Ready, Willing, and Able

Ready, Willing, and Able
I'm disabled, and I've been searching for programs that offer job-training and placement services so I can move to better full-time employment. What's available to disabled people?

Larry Phillips

Syracuse, N.Y.

Pursuing effective job training puts you on the right track, says John Cannata, CEO of SBM Maintenance Contractors, in Villa Park, Ill. About 20% of Cannata's work force is made up of disabled workers; he works closely with Illinois's Jobs Now Program (phone: 800-562-7669) to find carefully trained employees. Those who take advantage of the program's pretraining service (which grooms workers for specific jobs) are better able to make the transition to full-time work, says Cannata.

For information on a variety of private and nonprofit training and placement agencies nationwide, contact Direct Link for the Disabled (805-688-1603), which lists more than 12,000 resources that readily address medical, social, financial, and work-related issues for the disabled. At no charge, a specialist will search the database for job-training and placement programs by geographic region or by type of training desired. You'll receive a report on each agency that matches your search criteria. For local resource listings, contact your state department of vocational rehabilitation. It will help you -- and companies hoping to hire disabled people -- to track current training options and gauge how accessible each one is. (The Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] mandates that all job-training sites be accessible to the physically challenged.)

Before you interview with promising agencies, have a good idea of what you're interested in doing after the training, or you may not acquire the skills needed for that dream job. Barbara Judy, director of the Job Accommodation Network (JAN; 800-526-7234), a rich source of ADA information, advises you to check agencies' references and ask for their records of successful placement. And be up-front about any special needs you may have, so agencies can customize material or equipment to support your training.

Employers looking to hire disabled workers can get on-line advice from JAN consultants, who also track the availability of adaptive equipment. "Sources of ADA Information" (see Managing People, January 1992, [Article link]) lists more specialists, and "Tapping Workers with Disabilities" (see Managing People, November 1992, [Article link]) tells how to ease a disabled person into a workplace.

Space Place
We purchased a building much too large for our current needs. To help offset expenses, we want to set up a warehouse distribution center. What are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves before we convert the space to a full-fledged warehouse? Any ideas on how we should position ourselves and price our service?

Marc Walowitz

President

United Screw & Bolt

Bridgeport, Conn.

First, check the designated warehouse space for structural flaws and logistical strengths. Clearly, the overall height of the space and the area between interior columns should accommodate trucks and forklifts. You'll need enough roll-up doors to load and unload simultaneously. Otherwise, warns Greg Owens, a partner at Andersen Consulting in Atlanta, "you're bound to experience flow-through problems." As a rule, square footage is less important than how secure the area is and how close it is to highways. And well-paved driveways and access roads are a must. For the basic how-tos of warehousing and a complete glossary, study Ken Ackerman's Practical Handbook of Warehous ing (V&R, 800-842-3636, 1990, $63).

Since you've ruled out the less lucrative option of leasing your building's space to local businesses, why not forge strategic alliances with distant, yet familiar, companies within your industry? If you make bolts, for example, you might offer other bolt makers (noncompetitors whose products complement yours) low-cost stocking facilities to increase their presence in your regional market in return for their help with boosting your product's penetration in their regions.

Once you become comfortable with such reciprocal joint ventures, try similar direct pitches to reputable companies in other industries, advises Roy Harmon, author of Reinventing the Warehouse (Free Press, 1993, $39.95), a bird's-eye view of warehousing. Here's one approach: since every producer has low-volume goods, partners in different industries could pledge to buy half of the other's low-volume product at cost to sell in their own markets. "It would make for smoother production runs all around," reasons Harmon.

The best way to stay competitive is to identify and then market your own value-added storage services, such as bonded inventory or component labeling. Chip Perfect, president of Midwest Service Warehouse, in Lawrenceburg, Ind., advises that you base those decisions on production factors and the collective capabilities of your workers.

To price your service, find out what the market supports, then adjust the price, depending on your operating costs. Although rates are generally customized, you'll find members of the American Warehouse Association (708-292-1891; membership starts at $500) who are willing to share price schedules. For a readable cost analysis, Perfect likes Tom Speh's Model for Determining Total Warehousing Costs (Warehousing Education and Research Council [WERC], 708-990-0001, 1991, $50). Also, WERC's How Public Warehouses Price Their Services (1991, $15) defines the variables that go into warehouse price quotes.

Feud Busters
My small business-to-business consultancy specializes in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). I want to focus on the health-care market, but I'm not sure who my target client is. Where can I find hard data on cost savings and benefits to show possible clients, since the mediation field is so new?