The typical corporate email user sends and receives about 105 email messages per day. So, today we’re going to give a great tip to help organize your inbox: categorize by color-coding!

 

Categorizing your inbox may take a few different forms, depending on the email provider you use. We’ll focus on Microsoft Outlook since that is the most popular email provider for the corporate user but we’ve provided some links at the end of this post to help organize your inbox if you use Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo!.

 

Assigning a color category to your email messages will allow you to easily identify and organize emails. Additionally, the color categories you create are available for other items in Outlook such as notes, contacts and appointments. To define your categories, click on the ‘Categories’ button next to ‘Forward’ and then click on ‘All Categories’. From here you can name the category associated with the colors you wish to use. 

 

Once your color-coded categories are defined, you are ready to assign categories to your Outlook items. Just right-click on the email message, task or calendar item and then click on ‘Categorize’ and select a category. You’ll see small colored-box show up on the message or task and the item will completely change colors in the calendar.

 

One of the great features is that you can sort items by category. So, if you want to see the emails just related to wholesaling, it’s just a few clicks away. Additionally, items in your Outlook may be assigned to more than one category. For example, an email message may be assigned to the categories Supplies, Wholesale and Marketing.

 

Once you begin color-coding your emails, you’ll wonder how you lived without this great tip! If you have other tips and ideas for organizing emails, please share them in the comments below!

 

Looking to organize emails in Hotmail, Yahoo! or Gmail? Check out these links!

 

Doesn't it seem like something always breaks right before, or even during, your busy season? While sometimes that is just going to happen, oftentimes breakdowns can be avoided by scheduling regular maintenance check-ups for your equipment and machinery.

 

To create a basic maintenance schedule, you can use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel and create a simple tracking sheet. Column headings could include machinery name and/or serial number while the rows list the date a check-up is needed. Then, the employee overseeing the maintenance or check-up would initial in the corresponding box. You could use the different tabs to divide out your equipment by department, or if it’s easy to fit all equipment on one tab you could use a different tab for each year. We’ve created a very basic sample to help you get started. As a starting point, we have inserted monthly checks but we recommend checking the manufacturer’s guidelines for each of your equipment to make the best plan for your company.

 

In addition to avoiding untimely breakdowns, equipment maintenance programs also ensure your product and consumer’s safety and reduce unexpected maintenance repairs. Be sure to check out this website on preventative machinery maintenance for thorough advice and reasoning for creating a complete maintenance program for your company.

 

One last thing: Don’t forget about regular check-ups of office items as well, including printers, carts, etc. You don’t want the copier or printer broken just as you’re about to print invoices for the month or reports for the year; or the two-wheel cart needed to transport product from store to store to be found with flat wheels.

 

Do you have tips for scheduling maintenance check-ups? Leave us a comment below!

 

 

We all want to get paid by customers on time. So why is it that so many businesses don’t take the time to create customized invoices? If you send a bill out that doesn’t have your company contact information, company logo or even payment options, how is it you expect to quickly receive payment?

 

We all lead busy lives, including your customers. So, the easier you can make it for them by providing multiple methods to contact you with questions or multiple payment options, the quicker you will likely receive payment. If you use QuickBooks, it even gives you the option to create multiple customized invoices and name them so that you don’t have to recreate the wheel each time. If you’re not using QuickBooks, the system you do use likely has this option. If not, you can always use programs like Word to create a nice, easy-to-understand invoice.

 

So, what should be included on an invoice? Here’s our guide for the minimum information that should be included:

If you take the time to customize your invoices, you should reap the benefits of quicker payments.

 

Are you trying to figure out how to avoid cross-contamination of allergens in your small space? How do you store peanuts, sugar and the rest of your ingredients and separate allergens while trying to save space? At our recent Spring Regional Institute, many of our members learned a valuable tip we’re passing along to you:

 

Take advantage of the height in your facility and store items vertically. Then, go a step further and be sure your allergens are kept on the bottom. If you spill from a bag of pecans, at least they will fall to the floor rather than all over everything under the bag on their way down. This keeps you from contaminating the sugar and other ingredients that you use on nearly all of your products, those with and without allergens. Of course, this is just one step in putting together a plan for avoiding cross-contamination of allergens, but we thought it was a great one to get you thinking about the process.

We’re busy planning and preparing for our upcoming Annual Convention and Industry Expo in San Francisco, June 11 through 15. This week’s tip is to join us there!

 

What can you expect at an RCI Annual Convention?

Industry Tradeshow – Meet face to face with confectionery industry suppliers and learn about the new and innovative products on the market. The tradeshow is FREE to confectionery industry professionals so print your free tradeshow ticket (insert link) and make plans to join us!

Networking – Connect with others in the industry throughout the week through a variety of networking opportunities. New this year, we have an evening set aside just for the next generation of industry leaders.

Education – We are excited to have education session topics including packaging, natural products, HACCP planning plus more. Additionally, we have a great idea-sharing session for RCI members called Candy Clinic and a question and answer session with a panel of industry experts.

Behind-the-scenes Tours – The last two days of the convention are filled with tours of area candy stores and suppliers. You’ll want to have a notebook in had because the ideas you can take back to your stores are endless.

 

For all the details and to register, visit retailconfectioners.org/annual. The early-bird discount ends May 11, so register today!