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Our Mission is to provide the tools, training, and environment for operations management practitioners in the Southern Willamette Valley to grow and succeed. We will deliver educational opportunities through APICS classes, seminars, and workshops; growth and camaraderie through membership and participation in chapter activities, certification testing and professional interaction, and heightened awareness of our role as providers of operation management expertise and training through a marketing plan. Through these conduits we will enhance the financial stability of our chapter.

Greetings Everyone:

Well as I write this the calendar says spring time with summer just a week away and it is raining cats and dogs and 55 degrees. For the chapter this is the beginning of a summer break from classes and Professional Development Meetings. As our calendar shows on the website the next planned event is scheduled for September. Classes will restart and our first Professional Development Meeting of the year has been scheduled and confirmed. Please check out what is happening next. Even with the break scheduled for the summer, board members will still be accessible for questions discussions postings on the website for jobs and resume’s. We will continue to update the website on a monthly basis with adding classes for the next year, completing the calendar for workshops, plant tours and PDM’s.

The Southern Willamette Valley Chapter continues to grow with its offerings of CPIM classes, CSCP classes and other Operations Management workshops and Professional Development Meetings, but we are always looking for input into our programs of what professionals and businesses are looking for in our area. We continue to focus on what members and non-members are looking to increase specific knowledge base in. To those of you that have offered input into the education and development programs, Thanks. To those who haven’t taken the time please call or e-mail Nancy Miller our Director of Programs, or myself. We would love to assist you in creating a specific workshop or professional development meeting.

The boards of directors of the chapter are always looking for ways to provide a membership advantage for members of APICS at the local level. Our members have free access to one chapter professional development meeting each calendar year, there is a discount of $80.00 per each CPIM class that is offered. This can equal to $240.00 per calendar year savings, which could mean that your membership of $200.00 per year is free when taking the educational classes. The chapter is working towards offering other types of educational events that the membership would have access too at a discount to provide value to their membership.

Ed Barth, CPIM

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE
with Robert Wilson

the early 1970s I was a young teenager who was completely caught up in the Zeitgeist. I admired the long-haired rebels and radicals who were engaged in protesting the establishment and developing the counter-culture. I didn’t really know what any of that meant, but to me it was all about empowering youth and declaring our independence from the adults. My parents in particular. 

            As with any normal teenager, I was trying to grow up as fast as I could. And, because it annoyed my parents, wearing my hair long was its perfect expression. That, and it was de rigueur among all the teenagers who wanted to be cool. So, the longer the better – or in the immortal words from the title song to the 1968 Broadway Musical HAIR, “Oh, say can you see, My eyes if you can... Then my hair's too short!”

            It drove my parents completely crazy. They could not understand why any male would want to wear long hair. We fought about it all the time. 

            Meanwhile, I was in my first year of high school and the transition to a new school was causing my grades to drop dramatically. My parents saw an advantage, and the law was laid down: keep my grades above a certain minimum or cut my hair. It worked. I brought home a dismal report card, and it was off to the barber shop. Not surprisingly, my next report card met the minimum.

            The formula is simple: if you can find out what is valuable to someone, then you have the key to motivating them. For me, at age 13, the length of my hair became the coin of the realm.

            A year later, I accidentally made the Honor Roll. I say it was an accident because I was only trying to meet the minimum grades required by my parents and I somehow exceeded that.  When I received the engraved certificate with the embossed gold seal, I was surprised by the feeling it gave me. I felt important – especially when my teachers praised me. I liked that feeling, and I wanted to experience it again. Suddenly the coin of the realm changed, and it was no longer the length of my hair that was motivating me. It was high grades and the sense of pride they gave me. Oh, my hair continued to grow, but my grades were all about achievement. From that point forward until I graduated, I never failed to make the Honor Roll.

            Find out what is valuable to the person you want to motivate. What hobbies do they have? What are they passionate about? How do they spend their spare time? Then when you learn what rocks their world, find a way to tie your goals to it. 

            If you’re not sure what is valuable to someone, you can always make them feel important with an award or some other public acknowledgment. Everyone likes to hear their name announced in recognition at company or association meetings. Everyone likes to read their name in print in the organizational newsletter or website. Many business newspapers have a section where you can post your employees promotions and accomplishments. These low-cost to no-cost incentives truly have the power to motivate.

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Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert's programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.