NTMA Praises Release of Federal Workforce Development Grants

Experienced strategic operations leader Ramon Anthony Jadra serves JFive, LLC, as a business consultant. In this role, he consults with aerospace and defense industry representatives on strategies to improve business efficiencies, outcomes, and profitability. Ramon Anthony Jadra is a past member of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA).

NTMA, along with advocacy partner Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), praised the Trump administration for authorizing the release of federal workforce development grants that will create collaborative partnerships with educational institutions, businesses, and trade associations. In addition to $183.8 million in federal workforce development grants, another $100 million in grants will promote apprenticeship programs.

By 2025, there is expected to be a labor gap in the manufacturing sector. The grants will be instrumental in helping manufacturers attract the best and brightest workers now for the next generation.

In a statement, NTMA interim president Doug DeRose said NTMA has made workforce development a priority for more than a decade. The grants will provide significant help for the industry to close the skills gap in the manufacturing sector, DeRose said.

Millions of dollars have already been spent by NTMA and PMA on workforce development programs through their foundations. These programs have helped attract, train, and retain skilled workers in the manufacturing industry. With the federal grants, NTMA and PMA are looking to strengthen partnerships with stakeholders, such as the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, to train American manufacturing workers for the future.

What is a Buy-Sale Agreement?

Before starting work at JFive LLC as a business consultant, Ramon Anthony Jadra held several leadership positions at the Raloid Corporation over a period of more than two decades; most recently, he served as its president. In 2017, Ramon Anthony Jadra brokered a buy-sale agreement for the corporation, negotiating the terms, conditions, and a premium sale price of $28M.

A buy-sale (or buy-and-sell) agreement is a contract between two parties that stipulates how a company’s shares will be reallocated in cases where an owner or partner leaves the business, retires, or dies. This agreement typically requires the sale of shares to the remaining partners, or to the company, as determined in the document.

There are two common forms of buy-sale agreement: A cross-purchase agreement and a redemption agreement. The first type of agreement enables the remaining owners of the business to purchase the shares that become available for sale. The second type gives share purchasing power to the business entity.

A combination of cross-purchase and redemption agreements is also possible. In this case, certain portions of the shares for sale are made available for purchase by the partnership while other portions are made available to individual partners.

The Seven Deadly Wastes of Lean Manufacturing

Strategic operations leader Ramon Anthony Jadra is a business consultant with JFive LLC in Westminster, Maryland. In this role, Ramon Anthony Jadra consults with aerospace and defense industry companies on strategies to improve business efficiencies such as adopting lean manufacturing techniques.

At its core, lean manufacturing is the continuous pursuit of efficiency by eliminating all elements that do not add value to the customer. The aspects that do not add value are referred to as waste. Lean manufacturing practitioners identify seven types of waste, sometimes called the seven deadly wastes. They are:

-Overproduction – Making products before they are needed leading to excess inventory. Lean manufacturing promotes manufacturing paced to match client demand.

-Waiting – When one process is stalled so another can be completed first, causing costly delays. Lean manufacturing promotes continuous manufacturing processes that have no buffers.

-Transport – Unnecessarily moving raw materials or finished goods. A better way is to organize processes systematically so movement is consistent and deliberate.

-Motion – Unnecessarily moving people. This occurs when work areas are not organized logically.

-Overprocessing – Doing more processing than is necessary to produce what clients want. Lean manufacturing encourages aligning production processes with client expectations.

-Excess inventory – Raw materials delivered before they are needed and finished goods that stay in storage for long periods. Just-in-time handling of inventory is the leaner, more effective option.

-Defects – Product defects requiring extra work to correct. Lean manufacturing prioritizes designing processes that reduce the occurrence of defects and, when they arise, correct them immediately.

Fundamentals of an Effective Sales and Marketing Plan

Westminster, MD, resident Ramon Anthony Jandra is an accomplished business executive expert with vast experience that spans almost three decades. A business administration graduate from University of Phoenix, Anthony Jandra has had an illustrious career that has seen him hold senior positions in organizations he’s worked for. Currently, Ramon Anthony Jandra is a business consultant with JFive LLC where he specializes in developing marketing and sales plans for aerospace and defense industry companies.

Engaging in business without a sales and marketing plan is like driving on the highway without a map. Marketing experts in charge of developing sales and marketing plans need to understand the qualities and values of having a good plan. Developing a sustainable and effective plan should begin with a company performing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. Here, strengths that give a firm competitive advantage, weaknesses that lower a company’s ability to achieve its objectives, opportunities that help a company grow and threats that limit a company’s entry into primary markets should all be put into perspective.

Other key components of an effective sales and marketing plan include a business understanding its target customers and developing a demographic portrait that shows a clear profile of customers. Here, factors such as age, gender, income level, profession, location and education level should be clearly and accurately captured. It makes no sense to spend time and money chasing after the wrong prospects, so they shouldn’t feature in a sales plan in the first place. Also, a good sales plan template should also focus on value and not features. Clients buy benefits not features so it is vital to focus on what value business products shall offer to customers. The aim is to strongly highlight the competitive advantage in a business plan that should guide the business going forward.