Action of an individual or a few does not represent the whole.

      I told my Australian friend Scott who happens to be a very spiritual Baptist, that an Oklahoma man beheaded a coworker on Friday. He says, "hmm. I saw that and it sounds scary. But why is it so different than another possible 299 murders that happen every year in Oklahoma?” He continues, “Next to guns, knives or sharp objects are most common weapon of choice for murderers. Why are they necessarily using the word beheading when describing this common type of killing usually described in other words, sounds a bit dubious?”

      Then I told him the guy converted to Islam recently. He says, “So? He may have eaten an apple that morning. Stop associating things that may or may not be associated. And by the way, even if this guy acted out in the name of his recently adopted religion, it says nothing more or nothing less about a billion Muslims and their religion Islam."

      It’s horrific when an innocent Oklahoman gets killed by a deranged co-worker that recently converted to Islam and was terminated that day. This man does not represent Muslims and his faith has nothing to do with Islam. Despite what some nutty groups in many corners of the world are doing for their own financial and political purposes, Islam does not allow taking innocent lives. A Muslim is not allowed to kill an animal as little as an ant without reason, let alone another human being.

     When a 20 year old shoots 20 children and 6 teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, we must not vilify all law abiding gun owners. When Tzarnaev brothers create mayhem in Boston Marathon, we must not think ill of all Chechens. When Westbro Baptist Church members continue organizing hate-filled protest during military funerals, we should never think all Baptists have similar hateful views. Every time a clown from White Supremacist group KKK attacks a Synagogue, we do think all whites are racists. Hitler killed 6 million Jews; we know all Germans don’t have hateful views.
When Florida pastor was burning Qurans for whatever reason he stated and started asking others to do the same, we knew all pastors did not project the same view and we did not see Christians flocking to burn Qurans.

When a Muslim commits a horrific crime, we are not to think all Muslims are horrible.

Action of an individual or a few does not represent the whole.

Competive edge in business

I work with a few local businesses as part of my consulting actvities on the side. One company that I work with is Gavco Plastics in tulsa, Oklahoma. Manufactucturing industry in USA has been facing stiff competition for years from their overseas counterparts. Businesses are losing long-term contracts to get-done-cheaper competitors overseas. Gavco Plastics, a plastic molding company is no different. They have seen tough times, they have survived bad times. They have learnt from all those years and now they stay competitive with innovative approach.
What are they doing different to survive and possibly grow?

Throughout my business classes in school I read books and listened to lectures on what businesses can do to get that competitive edge, that X factor so to speak putting them ahead of their peers. Now, working with Gavco among other few companies, I am getting my first hand look at how a maufacturing company with solid foundation can not only meet their customers' changing needs but also stay ahead of their competition here in the USA and overseas.

Here are 4 biggest things I see in Gavco that are making Gavco competitive

1. Ongoing effort to increase ability: Gavco has ability to serve multiple industries and they continue to grow their capacity. Gavco's potenetial to acquire newer and larger customers gives this Plastic molding company in Oklahoma the edge it seeks. I never thought a plastic molding company can serve this many industries. Coffee pot, tote bin, surgical swab stick, car hop tray, belt pulley, and so many different products are under their belt showed me their abity to serve food service, medical, military, automotive, aerospace, and the list goes on.


2. Achieve industry certifications: Gavco continues to get industry standard certications. their effort to maintain these through all the changes of rules and standards keeps their facilties not only compliant but also qualified to serve major industries.


3. Automation and upgrades: Overseas companies employ a lots of labor to keep producing parts and products fast. Gavco works dilligently and continuously to upgrade machines, computers and software to keep automating and improving their processes. More automation keeps the time to produce shorter. Larger volume orders can be completed faster than others.


4. It's all about the people: Smiling faces are abundant every time I go to Gavco for my bi-weekly friday meeting with the team. Experienced folks with high morale led by a solid management team can do miracle for any business like Gavco through good and bad times. Gavco has seen their fair share of challenging times like many others in their industry. When I see these long times continue to work hard and smart for all these years, it gives me the reason for GAVCO to be doing survive and thrive for almost 35 years. Strong workforce is an X-factor for any successful business.

Dollar for dollar, order by order, a manufacturing company may not meet a cheap overseas manufacturer. But one order, one part, or one fast shipment is just one story in today's world of large businesses need to find long-term reliable partners. We've seen what one lead-filled toy shipment from chinese manufacturers can do to Tyco, the toy making giant. Can a company afford to have millions of products recalled? What will that do to their short-term profitability and long-term growth potential? It is a hooror story no company should have to live through.

This is where USA based, certified and able manufacturing companies like GAVCO can make big defferences. Like many USA manufacturer, GAVCO beats their competitors with ability, quality, credentials, high-standards and overall excellent customer satisfaction and service.
I am simply amazed at Gavco's ongoing innovative approach to stay competitive.

Got my iPad2

Well, I'm just gonna come out of closet. Yes , after years of being a Microsoft Guy, I finally gave in and got my iPad and just loving it. The better half in my family gave it to me as 10th Anniversary gift.

I sniffed it for couple of day. I waited another couple of days thinking it may take me a couple of hours to get the iPad going and just didn't have that time. Weekend wend by with some social activities.

Finally, got around unwrapping the it. Surprise! It took me 2 minutes from opening the box to get it up and running. I was off to watching youtube. I can see why people love their apple products. They are just plain and simple to use yet there is nothing uncool about them.

My 2 year old is using the ipad and competing with me on games! iPA PAD, iPA PAD is what she calls it. yes she is a fan of iPAD.

Plastic Molding company in the Heartland, USA

So many folks in the USA are screaming around these days about keeping jobs in America. We al know that we need to learn American products and services and buy them to keep these manufacturing jobs churning here. Yet, very few of us can find a single product in our homes that is not made in China. Plastic Injection Molding is a business that has been losing it's fair share to Chinese Manufacturers over the years. People simply don't know about these hometown Plastic Injection Molders that are creating great products using local workforce.

As part of my IT consulting, I run into so many good folks and good businesses around. Gavco Plastics is a Tulsa, Oklahoma based Plastic Injection Molding Company that makes, anything and everything plastics. Their service, quality is simply parallel to none. Tote Bin, Coffee Pot Surgical swab stick, Stall rake, Flexible gromments, Impact Resistant Box Conversion Scale, Car Hop Tray, Gasoline Pressure, Washer Belt Pulley for John Deere Sheetrock, Drywall Tools are just a few of the diversified products this family-owned and operated 30 year old company makes. Heck, these guys have their own trucks to deliver.

From small to mid-size companies in Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Missori nd many other states have been using Gavco Plastics for years for their plastic injection molding services and secondary operations including various forms of silk-screen printing, pad printing, product assembly, packaging and shipping. Black & Decker gave these guys reward superior quality and service.
American products, made from american materials, made by folks right here in the heartland of America. Gavco Plastics is feel good story that I had to write about.

Take care of your stuff

Growing up in a middle class family we've always had to take care of our cloths, shoes, books and anything else that we had. It just was necessary and made sense to make your stuff last longer since "you ain't gettin' another one until next year." Then the religious scare about "if you waste your resource, you are the brother of devil" We just could not leave unfinished food on plates. Mother had a strict rule about "take all you can eat and eat all you take."

We simply had to be careful about taking care of things we had.

Although I am not as strict on doing extra to make stuff last longer, I still do a lot. After reading this article, I made note myself to start making conscious effort to become watchful of resource just like we had to when growing up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/107485/save-your-stuff-and-save-money.html

WII experience

Almost 3 years after coming out, it's a bit late to buy WII. I am a bit slow to buy the hottest thing arouind. My wife bought me this WII as my father's day gift this year. She gave me option to buy iPhone last year, I took a rain check on that because I din't want to spend another $30 or $40 a month on data plan at that time. Market was tough and people were losing jobs, so I wanted to save some $$.

Backto WII. After spending only 5 minutes to hook up everything, we were in business. Created MII, the personal profile every player can create and save. We played Tennis for a while, did miserably in Baseball. It is hard to hit a ball. Threw a lot of gutterballs in bowling.

Then we switched the disc to the extra game "WII Play" we bought for some new games. Well, console could not find that disc. It does not work. Then we switched to the one that works... hmm, now this one doesn't even work. We tried to follow everythiong the manual said for the scenario.. no luck. Callled Nintendo Customer Service.. nobody live at that time (1:30 am, CST, USA).

There goes our excitement of First night with WII. We will take it back to Best Buy today and see what they can do.. but we will not get the last night back!

Doctors with ears

What a difference it makes between a doctor and a doctor with ears! My father has been seeing a very prominent Nephrologyst with his kidney problems for months now. His frustration has been growing from day one as this doctor spends so little time listening to the symptoms of his life threatening illness. I went with my father one morning for his 3rd visit to this guy and saw the whole "I am a doctor, you are nobody" attitude. After two hours of waiting outside his office, when we finally got to see him, he was on his newly-bought iPhone. We get in, he shows us to have a seat, continuing his conversation. Five whole minutes later, he tells the person on the phone, "I got somebody in front of me. It will be a few minutes.. and let me call you back". I felt like taking that iPhone, throwing it on the floor, stomping on it and then tell him, "We pay your salary. You work for us. The only reason you have that iPphone is because we pay you. Get off that phone and give us what you owe us.. your time and expertise. not a few of your annoyed-minutes".

No, he is too good of a doctor (don't know how and why, other than what his degree says). So, I politely smiled at him instead and my father started telling him his itching of skins, fever, pain and other recent changes in his body as his kidneys have been losing functionality.

Mr. Doctor had one answer after he cut him short abruptly, "I told you to start dialysis, there is nothing else I can do for you." May be it is true that there were nothing else he could do. However, he could have said in many ways to a seriously ill patient that is fighting for his life. With a little more listening, a bit more care and a whole lot of passion. Psychology, Social Science were two subjects that were vital in undergrad school and I use what I learnt to this day. Do these doctors go through any interpersonal skill building courses? If not, why not? If yes, what happens to them as they become more successful?

Last week, my father went to a famous doctor in Singapore to explore other options for his kidney treatment. He called me and told me, "this doctor listend to me for two hours!" In half a dozen visit, we could not get 30 minutes from the famous nephrpologyst. And here in another country, we get two hours the first time! Next visit was no diffeernt. Granted, it costs a lot more to see a doctor in Singapore. However, I doubt that the other guy behaves poorly because he receives less. Whatever are his scheduled payments, we pay. He just doesn't have it or doesn't get it. Not listening to the patients and just trying to cut their time short is a common practice among many doctors in many 3rd world countries. This needs to change and change soon.

Patients are flocking to other countries and spending thousands for almost similar or may be a tad-bit better treatment simply because they feel their doctors aren't listening to them. Without listening carefully to all the symptoms, how can a doctor give you the best medicine?

Doctors must listen before they speak!