Show Management

Shipping Delays

30 September 2021
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Categories: Show Management

Status of the Supply Chain

Dear ELITeXPO Customers;

Shipping delays continue to be a problem across the country. We are asking for your patience and understanding at this time as most of our shipping partners are currently experiencing temporary shipping delays. These delays have impacted the planned arrival of our current shipping orders. Current National Labor shortages have significantly impacted our normally predicable lane segments to the point where we are asking all customers to add much more additional advance planning, to allow for extra time for your shipment to arrive at its planned destination. Our account representatives are on standby to assist you with getting these plans implemented. Normally, shipping services for smaller shipments that could be relied upon in the recent past to deliver as scheduled, have also seen daily delays and shortages. Please know that we monitor these performance issues and adjust on the fly as necessary to assure our customers receive their shipments as planned.

Our team is working hard to minimize these disruptions. Please know that we are still receiving and planning and tracking all shipping orders promptly despite the national disruption to the supply chain. These delays have negatively impacted our normally reliable schedule of transit. It’s unfortunate that it seems these delays have affected virtually all areas of the country as well as all carriers, both local and national. There is also more freight being shipped than there are trucks and labor to load, transport and unload.

Along with these delays, the costs for shipping services have increased exponentially, even though we would think that with the problematic service issues, increasing rates at the current time would seem to be unreasonable. Such is the time we are living through. We all desperately want to get back to some sort of new normal, but we must deal with the reality of what’s happening in our country in the present day. We work to make sure that we can pass along the best rates, but our priority is to assure that your shipment gets to its destination on time and intact. These corrections and changes in routing may result in additional costs that we will work hard to minimize, but we cannot compromise the need to utilize the most reliable service to get the job done. We commit to track your shipments with frequency and stay in constant contact with you to keep you updated on your shipments status.

As the owner of ELITeXPO, I have never seen such a major disruption to the normally reliable and efficient transportation supply chain in the U.S., since we started this company back in 1987. The best strategy right now, is to plan and place your shipping requests as early as possible, so that we can use that extra time to get your shipment into the pipeline and moving to its destination.

Thanks,
Dave

David Mihalik
CEO

ELITeXPO

Message from David Mihalik

23 December 2020
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Categories: Show Management

Happy Holiday Greetings from ELITeXPO

Happy Holiday Greetings from your friends at ELITeXPO. Each year at this time we normally share the gift of music with you, our best customers as a thank you for the business that you have provided to us throughout the year. For the Trade Show and Live Events industry, the music stopped in March. We all believed that we’d be back to work by this time, but we’re starting to see the light.  We all hope that we will soon be listening to the music and seeing each other at Face to Face Marketing events soon. This holiday season, we have a better reason to be hopeful. With the incredible creation of a vaccine already being administered as I write this, we look forward to more progress and improvements in the coming months. Hope springs eternal.

Today, we count our blessings. As a company, through diligent work, preparation, and the efforts of some of the best employees in the world, ELITeXPO continues to survive and thrive. We thank those companies that have continued to support us through these difficult times with other business opportunities that we would not normally become involved with. When confronted with the governmental restrictions placed on large group gatherings, ELITeXPO shifted gears quickly, to offer our customers products and services most relevant to the times we were facing. We’ve been able to deliver PPE products, hand sanitizers stations, office safety dividers, wall mounted LED backlit graphics, non-trade show freight shipping services and Virtual Exhibit Production among just a few of the wide variety of products and services our customers have asked us for. We were fortunate that a few years ago, ELITeXPO expanded our trade show service offerings and purchased a second warehouse to provide full asset management inventory/storage services for our customers. An overwhelming majority of you have kept us busy with inventory work and shipping throughout this time. We’ve utilized this down time, when we have it, to tighten up all of our inventory data and physical storage in our warehouse. One of the benefits of having more time is that we are able to rapidly improve our processes and clear up lagging work that always seems to take more time, when we are always crazy busy during trade show season. When our industry has the opportunity to get back to work, we’ll be ready! We can’t wait to see you again soon.

We also must count the personal blessings I believe we have all learned or should I say, re-learned to enjoy, during these past months. I can tell you this much. Staying at home brought me back to enjoying the simple things that I had been too busy to notice. I’ve spent more time out on our deck this past Spring/Summer/Fall, enjoying the view, having nice conversations with my wife, a cold beer (or two) and watching the sunset. You see, where I live in the suburbs, you really begin to notice when the white noise of airplanes and trains and heavy traffic subside. We really looked forward to 5:00, when we had our own version of Happy Hour before we made another home cooked meal, instead of eating out because we were working too long and getting home too late. We’ll always want to work our hardest, but now, I think we’ll just try to become more efficient with our time.

We are starting to see a resurgence of activity as the positive news of a vaccine is making the return of trade shows a more viable reality. Clients are beginning in earnest to prepare for their events that are planned with emphasis on a sharp increase in show activity by Spring and hopefully will continue as planned in the Summer. Please know that the ELITeXPO Team is here to assist and if we can help you stay ahead of the curve and the inevitable rush to get exhibit properties planned for in person events, don’t hesitate to call. We’re here answering the phones every day and we’d greatly appreciate the opportunity to get back to work for you.

While we may not get the opportunity to gather together with extended family this holiday, we’ll keep them all in our thoughts and prayers, both those with us and those who have passed before. We’ll be thankful that our families are safe and healthy and pray for those who are recuperating. We’ll also keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers that you be safe and healthy and have a joyous holiday season.

Best Holiday Wishes, from our ELITeXPO family to yours.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DaveSignature.jpg

David Mihalik

ELITeXPO

President

Asset Management – So Much More Than Exhibit Storage

5 November 2019
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Categories: Asset Management, Show Management

Asset Management – So Much More Than Exhibit Storage

Are you tired of trying to find everything around your office or warehouse that you need for your next trade show? Do you have to run down to the local “Your Storage Unit” facility every time your company attends an event? Do your event materials return back from your shows dirty or with damage?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you just may need to think about your Asset Management Program.

Trade Show Asset Management: The care, storage, inventory, repair, and management of a company’s trade show and exhibit materials. Everything a company acquires for its exhibit event marketing program is a trade show asset and those assets must be inventoried and managed.

The key to trade show asset management is tracking the ins and the outs. Knowing what items went to which trade show is key to knowing that everything that was sent out returns. If you have giveaway items, it is critical to track how many items are sent out to each event as those items will need to be replenished. Without proper tracking, ordering of replacements in time for your next event can become an issue.

Accountability for the care of and return of all items is an issue for many exhibit and marketing managers. So many times, the return shipment from an event arrives back at your warehouse and no one ever takes the time to open each shipping container up and make sure that all items are there, that they work correctly, and are clean and ready to go to the next event. Having your exhibit arrive to your next show without the graphics or with broken lights can cause a lot of unnecessary stress on show floor.

Whether you establish your own program in-house or choose to use our full service Asset Management services, it’s important to your event program’s success that you have something in place.

ELITeXPO offers full pull and prep services, refurbishment and repair, storage and asset tracking complete with online inventory control services, as well. You have 24/7 access to your asset inventory item counts, digital photographs, and other related digital assets. You can even place your inventory pull requests directly through the online ordering system. Coupled with our full logistics, I&D services, and exhibit sales/rentals; we can handle all the inbound and outbound shipping, set your booth up, take it down, pack it up, ship it back, and manage your exhibit inventory. We’re here to assist you in making sure your exhibit properties are always current and stand out on the trade show floor. You can do all of this through a single source with one consolidated invoice.

Tradeshow Logistics – The Importance of Communication

24 October 2019
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Categories: Show Management

Tradeshow Logistics – The Importance of Communication

ELITeXPO has been providing tradeshow logistics services for over 30 years now. What’s been the key to our success? Knowing the importance of communication. Making sure an exhibit shipment gets to and from a trade show on-time and in-tact relies on the details communicated between both the customer and our staff.

We ask a lot of questions. When we take an order from our customers, it may feel like a bit of an interrogation. Some may think that shipping an exhibit is just like shipping their actual products from their warehouse to a client but it’s not the same, at all. Tradeshow logistics is incredibly time-sensitive and requires that we make sure we get the whole story from our customers from the beginning. Communicating the details allows for accuracy from the point of correctly estimating costs through getting your shipment delivered, as required.
1) We need to know everything about the items that are being shipped.
• How many pieces you have, their estimated weight, and how big they are?
• Do they contain any type of hazardous materials (which we do not ship) or if they are food items that require special handling?
• Are they fragile, how are they packaged, and are they of high value?
• Are they giveaways that will not be returning via the outbound shipment from the event?
Knowing the description of your items can directly affect the equipment used to transport your items. From the use of a standard straight truck to a full logistics trailer with blanket wrap, straps, and load bars, we’ll send the right equipment to get the job done. It also prompts us to be sure that your shipment is insured correctly.

2) We need to know about where we are picking up the freight.
• Do you have a truck level dock where a trailer can back right up to your warehouse door for loading by a forklift?
• Are you working from a home office where we are recovering the items from your garage in a gated community where we’ll need to bring a special truck with a liftgate and a pallet jack? Will we need to schedule our arrival with the security gate?
• Do we need to bring an additional driver to assist with recovering oversized items?
• Are we picking up on the seventh floor in your building and they don’t allow use of the elevator?
These are things we need to know in advance to allow proper dispatch of trucks, drivers, time allotment for recovery, and to arrange for any additional communication requirements at the location.

3) We need to know about where your shipment is going to.
• Which event are you exhibiting at?
• Do you have an exhibitor manual or Quick Facts sheet?
• Is it best for you to go to the Advanced Warehouse?
• Are you short on transit time and require delivery direct to the venue? Is that even allowed for your event?
• What is your booth number?
• Have you been assigned a target delivery date and time?
• When is your installation scheduled for?
• Do you have the contact information for your show site staff?
This information allows us to make sure your items get to the right location at the venue and are delivered and recovered after the event at the correct time.

4) We will track and trace your shipments throughout transit. This allows for faster reactions to issues that may come up during transit. Weather delays, road closures, equipment breakdowns, and more can cause unforeseen delays in your shipment’s arrival. We will contact you as soon as we know of any delay that might affect delivery. This is why we ask for as many transit days as is possible… Just In Case.

5) Our automated technology allows for emailed shipment status updates.
• Reminder we are picking up your shipment that day
• Your shipment has been picked up
• Your exhibit materials are in transit
• Your shipment has arrived at the destination city
• Your shipment is on a truck and out for delivery
• Your shipment has been delivered
• Your POD – Here’s the information as to who signed for it at the destination location.
Technology is great but don’t be surprised if we call you to confirm information or advise you of any details happening along the way. We want you to know what is going on with your exhibit. We may even request that your show site staff advise us when all items have been packed up after the show and paperwork has been turned in to the show contractor, so we can let our driver know that everything is ready for recovery.

At ELITeXPO, we work closely with our customers so their shipments move as planned, every time. Good communication is the key to successful tradeshow logistics. It’s a two-way street that we like to keep open, with traffic flowing. If you have any questions, we are here 24/7/365 to assist you.