KANDU Industries is moving only their Arrow Park operation (located on Parker Drive) to 1227 Barberry Drive throughout the weekend of December 3 - 5^th, 2010.  Operations will be up and running on Monday, December 6^th.  The Barberry property will increase KANDU’s ability to serve their production customers.  The new building offers a flexible open floor layout, high cube storage capacity, nine dock doors increasing semi-truck access and an outside storage building.

KANDU’s staff and clients are very excited about this move.  The new facility will provide a great work environment in a secured building.  The property on Barberry Drive is a Hendricks property in which they are remodeling specifically to meet KANDU’s needs.  Staff and clients will be able to enjoy a new break room and all new bathrooms.  The new property also provides ample parking, a more convenient drop-off/pick-up area with less traffic and lots of green space.

KANDU creates, promotes and provides diverse opportunities within the community that offer persons with disabilities or disadvantages the opportunity to pursue greater independence and meet their full potential.

For more information contact Gary Bersell, Executive Director at 608-755-4123 ext. 305 or Mike Ellis, Production/Facility Director at 608-755-4123 ext. 370.

Recalling memories from the past can be a great activity for the person who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia.  As the disease progresses, we see that it is difficult to learn new information but some memories created long ago may remain intact.  With guided discussion, these memories can sometimes be recalled and wonderful dialog can take place.

As a family member or caregiver, keep in mind the age of the person you are caring for.   Use this information to guide your discussion.  For example, let’s consider that someone grew up during the 1940’s.  This is the time of Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.  World War II was raging during the first half of the decade.  The world was recovering and re-organizing during the second half.  Computers were arriving on the scene.  It’s a Wonderful Life and Citizen Kane were in the cinema.  This type of information can provide useful topics for discussion.  The information is relevant to the time when memories were developed for this person.  The names Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart may trigger memories for this person.  Talk about the war might spark conversation about living conditions, employment and other related events.

The internet is an excellent source of information related to time periods that would be relevant to the person you are caring for.  At KANDU Day Services/Memory Care, we also use a tool called the Leisure Interest Inventory.  It is a comprehensive list of hobbies and activities that people may have been involved in during recreation and leisure throughout their life.  Whether they have a current interest or have participated in named activities in the past is indicated. This allows us to individualize their support while at KANDU.  Again, it also gives us information into the likes/dislikes of the individuals we support.  Along with identifying preferences for activities, it also exposes topics for discussion.  For instance, if a person has been involved in sewing projects in the past, we can use this information to discuss what types of sewing; cross stitch, knitting, crocheting or quilting.  We can ask about favorite fabrics, stitches and projects.  Furthermore, we can gather resources from the library related to sewing.  Books and videos regarding the sewing topic can be provided.  Fabrics and quilts can be brought in to share with the group during discussion.  The number of possibilities seems endless once the leisure interest has been uncovered.

Not every person will respond to memory recall discussions or activities but in a group setting, it can be very effective.  It is a valuable tool that can provide meaningful activity for your loved one. 

Respectfully submitted by:
Julie Smith, Program Manager
KANDU Day Services/Memory Care Program

This is the last entry in a series of four blogs touching on when and why companies would work with KANDU for production services.

Would you like to cut costs and/or focus employees’ time on core competencies?

Many times focusing employees on their higher skilled job duties can also increase employee satisfaction.  Company A had highly skilled machine operators putting a small piece together by hand inbetween all their other duties. The pieces were showing quite a bit of variability depending on the operator and the amount of time they had to complete the piece. We took that small piece as an assembly job and now the operators are more focused on running the machines. The product has more consistency due to the jigs we built and we are seamlessly providing the piece when needed. The machine operators are glad they don’t have to hassle with these little parts anymore.

Our purchasing power might also save you money on material needs. Some companies, depending on the quantity of their project, find that  we are able to get a better pricing on packaging materials because we purchase a higher volume throughout the year.

No matter what the reason a company works with us, no company works with us solely because they like our mission. That is just the side bonus. They need us to save them time or money or both.  That’s what we do. Feel free to call us if you want to discuss a project or go to our production page  at www.kanduindustries.com.  You can also fill out a free quote request to get the ball rolling and get a great bonus of putting adults with disabilities to work!

This is the second in a series of four blogs touching on when and why companies would work with KANDU production services.
During these recovering economic times, companies are understandably a bit more cautious about hiring people. The decision to add people to the payroll involves real bottom line costs, not only in paying the person but also in the recruitment, training & benefits for that position. Then there is the possible cost of unemployment tax if the market takes a dip or the person doesn’t fit well past the probationary period. Working with KANDU’s labor force can help companies avoid or delay those costs.
Do you want to avoid hiring and training costs?
Company A could have hired temps or extra employees but then they didn’t know if the additional growth in product sales would continue. They needed to respond quickly to the orders but they weren’t sure they wanted to commit to the extra time and costs needed to hire, train, and supervise new employees. Now they contract us to do the work and we help them respond to the market quickly.
Do you need flexible, reliable labor for business growth or peak seasons?
Company B has a really busy season and they just need extra help for a few months of the year. They don’t want to hire and then lay off people so they call us. We flex with their needs and give them quality service so they trust us and come back to us each time the sales increase beyond their usual capacity!

placing a curved label around a bottle neck

When people ask, “What type of production service does KANDU offer?”,  instead of reciting a laundry list of possible processes (packaging, assembly, kitting, etc), we  tell a broader-view of those problems that we solve for our customers. It helps our potential customers consider their current processes from their own point of view.  They  don’t have to get distracted by wondering what specific processes we can perform. Instead, they can review what processes their own employees do that prevent them from being more focused and efficient regarding core competencies.

We will feature a few of the more common situations that bring companies to work with us over the next few posts.

Are you looking to fill an unusual customer request especially those that don’t fit your current automation capabilities? For example, company A is making widgets. They do it well and they sell many of them. Then a customer orders 100,000 widgets and asks Company A to package them with another product. This other product doesn’t fit their automation configuration. Company A decides that instead of buying an expensive machine or incurring overtime, they call us. We can do it.