’s tough to get answers out of them or that you’re pressured to sign anything.

5. Genuine Friendliness

All too often, companies only see their customers as dollar signs. Either they treat their clients coldly or with fake hospitality, neither of which makes you feel great.

Considering that these people will be working at your house, you need to feel 100% comfortable with them. when switching to solar in Texas, you’ll want to pick a company that treats you with respect and genuine friendliness. You should never feel brushed off and instead, you should feel like all your needs are heard and met.

Choose the Right Solar Panel Installers in Texas

There may be many solar panel installers in Texas, which can make it hard to choose the best one. But by looking for the above qualities, it’ll be easier to narrow down your choices and pick the optimal Texas solar installation company for your needs and budget.

Just remember to take your time and explore your options. The time you invest into the process will pay off! HomeEnergyClub mentioned the importance of considering various electricity plans when selecting solar panel installers, particularly if you prefer not to depend solely on solar-generated energy.

If you enjoyed learning about how to choose solar panel installers, then keep browsing our blog page for more informative articles!

Advice For Manufacturing Leaders To Improve Performance

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Improve Performance|Advice For Manufacturing Leaders To Improve PerformanceAs a manufacturing business leader, it is vital that you know how to manage your team to improve business performance. This is an industry quite unlike any other, which is why some manufacturing leaders struggle to get the most out of their team and hit their targets. In this line of work, you need to know how to manage bottlenecks, keep staff motivated and ensure that the daily operation is running as smoothly as possible. With this in mind, this post will outline a few pieces of advice that should help you to become a better manufacturing leader and hopefully help you to take your business to new heights.

Analyze Each Process

First, you should sit down with team members to discuss each process in the daily operation. You should discuss if there are any issues or bottlenecks that are occurring and find ways to overcome these issues. Even a small change to a seemingly small process can make a big difference to the overall efficiency of the operation. Be sure to ask staff for their feedback and ideas – often, they have the best solutions as they are the ones carrying out the work each day. You will also find that this is helpful in terms of making your staff feel valued.

Use Ongoing Staff Training

You should also be providing ongoing staff training so that your team are continuously improving and able to excel in their role. Staff training will help to improve individual performances, which collectively will take the business to new heights. Additionally, learn what the career goals are of each of your team members and then find ways to help them achieve this under your wing. This should help to keep your team happy and motivated, which will be key for high-performance levels and retaining your top performers.

Prioritize Health & Safety

Manufacturing can be a hazardous industry, and it is vital that you provide a safe work environment for your team. This is so that you can prevent any accidents or injuries from occurring, but also so that your team can feel safe in their job. There are a few ways to prioritize health and safety, including:

  • Risk assessment
  • Removing/mitigating hazards
  • Health and safety training
  • First-aid training
  • PPE
  • Signage

Keep Morale High

One of the toughest aspects of leadership is keeping morale high within your team. Morale levels will naturally rise and fall, but you need to know how to manage each team member as what works well for one person may not work for another. A few of the best ways that you can keep morale high include:

  • Positive feedback
  • Career development
  • Flexible working
  • Team building and social events
  • Relaxed workplace atmosphere

Use Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Often, manufacturing leaders do not know if they are finding success and making money until the profit and loss statement is delivered by which point it is too late. As a leader, it is much more useful if you can gauge performance in real-time to see if you are on track and if there are any changes that need to happen. This is possible with the use of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which is a tool that shows real-time data relating to manufacturing profitability. This data includes if your assets are available and running properly, if you are hitting production targets and if quality standards are being met. OOE from specialists like https://www.hertzler.com/overall-equipment-effectiveness/ ensures that you are always on track and will help to improve financial performance.

Automate As Much As You Can

Automation is a word that can cause some anxiety, especially in manufacturing. Automation does not have to lead to job losses, though, as automation and staff can co-exist on the workflow, and this is particularly evident in manufacturing with the rise of cobots. You should look to automate as much of the daily operation as you can, as this will speed processes up and reduce errors. In addition to this, you will find that automation will free up time and mental energy for your team to focus on the more important aspects of their job while lightening their load.

If you are a manufacturing leader that is looking to improve performance, then these are a few of the key areas to focus on. It can be tough as a manufacturing leader, and it is not always clear how you can improve performance and be a good leader, but these areas should help you to boost the business and be the best leader possible for your team.

How to Make Your Entire Supply Chain Greener

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Supply Chain|How to Make Your Entire Supply Chain GreenerAs more and more businesses start to pay attention to how they operate in greener and more efficient ways, one of the things that your business can’t afford to overlook is its supply chain. It’s all well and good making your business green, but if the tentier company depends on a supply chain that’s anything but environmentally friendly, it doesn’t mean much. So here’s how to make your entire supply chain greener.

Reduce Distances

Using more local resources is one of the things you can do to make the supply chain of your business a bit greener. When you reduce the amount of distances that products need to travel, it makes it easier for you to reduce your carbon emissions. If you’re supplying items from the other side of the world, that’s obviously going to cause a much greater impact on the planet.

Plan Smarter Routes

The routes you plan can also have an impact when it comes to how green your supply chain is. If you can make sure that you’re taking the smartest and most efficient routes, you should be able to make your supply chain greener than it was before. If you’ve been using the same routes for transporting and distributing goods for a long time, you might not even be aware of how outdated or inefficient they are.

Use Electric Vehicles for Transportation

Another thing to consider when it comes to transportation is using electric vehicles. It’s something that most businesses are now able to embrace. By committing to only transporting goods on the road with electric vehicles, you’ll massively reduce the environmental impact of your business and its entire supply chain. As EVs become more affordable, it’s something more and more businesses are doing. It’s definitely an option for you to explore.

Work with Suppliers That Take a Sustainable Approach

Working with suppliers who are as committed to green changes just as much as you are is obviously something that’s very important. Superior Farms is an example of a food company that’s committed to those goals, and there are similar options in just about every industry and niche. All you need to do is go out of your way to find them and see if you can then work together.

Shrink the Packaging

Shrinking the packaging and making sure that you’re not wasting resources with the packaging you choose is something that’ll be really important. Having green practices in place will be meaningless if you’re relying on tons of plastic to get your products into stores and to customers. So try to find alternative packaging methods and do what you can to shrink the packaging.

It might seem like a lot of work and effort, but taking gradual steps to make your supply chain as green and efficient as it can be will not only help the planet; it’ll help your business too. It becomes a selling point and by maximizing efficiency, you can save yourself a lot of money too.

Have You Heard about the Utility Models?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Utility Model|Have You Heard about the Utility Models?The European Commission states that a utility model is a registered right, according to which its holder has an exclusive use of the technical invention. It is also mentioned that “the right is given in exchange for public disclosure of the workings of the invention and is granted for a limited period”. Furthermore, utility models guarantee fast and inexpensive protection for technical inventions. The reason for it is that they are usually granted without substantive examination. That is why individual innovators or small enterprises prefer utility models. They are also known as ‘innovation patents’ or ‘petty patents’.

The European Commission states that a utility model is a registered right, according to which its holder has an exclusive use of the technical invention. It is also mentioned that “the right is given in exchange for public disclosure of the workings of the invention and is granted for a limited period”. Furthermore, utility models guarantee fast and inexpensive protection for technical inventions. The reason for it is that they are usually granted without substantive examination. That is why individual innovators or small enterprises prefer utility models. They are also known as ‘innovation patents’ or ‘petty patents’.

Protection

What kind of protection do utility models offer? The exclusive right conferred by a utility model generally allows its owner to prevent others from making, using, selling or importing a product or a process based on the protected invention, without the owner’s prior permission. So, the principle is that others will not be creating, using, selling the invention without your, as owners, permission.

Time limit for utility model protection

The utility model protection is limited in time. Its period of protecting depends on the national legislation of the certain country. In Europe, it is usually up to 10 years from the day of the utility model application completing. When the utility model protection expires, pretty much anyone has all the rights to exploit the invention commercially, and no legislation will be violated then.

Utility models in Europe

Generally, the European Union grants the utility models at national level in these countries:

  • Austria
  • Bulgaria
  • Czech Republic
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Spain

Actually, there is no general European or international utility model protection.

Differences between patents and utility models

Basically, the requirements for obtaining a utility model are not as strict as these for patents. It is obvious that the novelty requirement must be met without any exceptions, but when it comes to inventiveness or non-obviousness, the conditions are not that rigid. That’s why, the utility model protection is frequently a better choice for inventions that do not meet the patentability criteria.

Also, the duration of protection of utility models is shorter than the patent protection period. Moreover, it depends on a country, but it is usually up to 10 years. You have to bear in mind that there is no way of renewing or extending it. What is actually good is that the fees for acquiring and maintaining utility models are always lower.

In summary, the utility model is a different and less complicated way of protecting the exclusivity of your invention. When you cannot meet the criteria for patent protection, patent attorneys will definitely recommend utility model protection, which is cheaper and easier to acquire.