ili:li,tr|,il[",'gJ??ilRi,T3,i3trKT.i[';?$l^iifi fi ilT;?',trh#?l*'n'

w&wx"$ewry

B[NDINC cver bachwardstc help custcmers, runninga t ighter cperaticn anddcing the ba:ics very wellafe emcng the steps belnglal, :n iry (tnry Pr6J..;r{5 ir ihscurrent €nvironrnent.

"NOT LONGAGO, WE HADTHF FEDERALGOVERNMENTSTIMULUS MONEYTHAT ARTIFICIALLYPROPPED UP THEECONOMY" HESAYS. "NOW THAT'SDRIED UB WE ARESEEING THE REALSTATE OF THEECONOMY."CW PRCDIJCTSDANNY ELASSMD

The f irm has credited i tsrecent slrong tnvestmentin market ing wi th spurr inga renewed growth phase.l-lcweve r, its rrarl<etingdlrectsr Danny [Lassaadc$serves lnat manyn;nufacturer: are "doingrt tcugh at the mornent"part lc![arly i l they areexport ing. "0n ihe f l ip side,we're doing alr ighl; we'rebrcklng the industi 'y trenC

by growing" he says. "Butthere are business ln oursector that are hurt ing."l lassaad pcints to anecdotaleviCence that c€rtainbusinesses are down :15 ta)JO pef cent in trade."Nol Long ago, we hadthe FederaL Covernmentst irrruLus money thatart i l i . iaLLy propped up theeccnomy," he says. " l ' lcwthat 's dried up, we areseerng the real state of theeconomy.B' , t i : i , t :>uad ;s opLi : r r is l ic fcrthe future and committe d tothe i rm cont in l ing t0 investin i ts poteni ial. " l <jon't thinkthis perlod wii l Last," he says." l f you clevelop productcon5ume15 wanl; therewil l always be a marl<et foryorr gcods," he says. "Thisenvlronment fcrces ls tobecome more innovative andrun a t ighter operatior,"Assist lng CW Prodr:cts is anrarl<eting push al lowi ngihe conpany t0 ait fact new.ustomers. "Often, there isa traCit ion tc cut costs inan environment Like this,"l iassaad says. "We dcn'tsubscribe to rhat phiLosophy.lnstead, we feel we haveto lle better at whal wedo and go bacl< to basrcsand the quali ty cf theprcdL;ct whiLe develcpinga bettef understandingcf our custcrrers' needsand how we cen supporttheir blsinesses." l- leslrggests i t is a t ime to"bend over backwards" toassjsl customers. "Theyneed to l<now ynu are thejrb,:cl<b;lrre, ne sayl. "We'r 'ehelped support custornersby glving the m a competitrveadvantage. You need to getcloser lo yolr customers anddo the basics reaLLy well ."

KEEP REINON DEBTORS

Marl< Watson, TWC generalmanag€r, nas ncted aslowriown in retaiL sales butalso s ipeesis that l le resuLLsaaross tne ccuntry havebeen mixed. QleenslanC, forcxarnpte h;s s: f ferec a greerrleal rncre than cther st3tessuch as N5W and Victor ia." [ ' ,e 'yctc is ne.vcu-< se I ,hevare rurnlng dcwn debt andsaving," he says. Rather thanreplace window furnishings,they are deLaying that

, investment. "The Lacl< of sunhas aLsc been a factor andthey're aiso inf luenced bythe r ising cost of eLectr ici iyand thelr day-to-dayshopping," he says.Contr ibuting to negativesenliments have been therecent spate of naturalClsasters, with rebuiLdingefforts expected to becomeevide nt in 18 months to twoyears, as a signi icant delayis cften experienced befcreconstruction beglns.

WILSON

" l thlnl( the next six monthswiLL be extremeLy dif f icult ,"he says. " l t coincldes withthe tradit ional dcwn t imefor ihe window furnishing:industry irom Eastef toSeptember. I think ycuwould struggle tc frnd aneconomist who wculd givea sjx-month read cn thingsat the moinent, but after5eptember, I exp€ct i t tc pickup agajn for our L:usy seascncf October, NcvernberDecember"Unti l then, he says thecompany is well piaced asit is noi highly geared anddoes nol have a Lot of debt."A strategy peopie can uset0 get by is tc have a tightrein cn your debtors," hesay:. 'Any business that doesnot wat.h i ts debt coLlecticncould struggle anyway, butwhen things are t ight l ikethey are at the mcnrent, i tcan be a Li le or death is:ue."

II

LIGHT ATTHE ENDCF THE TUNNEL

A turnarotnci rn n;rketse ntrmenl i r a l reaiy beingnoted lcr 7011 by sevefelbu:irre:ses in the wini jolr,i r rnr :h ings:ecict ' .! \ l i lscn Fabrirs has cbserveddenrand rel l l rning after a'natairle relai I sllwic,.vr:'in Ar: t ra l l ; , which i t t r ;ce:back tc the glcbal lnancl ;Lrr isi : . " l I lool< t]rne fcrlhe reCuctlrn in ret; i lde nrard to i iLte I throL.rghtc rnanufacluring; hcwever,lhere w;s n (orslcefair le

sLcyrCc,iln Lata last year,"says Jennifer DcrneLly,:eni lr rnarl<eting aocfdinaior" lhe reduct ion in de manCwar .c i lpcunded by thesubstar l ja l and enr. lur lng:nrr :ase tn the Ausl faLlardol lar This has Led n.lanycuslrrer: cffslrcre fcr iheir.:orrr ing cf prodL.lcts that afemore price senslt lve ai ld Lessd rffe re nt i alec."Alsc ..r trbtt ing to mJrl(€t.of ldit ions have been thesubsiant i r i increasc: tn:he ccsi ci raw i l ; tef ialsend the slcwdcwn in localretal l spenClng, leading tc;n cveral l reducl ion in thedemarC. "Th:: in i reaseln Iosts anC reCurtr ln in

. l€rnaid h.rs Le iJ tc verychalle nglng i ines ove Ire.eni ncnths," Dcrne l ly5ay5. "Th. l f | appe;reilc have an .f fert cr lheirdr: lry that lel t l rke€vefycne w;s hclCing bar i<ard e{fect ivelv tre;Ctngwate r, warl ing fcr things tcseir le bacl( dow-n."Dcnnelly seys the mafl{eiin general ancl prices seernto h;ve stabtl ised aftefthese n:ajcr l-Lurir.'lations." l l appeer: as i i we arencw staft jrg tc 5ee l ighlat lhe end cf the tunnelwi lh derand ronrngback," :he :ays. 5he ncie5a rncre po:rt lve olt l loklr iJ renewe C e ne igl i anC

optir-r i5n wlihin the indu:tryccmpareC tc L.st year,anl ic;patrng a nrcre stableand pc: i l ive year aheld.!ugge:t ing localmanufacl lrers need to lnCmcre ef lrciert ways forprcducing and r l t l - fe re nt;ai ingthenselves irom cverseas.cmpet j lors, she pcintsto in i t lat ; !es lnCertakerby Wi lscn F:blcs. Theseirc iude a lc.u5 onincreasing r f ic lencie : ardn l l ferentiated proCucimir, wlth a l ice :rce tc usethe Arsir ; l ian Mlde lcgrcn j ts i : l inC iabrics recentlyacq !r r rd.

rew.ewtrKswwwwK'

A POSITIVE 20I ]

Sini larly, 1(rt5€t Manuiaciurirg nanagingdireci l r Lew l lebbeck ls c lnvlncei that 2411wil l prcve a better ye;r icr nanuflcturers irAusiral la. " l 'm rcnfident i t wi l l be betle r than2014," he says. "1 :n always posi t ive thcugh.I think you ian alw:ys l lck at ihe docnr andglcrrr , but peopie i f€ st i lL br i lCing hcme:and they arr Cecorltrng."le stfe:ses that lh€ i fend io decorate hasbeen prcviCing a bo.st to the sale ot .ur ta insrnd the .cnpnny's [ :vc tracl<ing systen:. "Thedeaofdtrng siCe i : re l t rn ing laf a i l i ta in5 duet l their abi l i iy to prcvlC€ insr lat icn," he says."Pe ople are much lrorr i t*-are ci pcwe r bi l l ; ."l lebbeck also rnle nrls tc betle I prorncle lhe[vo sy:tern af i{ ]r requests irorn wjthin theindu:try. "We h;ve tc pfcmote the ene rgy-eff lcrert: iCe cl [vo," he says. "People havebeen te l l ing rne we ne e d ao ge t t le stciy tr i ."

WHOLESALE MANUFACTURING OF QUALIry, MADE TO MEASURE PRODUCTS

_ROLLER BLINDS, IVlULTISTOP, VEFTICAL DRAPES, PANEL GUIDES, FOI\4AN BLINDS, VENETIANS - SLII\,4L NE, CEDAF, TII\IBERSryLE, ANDIvIIKFONWOOD, CANVAS AWNINGS, ZIPTFAK, ALUNiI NIUM AWNINcS, ALUIVIIN UIV SHUTTERS, CRIIVTSAFE, 7l\,11\,1 DIALOND, FLYSCREENS

Loganhof me, Queensland Ph 07 32Og 77 45