Amy Richard

Technology has advanced significantly in industrial knife manufacturing and it's not simply limited to the manufacturing floor. At American Cutting Edge, our consistent goal for over 50-years has been to make cutting effortless through the application of technology to add value to and improve the customer experience.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. “ Warren Buffett

In the past several years we've made a number of technological improvements in our business. Some have been behind the scenes like a new accounting system and improved connectivity that allows our sales and administrative work-force to serve customers from their homes during these unprecedented times. Other changes, like our new website, are much more visible. No matter what the purpose, all are designed with one end goal “ to make

Overlooking the condition and care of your knives during route machine maintenance can be costly and dangerous. Knife sharpening and replacement is sometimes passed over instead of more critical maintenance needs. In some cases, the task of sharpening and maintaining knives is entrusted to a general machine shop out of convenience and expense.

Not all grinding and sharpening operations are created equally. When you work with a general machine shop, they have grinding equipment on-hand that can work a piece of metal and they probably have sharpening capabilities that work well in many circumstances. When it comes to the type of precision equipment you run for your cutting operation and the capital investment you've made in your machinery, you want to make sure that you're working with a true knife expert that has cutting application experience.

When most people think about intelligence, they focus on whether an individual is smart. This type of intelligence is known as IQ. Does the person have the ability to learn and apply their knowledge and skills? No one can deny that intellect is incredibly important in the workplace. But, there are other types of intelligence that are equally or even more critical. Let's be honest, you can be the smartest person in the room but if you can't relate to others, work with people who are different than you, or communicate your ideas, everyone will struggle.

One particular type of intelligence that has been getting a lot of press recently is

ACE's accounting department plays an important role in our organization. Their work touches every single aspect of our business from sales and supply chain management to human resources and marketing and everything in between.

Most people typically think about accounting during this time of year in relation to accounts receivable and tax returns, the accounting department plays a much more central role in our industrial blade and knife manufacturing business than most realize.

Accounting is involved in all the major business decisions we make. They provide information that's vital to the decision making process. Without them, we wouldn't have the details required to accurately analyze which direction we should take, whether we should hire a new person, venture into a new product line, reduce inventory, go with a new supplier, buy a new piece of equipment, and the list goes on and

This week we're taking a deeper dive with ACE's director of supply chain management, Dan Brownfield, who will walk us through the basics of supply chain management. With over 35-years of supply chain experience, Dan brings a wealth of knowledge and business experience to ACE. We're glad he's part of our team and appreciate his expertise.

Breaking down the definition of supply chain management, it's the planning, sourcing, securing, and delivery of products for customers. While that certainly sounds simple enough, there's a lot to it. And, it has a significant impact on the ACE customer experience including pricing and delivery of products.

During his tenure in the field of supply chain management, he's seen a lot of changes including going from manually tracking of shipments and information using spreadsheets to full supply chain software programs that automate reporting.

At American Cutting Edge, our goal has always been to make cutting effortless for our customers and we've been doing that since 1965. Whether you're calling into our offices to place an order, looking for a custom solution, or shopping online, we always strive to provide customers with the highest quality products and an experience that make them want to come back time and time again.

As with anything in life, there's always room for more growth and improvement.

The new and improved ACE website is more than just a place to order knives and blades. In just a few short weeks ACE will launch a true customer portal that will provide a whole new level of access to your ACE experience with the ultimate goal to make finding and buying razors and knives and conducting business with ACE as effortless as possible.