From the desk of Ben Rassieur: The importance of industry involvement

In the heat treating industry, trade groups and industry organizations are too often untapped resources for understanding and anticipating the needs of potential customers. Here at Paulo, we’ve found that industry involvement has been hugely beneficial not just for our company, but also for our customers and the organizations we have the opportunity to interact with.
Far more often than not, our efforts at trade shows and collaboration with trade organizations like the Precision Metalforming Association, National Tooling and Manufacturing Association, Industrial Fasteners Institute just to name a few, have proven to be mutually beneficial relationships that offer both sides a chance to learn and grow.
We know that Paulo can offer support to these organizations, promoting their health through the sponsorship of events and helping to create a platform for the exchange of ideas. They prove to be an excellent platform for hosting lectures, workshops, panels and roundtable discussions that allow us to offer our take on everything from heat treating and brazing to sales and marketing. These allow us to showcase the expertise we’ve spent so long accruing and refining.
And we receive a lot in return. Industry events help us to forge new relationships. We develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing our customers, whom we’re always trying to better serve. They help us to anticipate trends in those industries and better prepare our business for the future. They spark fresh ideas and new approaches to familiar problems for the engineers and metallurgists within our own organization.

We know that, by helping to support trade organizations, we’re supporting forums for developing and standardizing best practices, contributing to training resources and supporting the creation and dissemination of reports on the health of various industries.
They also help to create an environment where an industry is greater than the sum of its parts. By pooling resources and influence, these trade groups amplify their voice and make sure that the interests of their members and their industries are taken into account at the local level and beyond.
At Paulo, we’ve put emphasis on, and effort into, our involvement in our customer industries, and we’ve seen healthy returns because of it.