A machine tool is a very important and valuable piece of equipment for any business, small or large. When cared for correctly, your machine can last your business for years, but if you neglect your machine tools, then costly repairs can soon add to cost you a lot of money. If you want to make your equipment live longer and save money in the long-term, there are some maintenance tips and tricks that you can use.
Keep Them Dry
One of the best things you can do to care for your machine tools is to work to keep them dry. Store your machines out of the elements, where they won’t be exposed to rust and other pollutants from the environment. This keeps your equipment in better working order for a longer period of time, saving you money on repairs and replacements.
Keep Them Lubricated
While it is very important to keep the body of the machine dry, but it is equally important to keep any moving parts in the machine properly lubricated. If you use your machine tool on a daily basis, then you will need to check lubrication levels of joints, moving parts, and internal components. If moving parts aren’t properly lubricated, then friction on these parts can cause your machine tool to break down more often. If you aren’t sure what kind of lubrication you should use between maintenance visits, ask your machine tools repair company for their suggestions.
Keep Them Sharpened
If your machine tool has components that are designed for cutting, slicing, or sharpening, then it is very important that you regularly check the machine for sharpness. Wear and tear on these sharpening elements can force your machine to work much harder, leading to unnecessary wear and tear. It can also put production at risk by producing substandard products. This is even more true if the materials that you produce are designed with strong levels of precision in mind, where accuracy is very important during the manufacturing process.
Keep Them Clean
Keep your machine tool clean, as a machine that isn’t clean, then problems can start to occur in both the short and long term. Machines can become clogged with flammable or hazardous materials, which can pose a threat to your machinery and your workers in the short term.
Over time, grime can keep your machinery from running at its optimal level, which can lead to expensive repairs or a shorter life span for the machine. The technicians at the repair company you use should be able to advise you on what an ideal cleaning schedule would be, based on the machine you have, your production output, and other factors that are unique to your business.
Don’t Forget Accessories
While maintaining the machine itself is very important for the health of your equipment, it is just as important to apply the same care standards to any accessories for your machine tool as well. Machine accessories need to stored and handled with care. You also need to make sure that you only buy the correct accessories for your machine and what it needs. Incompatible accessories can end up costing you time and money, especially if using the wrong materials lead to broken machines or damage down the road.
If you’ve made an investment in a machine tool of any kind, then you know that machinery can be a very important part of your business. Because of this importance, you need to take all the steps that you can to look after the health of any machinery you use over the course of its lifetime. If you want to learn more preventative maintenance, set up repairs, or to learn what your machine tools need, you should call your repair company and speak to one of their technicians to get advise.
Machine tools are not cheap additions to your business, so learning to care for them properly is essential. You need to know how to care for, clean, and maintain these machine tools, or you could easily end up spending a lot of money on expensive repairs, or needing to replace your machines a lot sooner than you hoped. Book regular maintenance visits from your preferred repair company, so they can check over your machines to make sure they are being cared for correctly. These maintenance checks can also catch any potential problems and arrange to have them corrected before they develop into much larger issues, that would cost you a lot more to repair.
In many ways, the year 2020 has been a disaster for businesses, particularly those that require a physical location. But for every Yin there’s a Yang, the upshot is that online marketing is booming which is creating all kinds of excellent opportunities for freelance professionals. If you have industry experience of skills developed through a particular passion, 2020 is the year in which you might think about applying them to a marketplace and earning an income.
Stock Photography
In 2020 it’s harder not to have access to an excellent camera. This wasn’t always the case. In the past, you had to invest in a good DSLR if you wanted to be a freelance photographer. While a DSLR is a good option, it isn’t necessary to start a lucrative freelance career with your photos. Use your excellent camera phone to make stock photos for websites like iStock, Shutterstock, and Getty Images. If your photos met their criteria, you can partner with them and earn a small commission.
Content Writing
If you’re a dedicated writer, then many opportunities exist on the internet to put your skills and talents to good use. These days content is king, so whether it’s blogging for businesses, content writing for websites or writing transcripts for videos, there are plenty of ways to earn a living. Freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr, Upwork, iWriter, and ProBlogger, are good places to start looking for work. Even if you are relatively inexperienced, you are likely to find someone willing to give you a chance.
Specialist Freelancing
Many people have specialist skills they have developed through training or on the job experience. If you have expertise in audio or visual production or management but aren’t currently employed, it might benefit you to offer your services as a freelancer. Freelance marketplaces like Lasso are an excellent place to discover new audio visual jobs. Signing up to the Lasso platform means you don’t have to worry about invoices and you can get paid weekly for the work you do. The best part is it’s totally free.
Graphic Design
Graphic design has always been in high demand, even before the internet took over. Now, with so many brands needing logos and websites, there is a shortage of quality graphic designers. If you have what it takes to create visually unique and inspiring graphics for logos, packaging, or content marketing you could earn between $200 and $400 per day depending on your experience, niche, and portfolio. Work can be found on similar freelance platforms to content writing.
Online Course Production
One way to generate a strong passive income in 2020 is to create an online course that imparts the wisdom and industry secrets that you’ve built up over the years. Maybe you’ve recently retired or been made unemployed, but you have a wealth of experience in a particular area. Learning how to put a course together and where to present it is easy with a little bit of general research. After it’s made, it can continue to help successive generations of students and provide a steady long-term income for you.
The world is business is one that takes a lot of hard work in order to conquer. You can’t really stand still and hope things go for you – it’s not a simulation, you need to do pretty much everything and watch over it all. There are so many business tasks day-in-day-out, and days off are few and far between. Slacking off even slightly could mean you end up falling behind or landing yourself into potentially deeper issues.
It takes a lot of effort, but it doesn’t mean all of the impetus is on you or your small team of staff members. A business that has aspirations of reaching the very top will need to have more and more individuals and groups involved with them. If you want to hit heavy heights, then you’ll need to have contacts in all the right areas – and they NEED to be the right choices. If you pick an individual or group that cannot provide the kind of reliability you need, then your entire operation could falter. There will be hundreds of contacts in your list over the years, but here are just a few that will absolutely need to be the correct ones:
Suppliers
Whether you’re hoping to create a retail outlet of some kind, or you’re working at a car garage, you need to make sure the firm supplying you with parts or materials will be reliable and professional. They’re the group or individual that will be allowing you to reach the next stage of your working day, so they need to be correct and on time. The last thing you want is a lack of communication and order, resulting in your business taking a big hit.
Distributors
You aren’t going to be able to distribute all of your goods all of the time. Businesses need to be on good terms with the right courier in order to get their order out on time and without damage. Fortunately, there are many companies with good reputations that you can find online if you look hard enough. You can get truck freight quotes and many other options that suit whatever it is you’re trying to do.
Attorneys
You never know what might turn around and bite you in the backside when it comes to the world of business – and that’s why a competent and experienced lawyer is super necessary. If you have someone that can defend you and represent you when you most need it, you’ll be able to go through your work with relative ease. A lawyer that doesn’t know what he or she is doing can be catastrophic.
PR Firms
The way you’re perceived by the general public is vital – especially if you’re a company that has grown in reputation and is on most people’s lips. You do not want to be seen in a bad light, as that will only lower your chances of boosting your success rate. They say any publicity is good publicity, but that’s not always the case. Having a stellar PR marketing team behind you will ensure that you’re kept on good terms with those you’re looking to build relationships with.
When it comes to home insurance, whether it’s for a modest house or a multi-acre mansion, homeowners need to loosen the purse strings and pay the premiums as they come. After all, you get what you pay for.
However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t practical things you can do to lower your home insurance premiums without sacrificing the service you’re getting. In fact, think of these money-saving tips as a reward from your insurance provider because you’re helping yourself maintain a safe home and keeping them from giving you huge payouts for easily avoidable tragedies.
We asked some expert HO6 (condo insurance) and home insurance providers in Florida about what they think are the best ways for people to lower their premiums. Here’s what we found out:
A Security System Goes a Long Way
A centralized burglar alarm (or one that’s tied directly to your local police) is a great way to lower your homeowner’s annual premiums. In fact, some insurance providers might even go as high as a 5% deduction, and in rare cases, can go even higher.
For condo owners, most condo insurance providers will give out lower condo insurance quotes if they feel like the condo building is set in a nice neighborhood, or if the building has adequate security systems in place.
While smoke alarms are pretty much standard (not to mention required) in modern houses and condos, installing one in older structures can save you a whopping 10% on annual premiums. Add dead-bolts, sprinkler systems, CO2 detectors, and even weatherproofing measures, and you can drastically reduce your insurance premiums while maintaining the same quality of protection from your provider.
Multiple Policies Can Mean Discounts
Note: this isn’t always true, as some insurance companies might not give a discount for multiple policy holders, but many insurance providers around the country are willing to give up to a 15% discount to customers who hold more than one policy.
This means collating all your insurance contracts with the same company: i.e., choosing a single provider for your auto, health, and homeowners insurance. Some insurance providers, when they see they have a loyal customer, might reward that loyalty by giving you huge premium discounts for your continued patronisation of their services.
Get Your Mortgage in Order
We understand that this isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but trust us: pay off your mortgage and you will see a drastic drop in your premiums. How much exactly of a deduction is dependent on your policy and your provider, but many insurance companies do offer very big discounts on properties that you’ve paid off.
And it makes sense: insurance companies believe that, if you owned a property 100%, you’re more likely to take care of it, which in turn, lowers their risks of payouts. It’s a win-win for everyone, really.
Always Compare and Review Your Policy
Even after your initial purchase, it’s always a good idea to review your policy every year and compare it with other providers. But even if you’re happy with your current homeowners insurance provider, review your policy anyway and see if there are things you can improve in your home that could effectively lower your premiums, like home repairs or a well-kept lawn free of debris, or any small improvements that show your provider that your house is safe and cared for.
Sedentary Lifestyle Got You Down? Here’s How to Get Back Up
by Brian McKay
Modern conveniences have made our lives easier, but you can’t deny that they’ve also made us sedentary. When you can clap your hands to turn your lights off, there’s no reason for you to get up from where you’re sitting on lying down. Or is there?
Sedentary Lifestyle by the Numbers
According to an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, American adults spend an average of 6.5 hours a day sitting. This number goes up to eight hours for teenagers aged 12 to 19. Furthermore, half of the adults in the country spend at least an hour of their personal time on a computer. Whether they’re buying accounts for and playing League of Legends or doing some other personal things, people are spending hours on the computer outside of work.
Of course, using the computer for hours on end is only one manifestation of a sedentary lifestyle. If you work behind a desk, are constantly stuck behind the wheel during rush hour, or love to relax by planting yourself in front of the TV, you’re living a sedentary lifestyle, which can result in multiple health complications. And since these actions and situations are ingrained in your daily life, it can be difficult to change your routine.
But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Below, we have a few tips on how to sit less and move more.
1. Think before you sit
Before you plop yourself down on a chair to do (or not do) something, ask yourself: do you really need to sit for this? You might not notice, but you probably sit mindlessly all the time. Talking to someone on the phone? Sitting. Reading a book? Sitting. Attending a meeting? Sitting. All of these have alternative ways of doing them without being stationary. You can do chores while taking a call, listen to an audiobook while jogging, and do walking meetings instead.
2. Take frequent breaks
If, like plenty of people, your job requires you to sit in front of the computer from 9 to 5, you have to take it upon yourself to move. You can do this by taking breaks from sitting. Try the Pomodoro Technique or just set a timer for yourself for when you have to get up and stretch. If you’re using a laptop, consider asking for a standing work station.
3. Park farther
Walking more is the single easiest thing you can incorporate into your life to become more active. There are plenty of ways to do this, such as investing time for a walk or a jog, but you can also incorporate it in activities where you typically won’t. Parking your car somewhere farther than your building, for instance, means you’ll be forced to walk.
4. Make activities fun
Being more active doesn’t mean you have to do punishing exercises. You can have fun and still be active with the help of technology. Play Pokemon Go, which requires you to walk around your neighborhood, or play exergames (exercise + games) using action-packed games from your Wii or Xbox console.
It’s not healthy to stay in a sedentary lifestyle. Introduce the changes above to your life and find out the benefits of being more active.
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