Now that Memorial Day has come and gone, many people have summer on the brain. Granted, the season doesn’t officially start for another few weeks, but that doesn’t mean people don’t have the urge to throw barbecues and pool parties. 

Many stores are looking forward to this time of year, particularly home improvement stores that sell grills or culinary businesses. Of course, it’s important to attract customers to the product, and there’s no easier way to do that than hold demonstrations of your featured products.

Setting up a food service work station to hold a cooking demonstration could be a great way to line up consumers. By having these demonstrations on a frequent basis, many people who may have simply been browsing before could suddenly be inspired to use some of your products for their parties. 

For showing off cooking products, it’s a good idea to use simple recipes that can be done quickly and provides a lot of food, this way people won’t be standing around for long and everyone will get to try a bite of the product. 

Make sure to plan ahead by having a prominent display of the products you’re using in the demonstrations so people will be able to notice them fast after the presentation is over. Don’t be surprised if setting up these work stations will get you a few new customers.

The Houston Chronicle reports you need to keep enough stock on hand to not only turn a profit, but replace items that have been sold. However, the news provider recommends that you reduce the number of replacement items, as they are typically not only sold at an elevated cost and overwhelm your stockroom. 

Additionally, organization is key. The news provider suggests you keep all like items together and clearly mark each area so you know where everything is. Another good idea is to create a map of where each category is in the stockroom. 

Once you get the stockroom organized, you need to stay on top of what’s going on in your store and the back room. How To Do Things reports that you should always record anything coming in and out of inventory. This means you should keep a record of everything that comes in or out of inventory, including sales, damages and deliveries. While you ultimately decide on how frequently you want to do this, daily or weekly may be the best options. Staying on top of your bookkeeping is crucial when it comes to having an organized inventory.

When your son or daughter comes home from college, your house will be taken over by his or her stuff. You may be surprised by exactly how much room they take up when they’re unpacked, after all, they were able to store everything in a dorm room. But there are ways to make sure you don’t get lost in the clutter, after all, it’s the kids’ house too. 

You may want to consider investing in nest and stack totes and portable organizers, so you can get rid of some of that clutter. Let’s face it, they won’t need those posters or dorm room comforter while they’re home. Things that won’t be needed until September can easily go in storage, to make sure the items are protected from outside forces, in the event your basement floods or to ward off the smell of the attack.

 Also, be sure before you put all of those items in storage that you give them a quick once over with a dust cloth. While these storage containers can protect the items from gathering dust, it won’t do much good if your student’s possessions are already a bit dirty. After all, it’s not like college students are known for keeping their dorm room spotless. Storage containers can help restore your household sanity, waiting to unpack their stuff again in a few short months.

Suppliers remain an integral part of the automotive industry, and as the sector continues to get back on its feet, suppliers are even more important than usual. As the automotive sector improves, manufacturers have to be on their top game to ensure the vehicles are ready. That includes having the right equipment such as pallet trucks and dock equipment so they can move the parts quickly and efficiently.

A recent study from Comtex observed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relations with automakers. American automakers were the real winners of the survey, as the Detroit Big Three dramatically improved on the relationships with their suppliers since the study for the 2005-2007 period. Although Toyota and Honda were still ranked numbers one and two, respectively, they still received their worst scores in 11 years. Analysts note there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the automotive industry’s relationship with OEMs. 

The study is not falling deaf on the ears of auto executives, as some recently spoke to BusinessWeek about their thoughts on supplier relations. 

“While we appreciate our ranking position, we clearly understand we have work to do in strengthening our relationships,” Robert Young, Toyota’s head of purchasing for manufacturing operations in North America, said in a statement. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Scott Kunselman, the senior vice president for Chrysler’s purchasing division, said that the company was pleased to see relations had improved with their suppliers, and that while they still have a long way to go, they’re on the right track.

It’s that time of the year again – graduation. There is a lot to prepare for, as this is a day that students and their patents will remember forever. Whether it’s middle school, high school or college, graduation is a rite of passage. Of course, academic professionals spend months planning the ceremony, getting the audio visual carts set up, the projector ready and putting together a montage of the school year.

The event requires a lot of preparation. The staff needs to set up the presentation stand for all of the speakers planning on addressing the graduating class. Of course, if the speakers have accompanying images, making sure they’re queued up to the right moments is also key for the audio and visual team. Also, do a run-through of the ceremony to make sure the timing is right and the ceremony doesn’t run too long. This rehearsal is also key because then everyone will know where they need to be.

Depending on the level of graduation, it could be an all-day event. Schools need to prepare for the plethora of guests set to take part of the ceremony. Preparing some finger foods for after the ceremony itself may be a great way for guests to mingle with each other, while recent grads take pictures with their peers. This is more for those who are graduating from high school and college, as graduation means friends going their separate ways.