Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/143040
RESIDENTIAL CONTRACT HOSPITALIT Y We deliver QUALITY, because of our experience and partner suppliers. VALUE, because we maintain low overhead. SERVICE, because we appreciate the opportunity to make our Dealers shine. 1-877-873-4898 Our Customer Care phones are answered live for immediate, accurate information. A Proud member of the community. STONE HEARTH & SPECIALTY Commercial Cooking Equipment Discover why over 10,000 ovens, rotisseries, charbroilers, tandoors, and planchas have been sold in 75+ countries around the world. woodstone-corp.com info@woodstone-corp.com tf 800.988.8103 • t 360.650.1111 36 FEDA News & Views If customers don't embrace innovation and look at long-term cost savings, can we blame manufacturers or those selling and specifying equipment from losing interest in new designs and technology? innovative group of business people around. Given a choice of saving labor or energy, or buying at the lowest price, they will almost always choose the lowest first cost in equipment and facilities. If customers don't embrace innovation and look at long-term cost savings, can we blame manufacturers or those selling and specifying equipment from losing interest in new designs and technology? A second major contributor to the lack of innovation is the litigious nature of doing business in the United States. Product liability issues and cost have curtained dozens of promising technologies and products. Several manufacturers of truly innovative products, already being successfully sold in Europe and Asia, have refused to enter the North American market solely because of this concern. A third contributor, according to almost every manufacturer I have spoken with,is the cost impact of buying group rebates on reducing operating margins. More than one CEO of a major manufacturing group has stated that the reduction of funds devoted to research and development of new products and technology is almost directly in proportion to the increase in cost associated with supporting buying group demands. Moreover, they argue that if price is the customer's only concern, why spend limited resources to develop new technologies. So we now sell products in an industry built on a model of commodity and "copy-cat" products. When limited R&D funds are channeled to copying other manufacturers' products, innovation suffers. Furthermore, many duplicated products do not even represent significant volume. For example, look at the number of overfired broilers on the market with griddle tops that have popped up over the last five years. Teaching the Value of New Technology What will happen to our industry in the next 20, 30 or 50 years? The challenges faced by our customers and our industry have changed tremendously over the past decade and these trends are almost sure to continue. Our customers need new solutions to perplexing problems in food safety, sanitation, energy and labor cost. They are faced with challenges not even on the radar screen a decade ago. It's up to us to educate our customers to value new technology and methods that can benefit their operations. We need to support and encourage our vendors and manufacturers to research and develop new products to solve these problems. If we fail to embrace these solutions, do any of us want to face 20 or 30 years of a business based mainly on selling the same product as everyone else at the lowest market price? I hope not. K