Porter Conklin, Author at FlexTrades

At FlexTrades, we believe that a strong company culture and meaningful connections are the backbone of our success. Since transitioning to a fully remote workforce, we’ve made it a priority to continually nurture our team’s sense of community and collaboration, regardless of the distance between us. In this blog, we’ll share the strategies and initiatives that help us maintain a thriving culture, foster team engagement, and ensure that every employee feels connected to one another while working remotely.

One of the biggest drivers of this initiative is our Enjoy the Journey Committee. This volunteer group of employees works to create fun and informative experiences for FlexTrades employees year-round. The group meets monthly to plan events and meetings, often centered around monthly or seasonal themes. For February, events will focus on the Superbowl, Valentine’s Day, American Heart Month, National Cancer Prevention Month, and more. In March, there are already learning sessions planned around National Nutrition Month.

The best example of a larger event hosted by the Enjoy the Journey Committee was our annual virtual holiday party. To celebrate, the team sent packages to each employee containing a variety of charcuterie board ingredients and paired beverages to try. We then celebrated during a virtual meeting, where trained sommeliers guided us through the essentials of wine tasting and how to combine the various taste elements of charcuterie for the best flavor experience.

While these events are great, sometimes nothing beats genuine face-to-face connection. That’s why we’ve created at least one day a month where employees can plan to work in person at our new office in Hudson, Wisconsin! Employees are welcome to work in the office whenever they want or need to do so. However, having one planned day each month where people know others will be there to collaborate or simply add some conversation to the workday makes a big difference.

Facing the challenges of fostering connection and company culture through a remote workforce has required a lot of ingenuity from FlexTrades leadership, management, and the Enjoy the Journey Committee. But it’s all worth it to ensure that employees are given plenty of opportunities to connect beyond their computer screens. We at FlexTrades feel as though our efforts are pushing the boundaries of remote work capabilities with this initiative, and we can’t wait to continue redefining what’s possible for both production and people in a remote work environment.

Black Friday is the day when the holiday shopping frenzy reaches its peak, bringing excitement to consumers and chaos for retailers and manufacturing. While consumers can revel in deep discounts and doorbuster deals, U.S. manufacturers are left with a flurry of benefits and pitfalls. For many, it’s an opportunity to ramp up production and capitalize on the endless desires of US consumers. But for others, it becomes a struggle to meet demand. Here are two of the biggest benefits and struggles for American manufacturers that come from this day of massive demand.

Benefit: Increased Demand and Production Opportunities

Black Friday creates a massive surge in consumer demand, and that directly translates to increases in orders for U.S. manufacturing. Industries producing consumer goods, electronics, apparel, among others tend to be in high demand during holiday shopping.

This spike in demand is important because it allows manufacturers to scale production, increase revenue, and hire temporary workers to meet the demand. These benefits can carry over into the new year to create a great start to the year.

Benefit: Marketing and Visibility Boost for American-Made Goods

In the year 2024, consumers are much more sensitive to where their products are made than ever before. Black Friday serves as an excellent exhibit of quality and value of American-made products amidst discounts. Increased demand for made in the USA is never a bad thing for American makers.

Struggle: Supply Chain Strains and Logistical Challenges

Increased demand in terms of Black Friday can be a double-edged sword. While an increase in business is quite beneficial, it only benefits those suited to meeting the challenge. Those who cannot find themselves in a situation where the rush to fulfill orders creates quality control issues, bottlenecks, and logistical nightmares. In many cases, this leads to delays, back orders, or inflated prices due to manufacturing struggles.

Struggle: Pressure to Compete with Overseas Manufacturers

The pressure to minimize what you spend on products for Black Friday may force some US manufacturers to rely on materials and components from overseas. The overall price of these materials is much cheaper due to lower labor and production costs for these foreign manufacturers. The rapid increase in demand from Black Friday sales can lead to a reliance on such imports to complete orders on time. However, these cheap prices typically mean sacrifices when it comes to product quality.

Need help keeping up with your own customer demand? Reach out to learn how we can help boost production for your manufacturing business. Want to learn more about how online shopping affects manufacturing? Check out our blog about how Prime Day affects supply chains. And remember when you’re doing your own shopping this holiday season, if the deal seems too good to be true check into reviews regarding quality and delivery times before you buy!

The end of the year signifies a large jump in demand for manufacturing companies across the world. Unfortunately, some have critical year-end goals that seem out of reach come mid-November and they are unaware of how to avoid the looming penalties. These same companies should know that there are alternatives to traditional recruitment, like FlexTrades, that can be the missing piece to catching up and staying on track for their business objectives.

On-Site Project Success Managers

FlexTrades offers a unique solution to ensure staff productivity and success beyond initial deployment. Our full-time Project Success Managers are on-site wherever our technicians are deployed. These professionals are not only deeply experienced in the technicalities of the roles they oversee, but they’re also skilled leaders who can identify and resolve issues, optimize workflows, and improve overall performance.

Rapid Deployment Model

FlexTrades responds quickly to orders and deploys technicians on-site fast. Last year, we received an urgent request for 37 skilled tradespeople to help a client meet year-end order deadlines and avoid penalties. In just a few days, we deployed CMM inspectors, deburr technicians, machinists, assemblers, and painters. Not only did they succeed in meeting the year-end goals, but the technicians stayed on-site an additional three months, giving the client an extra production boost to start the new year strong.

Quality Over Cost

Traditional staffing companies often focus on filling roles for the lowest bid, which can result in high turnover, lower productivity, and project delays. FlexTrades takes a different approach. We prioritize the quality and fit of technicians to help you reach your goals and ensure long-term success. Our technicians bring significant experience, reducing the time needed for onboarding and training. Technicians of higher quality and better fit save you money and minimize disruptions.

If you’re at risk of missing deadlines or facing penalties, FlexTrades is the partner you need. Our on-site Project Success Managers deliver exceptional oversight, our technicians are deployed rapidly, and their expertise provides lasting cost-saving benefits. Don’t wait to find the missing piece for your operations!

How prepared is your business for the upcoming seasonal rush? If you’re one of the many struggling to keep up with demand during this difficult period, you’re not alone. Many American manufacturers face increased orders, production backlogs, and understaffed shifts during their busy seasons. That’s where we can help. Our workforce solutions are designed to ensure that you’re fully prepared to handle all influxes due to seasonality. Here’s how Flex Trades can assist your production operations this holiday (or any) season.  

FlexTrades, first and foremost, provides motivated and dependable technicians whom your business can count on. These technicians are committed to moving the line within your facility, and you can depend on them to drive production day in and day out. In industries such as warehousing, distribution, or wholesale goods this is especially important as business demand typically remains consistently high. Even missing just a small portion of the workforce for one day can set operations back days or weeks.

Another vital benefit of partnering with FlexTrades is our large roster of experienced technicians. Not only do we have the numbers to help even the largest workforce needs, but our technicians also have the knowledge and expertise to fill a wide range of positions and assist with just about any manufacturing or engineering practice. During seasonal increases and spikes, industries like sugar and confectionary products have needs for common manufacturing skillsets like maintenance technicians and quality control inspectors, but they also need help addressing positions specific to their industry, such as blender and mixer operators. FlexTrades is the premier partner to help boost production across these roles, and more, during seasonal upticks for manufacturing companies.

Industry leading project management is yet another reason to trust FlexTrades to successfully support your operations. To ensure accurate and quality performance, as well as streamline client communications, all FlexTrades projects are assigned a dedicated project manager. And it is always an option to deploy our project managers on-site whenever in-person management is required or desired. This commitment to quality project management not only saves your business time and manpower in managing new technicians but also allows for more consistent operations to create a final product, and partnership, you trust. Many industries, like paper production or pharmaceutical manufacturing, can benefit from this knowing their product must be precise and uniform across each iteration.

Don’t let market seasonality get the best of your business when FlexTrades is here to help. Consider us next time you are looking for dependable and experienced technicians to help you through your busy season.

The Olympic games are widely known as one of the greatest shows of athleticism and talent globally. This year’s Paris Summer Olympics continues the tradition in high fashion with exciting new events and renditions. Here’s everything to keep your eyes on once the opening ceremony kicks things off on Friday, July 26.

New Event: Breaking

Arguably the most fascinating and unexpected new event to join the Olympics is “breaking” or breakdancing.

In true battle rap style, competitors dance 1v1 in a best of three competition. When one person’s turn ends, the opponent jumps in for theirs. Judges grade on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity, and musicality.

Some favorites to look out for in the men’s division are U.S. stars Victor Montalvo and Jeffrey Louis. For the women’s competition, American Sunny Choi and Lithuanian Dominika Banevic are names to watch. Tune in on Friday, August 9 for the start of breaking.

New Event: Kayak Cross

Kayak Cross is a version of Kayak Slalom that started around 2015. It has elements of traditional kayak or canoe slalom, where competitors travel through a water obstacle course of gates. Unique to this rendition, competitors start on a ramp over two meters above the ground.

Kayak cross is also a contact sport. Kayakers can use their paddles to push and move around the competition. The finish is also different. Competitors must complete what is called an “Eskimo Roll”, or essentially a sideways barrel roll, before finishing the race. July 27^th marks the start of this exciting new sport.

Second Olympiad Event: Surfing

Surfing made its debut during the Japan Olympics in 2020. It is returning in 2024, however, it will take place in French Polynesia rather than in Paris.

Brazil’s Ítalo Ferreira won in 2020 and is expected to make a strong run for gold again. The same is true for Tokyo’s women’s winner, Carissa Moore of the U.S. Be on the lookout for surfing starting Saturday, July 27.

Second Year Event: Skateboarding

Skateboarding is also returning for its second Olympics. Like Surfing, it was introduced at the 2020 Olympics in Toyko. There are four main events, street and park skateboarding for both men and women.

In 2020, Japan almost swept by winning three of four possible gold medals. This year watch out for famous U.S. pros like Nyjah Huston and Mariah Duran as well. Skateboarding is scheduled to start on July 27^th.

Second Year Event: 3v3 Basketball

A different version of basketball is returning after its successful debut in the 2020 Olympics. 3v3 basketball has all the same excitement of traditional 5 on 5, yet with two less players!

Differences between the two are relatively marginal, with the most prominent being court size and scoring. Teams consist of four players, one of whom for the United States is college basketball legend, Jimmer Fredette. You can jump into some 3v3 basketball when it begins on July 30.

Other Notable Changes

Artistic Swimming: First time men are included in this swimming competition.
Boxing: A new women’s weight class has been added, and a men’s weight class has been cut.
Sailing: Two kite events have been added for 2024.
Shooting: Mixed skeet team event has replaced the mixed team trap event.
Track and Field: Marathon race walk mixed relay has replaced the men’s 50KM race walk.
Volleyball: Teams are divided into three pools of four, instead of two pools of six, this Olympiad.
Weightlifting: 14 weight classes have shrunk to only 10.

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is not something to miss. Not just because it only happens every four years, but because of the exciting new events and storylines that are sure to arise this year. Be sure to tune in and root on your home country!

The National Safety Council has coined June as National Safety Month. During this time each year, the NSC brings additional spotlight to vital safety issues and their implications within workplaces and on roadways.

FlexTrades fully supports this effort and works to promote, teach, and maintain safety, year-round.

Safety-First Training at FlexTrades

To ensure each technician is always putting safety first, everyone goes through pre-deployment safety training, field safety alerts, and ongoing safety training programs on every project.

On top of training, we are constantly innovating how to call out important safety updates internally to keep safety at the forefront of everything we do. This is why we are such big supporters of the National Safety Council dedicating an entire month to focusing on safety.

One such way we do this is by continually creating relevant content for our technicians and others to see via internal communications and across all our online and social media platforms. We also work to promote additional resources and calendar dates surrounding safety through newsletters and internal groups.

Client Benefits

There are many reasons why deploying FlexTrades traveling skilled trades professionals is beneficial to safety and general business practice for any manufacturer:

Risk Reduction: In 2023, FlexTrades was recognized with a ‘Risk Control Award of Merit’. The grading/determining factors were critical statistics on loss frequency and severity, and an evaluation of the proactive measures taken to reduce risks.
Safety Culture: Technicians, always well-vetted for commitment to safety, from FlexTrades work to create an environment of those who live and breathe safety. Adding our technicians to your team can visually and physically shift the culture around safety in any manufacturing facility.
Reduced Operating Costs: The training we implement before a technician deploys, as well as during their project, is the best way to prevent costly safety issues. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Increased Productivity: Employees become more productive when they feel as though their daily operations do not put them at risk. Also, rates of absenteeism decrease rapidly when technicians know that their activities follow best safety practices and guidelines.

Stay Safe

We at FlexTrades understand the importance of vigorous safety training. The National Safety Council does too. That’s why we’re such huge fans of the extra light they shine on safety every June! Visit the resources page of their website if you’d like to learn more about how to improve the focus on safety in your facility or home. And remember, you should put safety first every day not just in the month of June.