Veracity Is Hiring! Programmer Analyst Intern Position

Employment Opportunity

Programmer Analyst Internship (1 year contract)

Veracity Asset Management Group provides emergency preparedness services to Utilities across North America, helping them manage mutual aid, critical spares and surplus assets. Veracity completely changes the way Utilities respond to extreme weather and critical equipment failures by offering Veracity Connect, a web based platform that increases collaboration and offers a new and better way to proactively search and access critical equipment throughout North America. Veracity has an immediate opening for a Programmer Analyst.

DUTIES:

• To improve and/or develop applications in order to meet users’ needs by finding solutions, solving complex or moderately complex problems, making estimates concerning work to be done, programming, testing, debugging and documenting systems.
• To take part in all project phases to ensure project completion by co-operating with and offering advice to users, by meeting deadlines and communicating status reports.
• To provide on-call support for production systems to guarantee their functionality.  To make sure that systems are optimal and meet the quality standards of the business area by making analyses, suggestions and developing assessments.  To make recommendations and to participate in improving development and system maintenance processes.

SKILLS:

• Bachelor degree, or post-secondary diploma/certificate with equivalent work experience
• Development experience or similar
• Hands-on experience with the configuration, customization and integration of within the Force.com platform
• Advanced Force.com development and configuration: custom app development and VisualForce development experience
• Force.com development and configuration including:
• Formulas and workflows
• Approval processes
• Custom objects and fields
• Role hierarchies and Sharing Rules
• Sales Processes
• Page layouts
• Record types
• Profiles
• Reporting
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Good problem solving and analytical skills
• Strong team player
• Make-it-work attitude under firm deadlines.

INTERNSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA – Successful candidates must:

• Unemployed or underemployed;
• Under the age of 30;
• Have graduated within the last three years with a degree/diploma from an accredited college/university;
• Have not been previously employed under a FedNor Youth Internship funding agreement, or other federal or provincial internship with pay for a period of six (6) months or more;
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada;
• Candidates must have reliable transportation.

SALARY:

This full-time, one-year contract position is partially funded by FedNor’s Northern Ontario Development Program.

Submit application by December 31, 2014.

Rob Krysa
Veracity Asset Management Group
Suite BT 2012, 1520 Queen Street East
Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2G4
Ph: 705 542 4821
Fax: 705 942 6169
rkrysa@veracityamg.com

We would like to thank applicants for their interest; however only those considered for an interview will be contacted.

This Project is Proudly Supported by:

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Learn more about our Mutual Aid & Critical Spares Management Solution for Utilities: Make electrical equipment procurement easy and efficient. Locate a matching power transformer before a failure occurs!

Stay updated through our social media platforms and our website:

Subscribe to our Veracity’s monthly newsletter: Critical Spares Management & Investment Recovery for Utilities http://eepurl.com/LVtY1 http://ow.ly/i/73Jj2

October Digest

We hope you enjoyed a great Halloween weekend! October is already gone, but let’s take time to review the news and blog posts from this past month.

Blog Posts

Veracity Is Part of the CDMN’s Outbound Soft Landing Program http://wp.me/p2EjZw-6p

Transformers: An Essential Link of the Electrical Grid http://wp.me/p2EjZw-6C

Energy & Utility Events Update http://wp.me/p2EjZw-6T

Why Using Spreadsheets is a Risk for Your Supply Chain http://wp.me/p2EjZw-76

Your Veracity Connect Newsletter – Volume 6 http://wp.me/p2EjZw-7g

Equipment Criticality http://wp.me/p2EjZw-7w

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 News

North America

PG&E and Florida Power & Light Sign Unique Cross-Continent Mutual Aid Agreement http://ow.ly/CK22y “To help ensure that extra resources are available to repair damage and restore service safely and more quickly following a widespread emergency, PG&E and FPL recently signed their first mutual aid agreement with another electric utility on the opposite side of the country.”

“Transforming the Grid: Top 5 States for Transmission Projects in 2015” by energyacuity http://ow.ly/CJDtu

Duke Energy set to auction off a million items from shuttered Crystal River nuclear plant http://ow.ly/BRFc1 “Need a giant heat exchanger that looks like giant pipes aboard a Navy ship — large enough for a grown man to crawl through?”

Up or down? The impact of EPA’s Clean Power Plan on electric rates http://ow.ly/BRRgW

T&D World compiled some of the best “Electricity Hoaxes, Rumors and Scams” http://ow.ly/BSjN0

SaskPower to cut ribbon on Boundary Dam carbon capture project http://ow.ly/C4AHQ “Billed by SaskPower as the world’s first and largest commercial-scale carbon capture operation of its kind, the project outfits part of the coal-fired power station with a mechanism to capture carbon dioxide emissions and transport the gas through a steel pipeline into storage deep underground.”

National Grid customers to see 37% higher rates this winter http://ow.ly/C4plz “the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) approved a rate increase for National Grid that will raise household customers’ bills by an average of $33.”

FERC, NERC Initiate Review of Electric Industry Recovery and Restoration Plans http://ow.ly/CcwcN “The objective of the review is to support registered entities in ensuring reliable restoration of the bulk power system following a reliability event.” Veracity Connect can help source spare transformers quicker and for a better price: http://ow.ly/Ccwnw

Are key NERC initiatives the missing link to reliability and cybersecurity? http://ow.ly/CSyzt “NERC currently has two major initiatives under way in the reliability standards and enforcement areas to which electric industry participants should pay particular attention.”

Nuclear Matters warns about premature plant closings http://ow.ly/CkRXn “The analysis reminds us of the very real impact that premature nuclear shutdowns can have” noted Nuclear Matters’ co-chair former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH).”

Nuclear operators seek to extend life of reactors to 80 years http://ow.ly/D6zgH

RG&E Receives $2.8 Million from Federal Grant Program for Improvements at Hydroelectric Generating Station http://ow.ly/CJTG0

Brookfield Renewable Power’s (Canada) CHP decommissioning http://ow.ly/D3mtZ “We’re hopeful that commercial considerations will improve and allow us to restart operations at some future point, but we do not have any such plans at this time.”

Worldwide

Siemens delivers switch panels worth €90m for GIS in Saudi Arabia http://ow.ly/BOTLU “Siemens is to deliver 111 switch panels for installation in five gas-insulated high-voltage switchgear in Saudi Arabia’s northern Al-Jouf region. The order is worth €90 million.”

The essential next step for distributed energy (a transparent market that includes end users) http://ow.ly/C7Fpq “Distributed Energy Resources, or DER, is a trend to watch. DER adoption across the country, and in hot spots like California and the North East in particular, is growing.”

New report on rising coal plant retirements http://ow.ly/C7LkH “approximately 13 percent of coal-fueled generating capacity has either been retired since 2012 or is planned for retirement by 2025, which surpasses the previous estimates in 2012.”

200 transformers distributed through southwest Nigeria where electricity supply is inadequatehttp://ow.ly/C7PmC

Exelon to add 2,000 megawatts of natural gas generation http://ow.ly/CaSJD

ABB takes $30M Bangladesh power grid job http://ow.ly/Cltmn “the country’s leading transmission utility, to provide four new turnkey substations and help expand six others, to help meet the growing demand for electricity.” http://ow.ly/i/7866j

ABB: India a “dynamic market“ for power systems http://ow.ly/CowDV ““India is among the largest single markets for power systems,” global head of ABB’s power systems division, Claudio Facchin, said in an interview with Business Standard.”

ABB shifting attention from China to Middle East http://ow.ly/D6omX

‘Go ahead’ for £16 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset http://ow.ly/CSLi3 “The environmental group’s legal adviser Andrea Carta said: “This is a world record sell-out to the nuclear industry at the expense of taxpayers and the environment.”

Miscellaneous

Power-Gen Conference, Dec 9-11, 2014 – Orlando, FL – http://ow.ly/CJsku Will you go?

How Technology Can Enable Decentralised Procurement http://ow.ly/C7NRl “We now have the ability to monitor spend, reach out to suppliers globally through online RFP and manage supplier relationships through technology. Therefore, the theory goes, procurement activity can continue to be devolved while the information remains central.”

Utilities Executive Forum and Roundtable: November 18-20, 2014 http://ow.ly/CsBjI

Transmission & Distribution World October Issue! http://ow.ly/ClwRd

Hazardous Homes: The New Serious Game from the Electrical Safety Authority: http://ow.ly/CSNKg

Here’s Why You Should Consider Buying Enterprise Applications from a Start-up http://ow.ly/D3ySj Startups offer “easy-to-use technology with relatively simple but powerful integration options.” Ours is Veracity Connect: http://ow.ly/D3zfK

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Company News

We are proud of being the new associate member of the Michigan Municipal Electric Association! http://www.mmeanet.org Learn more about us: www.veracityamg.com

Use the Cloud to Efficiently Source Critical Spares – Veracity Connect http://ow.ly/BZJ7k

Revolutionizing the way Rural Electric Cooperatives approach Critical Spares Management: http://ow.ly/C4o3D http://ow.ly/i/72OXJ

What we do for our Clients: Investment Recovery & Critical Spares Management http://ow.ly/yliRM http://ow.ly/i/733e

Google+ is more than a SEO tool. This is an easy way to stay in touch with our company: http://ow.ly/C7Np2

Beyond NERC: best practices for worst-case scenarios http://ow.ly/Ccuuw Plan for recovery as well as prevention

Recovering value from a plant decommissioning? Learn more about one of the projects we carried out for one of our clients: http://ow.ly/xjC1d. Decommissioning can also be a rewarding process in the frame of an effective surplus asset management program. http://ow.ly/i/79McR

Are you a Utility company? Leverage a pool of Critical Spares through the Power of Collaboration – Veracity Connect http://ow.ly/BZJ7k

Did you know that 2% to 5% of a company’s entire assets are considered as idle or surplus? http://ow.ly/CsJMX

Utilities, are you ready for the worst? Source critical spare equipment via Veracity Connect! http://ow.ly/i/7pT4C http://ow.ly/DCAkQ

Revolutionizing the way Rural Electric Cooperatives approach Critical Spares Management: http://ow.ly/CVA9U http://ow.ly/i/7g3lg

Transformer leaking PCB for 7 yrs http://ow.ly/Au6W4 utilities we can help you properly dispose of idle equipment http://ow.ly/Au7tr

Aging grid assets? How to know which equipment to replace and when http://ow.ly/D3B4M Get some help from Veracity Connect: http://ow.ly/D3C2m

Does it take too long to source critical spares like transformers? We can help you – Veracity Connect http://ow.ly/CVmDZ

We specialize in critical spares management and asset disposition. We help companies such as utilities on a daily basis to source or dispose of critical equipment.

Contact us at 866-694-1252 or info@veracityamg.com. We are located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, with solutions available for the North American market.

Learn more about our Critical Spares Management Solution for Utilities: Make electrical equipment procurement easy and efficient. Locate a matching power transformer before a failure occurs!

Stay updated through our social media platforms and our website:

Veracity Is Part of the CDMN’s Outbound Soft Landing Program

The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), a federal Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research, is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in digital media (ICT + mobile) by creating and enabling connections and collaboration between entrepreneurs, companies, research institutes, government and intermediary organizations across the country. CDMN helps bring more digital media solutions to market to create more companies, jobs and wealth in Canada.

With a worldwide network, CDMN guide startup companies target new markets.

Veracity Asset Management Group (www.veracityamg.com) will participate in the Canadian Digital Media Network’s Outbound Soft-Landing Fall 2014 Program to help forge the partnerships and connections it needs for its expansion across North America.

CDMN Press Release

“Outbound Soft Landing program announces fall cohort, with new support from TD

By Emmett O’Kane on Sep 26, 2014 / Categories: CDMN News, Featured, Soft Landing

Fifteen Canadian companies have been selected to participate in the Canadian Digital Media Network’s outbound Soft Landing program this fall, and they’ll have a new supporter in their corner.TD Bank Group, North America’s sixth largest bank by branches, has partnered with the CDMN to help small- to medium-sized enterprises pursue growth in international markets.“‎TD is very pleased to be supporting the Canadian Digital Media Network Outbound Soft Landing program, which provides funding to promising startups selected by the CDMN, in order to promote their growth opportunities abroad,” said Jeff Martin, SVP & CIO Digital Channels Technology Solutions, TD Bank Group.Companies selected will receive up to $4,000 towards travel costs and a free working space at partnered locations abroad for up to three months, to help them expand into new markets and develop relationships with key contacts in targeted economies.

The Fall 2014 companies are:

Plasticity Labs

Landing: U.S. (Las Vegas)

Plasticity is building the happiest workforces every day, through an integrated mobile and web app that changes how organizations measure, manage and stimulate positive workplace culture. Its mission is to improve the experience of life, and work, for millions of people and the organizations where they work. http://www.plasticitylabs.com/

Maerospace Corp.

Landing: India

Maerospace’s mission is to improve the world through the mastery of data. Working with some of the world’s most advanced companies and nations, Maerospace turns complex data into actionable information to make missions safer, borders more secure, environmental responses more effective and companies more profitable. http://www.maerospace.com/

Slimcut Media

Landing: U.S. (New York City)

Slimcut Media helps digital publishers increase their revenue while engaging their audiences. With offices in Toronto and Paris, their platform combines a reward program, targeted video advertising and a payment system to build a symbiotic relationship between publishers and their audiences. http://www.slimcutmedia.com/

blueRover

Landing: Australia

blueRover provides a unique and advanced technology platform that offers businesses employing machine-to-machine (M2M) applications access to infinite, data-driven intelligence about their assets. With blueRover, customers can monitor, track and react to real-time data about their assets and resources from anywhere around the globe. http://www.bluerover.ca/

Bonfire

Landing: U.S. (Orlando; Dallas; Charlotte)

Bonfire prides itself on making the easiest, simplest and friendliest way for purchasers to accept and evaluate supplier proposals, tenders, quotes as part of RFx (request for information, proposal or quotation), bid projects and more. The Waterloo-based company is already trusted with over $1 billion in procurement projects with much more to come. http://www.gobonfire.com/

I Think Security

Landing: Hong Kong

I Think Security Ltd. is an award-winning R&D security lab that provides secure solutions for data, cloud and mobile. Supported by sophisticated analytics and control, and leveraging existing local infrastructure, I Think Security Ltd. products are backed by a team of security professionals experienced in designing and implementing the highest in advanced security. Its technologies are used in data protection to prevent cyber attacks, corporate espionage and insider threats. http://www.ithinksecurity.com/

Analyze Re Inc.

Landing: London, CTA@UK

Analyze Re provides pricing and risk management software for the reinsurance industry. Their innovative SaaS platform employs high-performance computing and big data analysis to unlock a holistic view of risk, enabling reinsurers to make smarter decisions, minimize their risk and maximize their profits in real time. http://www.analyzere.com/

REfficient Inc.

Landing: Mexico

REfficient.com is a matchmaking site connecting “who has what” and “who is looking for what.” Its online marketplace allows companies to buy quality Telecom, A/V and IT equipment at significant discounts from sustainable sources. REfficient shows customers that they can drive financial results while doing something good for the environment. http://www.refficient.com/

ProjectSpeaker Inc.

Landing: London; Munich; Venice

ProjectSpeaker turns event planners into event heroes. Their platform is a curated event planner resource of the world’s leading speakers, speakers bureaus and event suppliers that allows planners to be more efficient and successful in finding the best speakers for their events. http://www.projectspeaker.com/

MetricAid Inc.

Landing: U.S. (Philadelphia)

MetricAid provides browser-based technology, analysis and consultation services to improve hospital emergency department efficiency. Its goal is to improve the satisfaction of the patient, the experience of the physician and the effectiveness of the emergency department. http://www.metricaid.com/

District M Inc.

Landing: U.S. (New York City; Florida)

District M is a digital technology company that specializes in unique campaign management. Its exclusive and proprietary advertising technology segments data and user profiles, giving clients the ability to reach diverse and specific audiences at the right time. http://www.districtm.ca/

Veracity Asset Management Group

Landing: U.S (Georgia; Florida; Alabama)

Veracity Asset Management Group works with organizations across various industries to develop policies and procedures to maximize asset utilization. Veracity provides software solutions and services that enable its customers to purchase, manage and dispose of surplus assets, allowing organizations to focus on core business issues. http://www.veracityamg.com/

LemonFree.com

Landing: U.S. (California)

LemonFree.com is a fresh and simple approach to shopping for cars online. Launched in 2007 by three Winnipeg entrepreneurs, LemonFree.com is an online automotive shopping and research marketplace with the mission to become the most trusted place to shop for a car. http://www.lemonfree.com/

INETCO Systems Ltd.

Landing: London, CTA@UK

INETCO Systems offers real-time transaction monitoring and analytics software that isolates IT performance issues affecting ATM, POS, Mobile Banking and Internet Banking transactions. In addition to software, INETCO offers consulting in APM, Business Transaction Management analytics reporting, and configuration services. http://www.inetco.com/

Energy Aware Technology Inc.

Landing: U.S. (Silicon Valley)

Founded in 2005, Energy Aware Technology is a leading developer of demand management solutions for utilities and aims to improve awareness of the ways we use energy, enabling us to reduce waste, save money and become more sustainable. By analyzing energy consumption data and displaying it in a concise, useful manner, people more fully understand their energy use and how to save money. This is how Energy Aware is creating smarter, more sustainable homes. http://www.energy-aware.com/

© 2014 CDMN. All rights reserved. Contact CDMN at info@cdmn.ca for permission to reproduce in any way.”

Don’t miss a chance to get in touch with us by calling us at 866-694-1252 or info@veracityamg.com. Find out how we can help your utility company source critical spares.

Visit our website veracityamg.com and our social media platform:

Investment Recovery: the Missing Link in the Supply Chain

Investment Recovery (IR), also called Surplus Asset Management, is defined as the practice of recovering the highest value of assets considered as surplus or no longer supporting the company’s operations. IR is does not appear in Michael Porter’ s Value Chain model, as this analysis focuses on one-way activities, from procurement and inbound logistics to the sales and service activities. For a reminder, Michael Porter, Harvard Business School Professor, identified in  model the activities that create value for the company. These activities are categorized in primary activities and support activities in Porter’s model:

IR professionals consider their activity as the missing link of this value chain model by recovering the value of unused assets.

Through its primary and support activities, a company will buy assets, such as industrial equipment, fleet vehicles and other materials, with the ultimate goal to maintain and/or increase its margin. The procurement manager plays a key role in acquiring these items at the best rate and quality.

At a certain time, the company will change its equipment, fleet or other critical assets. We often forget what happens to this piece equipment no longer in use. The first reflex will be to either park it in the warehouse (high holding costs!), or if it is considered as obsolete, in the laydown yard, or worse, in the landfills. The company may not be aware of the intrinsic value of these idle assets.

IR professionals aim at recovering this hidden value that these assets represent. The support activity of procurement can be actually turned into a complementary financial stream for the company. The return can be surprisingly high. The last studies from Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies or Arizona University show that $1 spent in the investment recovery process at least brings $20 back to the bottom line, in terms of cost avoidance, cost reduction, employee productivity and proceeds of sales.

Surplus Asset Managers bring to their clients transparency and legibility of surplus assets through efficient practices. After identifying and evaluating the assets, the IR professionals and the company will choose the best option for each of them, with a clear audit trail.

These options are:

• Redeploying the asset to another branch of the company, avoiding the cost of purchasing a new unit;
• Marketing and selling it;
• Scrapping it;
• Donate it;
• And if any of these disposition methodologies cannot be applied, the asset is sent to a waste management company with the priority of preventing negative environmental impacts.

Learn more about these methodologies options: 7 Ways to Dispose of Your Surplus Equipment

A company that has a solid IR program will distinguish itself from its competitors, as the costs are better controlled, revenues from idle assets are maximized and environmental and corporate exposure risks are mitigated.

Explore our website and our LinkedIn page:

We will be glad to connect with you on Google+ and Twitter. Share your feedback and questions!

Value Chain Model from http://www.partnerscreatingwealth.com

We Are Ringing At The Door! Here Is The July Newsletter!

If you would like to subscribe for the next newsletters, click below:

The 7 R’s of Investment Recovery

Last month the second R, Reconditioned, was discussed. Rebuilding assets such as valves, pumps, transformers and motors is more economical than purchasing new.

This month we will consider the third R which is Return to supplier. In order to maximize the value of this option, it is suggested that a return clause be added to supplier contracts.

Companies often have assets, such as standard equipment and parts, in new condition in their original packaging. Although they are considered as obsolete within the company, they still have value on the market. If a pre-existing return clause is in the contract, these items can be returned to the supplier at a pre-arranged buy back price!

Occasionally it can be effective to use a third party to contact your supplier. The third party can discuss return options rather than making the product available to the public. Often, for competitive reasons, vendors will buy back the product in order to keep it off the marketplace.

So, before getting rid of surplus items, review the contract to determine if there are return options. If there are not, you may try to leverage upcoming purchases and have your supplier discount the new purchase with the return of old stock. You could also look for assistance from a third party.

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Veracity brings on new clients!

Generation, transmission and distribution utility, 490,000 customers, $7 billion in assets

Distribution utility, 315,000 customers, 35,400 transformers

Transmission utility, serves 85% of Albertans, 280 substations

Generation utility, 36 energy facilities, serves 500,000 homes

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Your Feedback

What our clients are saying!

“Veracity’s process not only helped us maximize the recovery value of the decommissioned assets, but saved us both administrative and removal expenses. Veracity’s service was seamless and added significant value to the substation decommissioning”.

Herbert Haller P.Eng.
Vice-President, Engineering & Stations
Waterloo North Hydro Inc.

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 Strategic Critical Spares Management

The development of a critical spares management strategy is no longer nice to have, but rather a must have to avoid the risks associated with large power transformer failures.

With aging infrastructure, threats of vandalism and extreme weather, utilities must assess their supply of critical spares. Utilities can no longer afford to take an internal approach and must focus on external collaboration to share risks and costs. Due to long lead times and cost of these units, it only makes sense to adopt an industry wide spares program.

The report “Large Power Transformers and the U.S. Electric Grid”, published in April 2014 by U.S. Department of Energy, shows how critical Large Power Transformers (LPTs) are, and exposes the risks of these units going down.

“LPTs have long been a concern for the U.S. Electricity Sector, because the failure of a single unit can cause temporary service interruption and lead to collateral damage […]. Key industry sources have identified the limited availability of spare LPTs as a potential issue for critical infrastructure resilience in the United States” and in North America in general.

A collaborative network such as Veracity Connect helps utilities share an effective service model. It allows them to access critical spares such as transformers and optimize buying rates and logistics to anticipate failure.

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 A glimpse of assets we manage for our clients

• Transformers (substations)
• Pad mount transformers
• Pole mount transformers
• Switchgear
• Valves
• Steam turbines
• Fleet vehicles, such as:

1997 “Reach All” Freightliner FL80 Double Bucket Aerial Truck – 45,600 K, last certified in February 2014Interested in some of these assets? Contact us at 1-866-694-1252 or info@veracityamg.com.

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Upcoming Conferences

2014 Canadian Utilities IT & Telecom Conference

Calgary, Alberta – September 23 – 26, 2014

Canadian Energy Supply Chain Forum

Calgary, Alberta – October 28 – 30, 2014

DistribuTECH

San Diego, California – February 3-5, 2014

 

Key Points From The Latest Issue of Asset 2.0, “The Investment Recovery Business Journal”

• Like any other business, creating an investment recovery (IR) department requires a solid business plan. Day-to-day operations may work for sometimes, but in the long-run, everything may fall apart if nothing is planned.

                “Investment Recovery professionals are trained to handle an assortment of products and look for the best method to dispose of an asset for a company. When utilized, the IR professional will ensure that a company’s return on investment and total cost/benefit are maximized by evaluating what is the best way for a company to remove an asset. Many times, however, the IR professional is bypassed and others take on the IR role who aren’t trained, oftentimes looking at retired assets as an afterthought and just something to get rid of. This duplicative effort exposes the company to unnecessary risk and loss on investment that the IR professional reduces and eliminates.”

“Look upon your IR function as a separate business. As with any business, you are much more likely to succeed if you do the following: Have a plan, work your plan, review your progress, refine your approach. Be especially honest about your situation, your capabilities and your potential for improvement with yourself and your team. And don’t ever lose sight of the critical foundation for building your successful business … long-term client trust and satisfaction.”

• Is video a good way to advertise the surplus assets you are trying to sell? The answer is yes. Using pictures is a must when you want to reach potential clients. But Youtube videos are more and more used and well appreciated by companies, as they are not expensive, efficient and help customers have a better idea of the conditions the assets are in and may answer many of their questions. The video can be linked to the auction catalog and boosts its reach.

• How does your investment recovery department align? Survey results carried out by the Investment Recovery Association bring 3 statements. It is common for IR departments to handle fleet transactions. IR departments tend to manage “all” IR functions: large equipment, smaller items, scrap and other salvage projects, sometimes with the help of a third party. The IR departments often get involved in decommissioning and demolitions for their business. “Unless you’re an IR professional, the IR work is a process considered more a secondary task to your core duties and many times results in poor business decisions being made on IR activities.” This is why numerous companies choose to work with an external IR partner, such as our company Veracity.

• “Data is King when Selling Fleet Vehicles”. Data is key when you want to sell fleet vehicles. Information needs to be accurate and offered along with pictures. “When we as buyers have two identical units to choose from, we are always going to pay more for the unit that has the best description and photos, just like any buyer in the market for a used car would.” The more information the customer has, the better he/she is ready to make a decision in your favour. We can mention for example make, model, age, condition, mileage, condition, additional equipment and location. Vehicles tend to be sold online, more than at traditional auctions, as customers have a better access to uniform information.

• What do companies do with extra “Maintenance, Repair and Operating Parts” (MRO)? These parts help the facility running, such as light bulbs, bolts and motors. Managing inventory helps provide the right parts at the right time, and with a minimal cost. But, “of the $100 billion worth of parts purchased in 2012, approximately 15% of that inventory will remain on the shelves and potentially never get used.” The following questions need then to be asked: “Are we sure we cannot use it here?”, “Can any of our other sites use this material?” and “Can I sell it back to the Original Equipment Manufacturer that I bought these from?”. There are several options that can be chosen to recover value from these items, such as redeploying them, returning them or reselling them. Learn more about the whole range of investment recovery solutions through this blog post: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-3m.

Find the full issue at http://ow.ly/zzYMY.

Explore the Investment Recovery Canada LinkedIn Group and share your thoughts: 

Learn more about our investment recovery services and surplus asset disposition solutions:

Or contact us at 1-866-694-1252 or info@veracityamg.com! We will be glad to answer all your questions and see how your company can get the most of its surplus.

May Digest: Catch up on our May blog posts!

Here is the summary of our May blog posts:

Unlock the POWER of Collaboration with Veracity Connect and learn more about our collaborative platform for critical spares management for North American utilities: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-1B.

Our Veracity Team was in Toronto to attend Discovery, the Ontario Centres of Excellence 2014 Convention at the beginning of May: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-1N

We recently launched our LinkedIn Showcase page for Veracity Connect: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-2d

“Rejuvenating” Equipment, an Alternative to Buying New: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-2t Reconditioning equipment and parts is an alternative to sending them to landfills.

Take time to check out our May newsletter: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-2z. You can easily subscribe for the next ones by clicking here.

 Article Highlight: Sustainability, Investment Recovery and Supply Chain: http://wp.me/p2EjZw-2P Find out how investment recovery is the missing link of your supply chain, and a pillar in your sustainability policy.

Share your thoughts with Veracity on social media! http://wp.me/p2EjZw-1P It is a convenient way for us to learn more about what matters to you.

You can also contact us at 1-866-694-1252 and info@veracityamg.com!

7 Ways to Dispose of Your Surplus Equipment

Is sending obsolete or surplus items to landfills the only solution companies use to dispose of them?

We often forget that there is a full range of disposition means. Similar to what we do with our garage sales or eBay auctions, there is plenty of choice to manage your surplus assets.

Let’s detail each of the seven options, often called the 7 R’s, from the most rewarding solution on:

1) Reuse

Also called “redeploying”, this is the most rewarding option for a company. Relocating equipment to another branch avoids buying a new unit and saves on procurement costs. It is the best stewardship from an environmental and social point of view.

2) Recondition

Also referred as “refurbishing”, it is the method of putting used equipment and parts back in service. Of course, it is less expensive than buying new, and allows the company to have products in like-new state.

3) Return

Equipment and parts can sometimes be returned to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or the vendor for cash or credit value. An increasing number of OEMs offers “buy-back” solutions, as they do not want their products to end up in landfills either.

4) Resell

Idle assets can be sold again on the open market to resellers. Auction platforms are the most common tools used to sell used machinery and spares, but trades and bartering are other possibilities. Donating is also considered as a reselling option, as it benefits your corporate citizenship and involvement in the community.

5) Reclaim

Chemicals, hazardous substances and metals can be recovered in a responsible and environmental way, and used again.

6) Recycle

Non-ferrous and ferrous metals, plastic, paper, and glass can easily be scrapped, recycled and sent back to the raw material streams. We tend to forget the value of raw materials… think about copper thieves! Even waste is definitely not wasted, as it can be burnt for energy (“biomass”).

7) Remove

Surplus assets are sent to the landfills at the expense of the company. It tends to be a decision made by default by a number of companies: it is easier to throw something away to the dump or laydown yard, than looking for a better-adapted solution… But it is the most negative solution from an environmental and corporate reputation perspective. Fortunately, this is the last resort choice. It is rare when nothing can be recycled and properly disposed.

Managing surplus assets is indeed a critical aspect of the supply chain. Choosing the proper disposition means for each asset requires times, skills and networks. This is why investment recovery professionals like Veracity partner with companies to implement an efficient disposition management program. A well-run program can easily return at least $20 for $1 spent and helps the company get closer to sustainability.

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“Rejuvenating” Equipment, an Alternative to Buying New

At the beginning of April 2014, AREVA Inc., leader in nuclear energy, reached an agreement with the company Novinium to “rejuvenate” the underground cable infrastructure of its nuclear plants. AREVA makes the decision of not buying brand new cable.

An article of Electrical Line Magazine* tells us more about it: “Novinium’s cable rejuvenation technology restores the full dielectric strength of a cable to a like-new condition and extends the life and reliability of these cables for 40 more years at a fraction of the cost and time it takes for traditional cable replacement.”

Here are some of the advantages:Buying new is not wrong, but using “used” assets is not wrong either, especially when the efficiency of these assets is proven and when the bottom line does not always allow a full replacement of the equipment.

Novinium has been in the cable rejuvenation field for over two decades and estimates that its clients have saved overall $1 billion through rehabilitating programs.

What are your thoughts? Should considering “rejuvenating” or “reusing” be an essential factor in managing assets and surplus equipment?

Learn more about surplus asset management and how it can help your company: http://ow.ly/wNaNQ

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* http://electricalline.com/areva-and-novinium-provide-cable-rejuvenation-services-nuclear-industry?utm_source=EL+Newswire++April+29%2C+2014&utm_campaign=EL+Newswire+04%2F29%2F14&utm_medium=email