Livingston Reporting - page 215

Asphalt Verse Metal: Which Is Better For Your Homes Roof

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

There are a number of materials available for homeowners to use when installing a new roof.  From asphalt to synthetic there are a number of reasons for choosing one roofing material over another.  In this installment on roofing we will explore a number of universal materials that are popular within the industry along with the pros and cons of installation.

Asphalt Shingling  

Asphalt is the most commonly used material in roofing.  Roofing contractors choose asphalt shingles more often over other types of materials in new roof installation for a number of reasons.  Roofing contractors prefer asphalt shingles mainly because they are economical and easy to install.

Pros:  Asphalt shingles are available in a number of colors to choose from.  They are a widely available material that is inexpensive, easy to install and repair.

Cons: One of the disadvantages with using asphalt shingles is that they often have a shorter lifespan then other roofing counterparts.  The lifespan of asphalt shingles can range from ten years to twenty five years before it is necessary to consider replacement.

Home Styles:  Another major advantage of asphalt shingles is that they are appropriate to use on many different architectural home styles.

Cost and Life Span:  Asphalt shingling is one of the least expensive materials to install in roofing ranging from seventy to one hundred and twenty square feet.  With proper installation and maintained properly asphalt shingle roofs can last up to twenty five years.

Metal Roofing

Metal roofing is the second most popular roofing material due to its life expectancy and durability.  Roofs constructed using metal is more tolerant of extreme weather conditions.  Roofs made out of metal come in either panels or shingles.  They are made from metals such as aluminum, copper, stainless steel and zinc.

Pros: Metal roofing stands the test of time.  It is outlasts both asphalt shingling and wood while offering high solar reflective qualities.

Cons: The biggest thing metal roofing has going against it happens to be its cost.  Metal roofing can be more than double the cost of asphalt.

Cost and Life Span:  Metal roofing between one hundred and three hundred dollars per square foot although some styles have been known to cost upwards of eight hundred bucks per square foot.  The best thing about installing a metal roof is that they can last upwards of forty to seventy five years.

There are many types of materials to choose from in roofing however asphalt and metal are the most common materials seen on homes in the north.

Home Pro Roofing contractors offer a variety of roofing services throughout Brighton, East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Fenton and Commerce Township, including installation of shingle roofs, metal roofing and roof repairs.  You will find them at http://www.homeproroofingmi.com today.

Home Pro Roofing MI

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Key Elements To Find In Medical Equipment Maintenance Suppliers

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Medical maintenance services ranging from hospital equipment maintenance to clinical equipment services benefit numerous healthcare experts.    Equipment performance solutions are utilized to benefit healthcare administrators, department managers and facility directors.  Whether your position entails obtaining refurbished medical equipment and supplies or to schedule hospital equipment maintenance an established equipment performance schedule will aid facilities in saving lives, time and money.

As a medical equipment service provider it is important to recognize that every client and facility is different and therefore cannot adhere to the same maintenance and repair schedule.  Each client that is in need of services is unique. There are some very specific abilities you should look for when entering into a contract with medical equipment specialists.  The items below will help you in your quest to find a company to work with to service all of your medical equipment from linear accelerators to toilet chairs.

One of the most important qualities you can find in an independent service provider is a twenty four seven service provider.  When equipment breaks down it is crucial that you can speak with an equipment specialists any time of day.  This will ensure that your equipment isn’t down for an extended period of time.

Another quality to look for is a company that utilizes software to keep track of all aspects of services performed on the hospital equipment.  Tracking each piece of equipment and its performance from when it is installed to the minute it is retired will allow you to make better purchasing decisions in the future.  Solid record keeping ensures that equipment does not miss service dates, helps with future budgeting, allows department heads to quickly track equipment and provides easy access to compliance related stats on equipment.

Another quality to look for in a company that services medical equipment is regular reporting.  Standard reports acts as a check and balance on inventory while creating a summary of maintenance and repairs.  This report should also show all repairs that are currently open and scheduled.

Find a medical service provider that offers a number of flexible service coverage options.  Companies most often offer a preventative maintenance plan, a comprehensive service plan or a combination of the two.  This allows companies to service facilities differently depending on their exact needs. Having options allows facilities to protect their budget and service costs.

Many facilities that service medical equipment also provide refurbished and used hospital equipment for sale.  This provides a significant cost savings on equipment purchases.  When working with a service provider that also sells equipment you can be assured you are getting the best of both worlds.

Acceletronics delivers the best equipment performance and service reliability from Linear Accelerators and CT Scanners across all major brands and models.  Our qualified oncology equipment specialists provide a quality customer experience across the USA with timely field maintenance.  We sell, repair, refurbish, move and finance oncology medical systems check out more at http://www.acceletronics.com.

Acceletronics

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Proper Medical Equipment Maintenance

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

The rate at which hospitals are seeing patients continues to grow each and every year.  In order to continue to compete against one another hospitals must maintain state of the art facilities and equipment.  From simple procedures to complex surgeries, patients expect the highest level of patient care available. Physicians and patients alike rely on medical equipment to be in working order for proper diagnosis and treatment.

In order to maintain a high level of care medical facilities must rely on independent medical service companies for proper equipment maintenance and repair.  With regular checks and balances performed on medical equipment, proper repairs can be made right away allowing for fewer mistakes.  Regularly scheduled equipment maintenance and repairs help save time, money, and lives.

The number one concern of any hospital or equipment manufacturer is patient safety.  As part of a quality control routine, hospitals and medical equipment manufacturers regularly calibrate and test machines.  Strict calibration and testing on medical equipment helps with quality control measures, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment plans.  This also helps to increase the longevity on medical equipment such as linear accelerators and ct scanners.

Another vital part in making sure medical equipment is running at its peak performance and is producing accurate results is routine maintenance.  Regular machine maintenance guarantees accuracy in patient diagnosis and treatment.  It is crucial to perform medical equipment maintenance routinely and not just when machines break down.  With annual machine calibration services, routine maintenance and timely repairs medical equipment is sure to run at peak levels and yield accurate life saving results.

Medical imaging displays are becoming critical in displaying fast and reliable test results.  The displays must reproduce images properly while displaying subtle differences.  As a display age’s clarity may diminish.  To ensure the accuracy of the grayscale and ensure the highest level in patient care routine medical equipment calibration must be done.  Keeping the gray scale accurate on image displays allows physicians to make accurate diagnosis.  This can be done by performing regularly scheduled maintenance and calibration.

Medical monitor displays are highly important in the medical community.  It is important that they are displaying images appropriately to avoid difficulty in reading images and prevent misdiagnoses.  Medical display systems must be monitored, maintained and calibrated on a regular basis to guarantee uniformity in test results.  Don’t rely on self-calibrating systems as they do not account for overall uniformity.

To be certain nurses and physicians alike are able to treat patients appropriately it is crucial the medical equipment such as linear accelerators and ct scanners go through frequent calibration updates and routine maintenance and repairs.

Acceletronics delivers the best equipment performance and service reliability from Linear Accelerators and CT Scanners across all major brands and models.  Our qualified oncology equipment specialists provide a quality customer experience across the USA with timely field maintenance.  We sell, repair, refurbish, move and finance oncology medical systems check out more at http://www.acceletronics.com.

Acceletronics

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Key Elements in Food Label Design

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

When manufactures create a new food product you can bet that they have poured a lot of time and money along with a great deal of enthusiasm into it.  With this in mind you can see why marketers place such emphasis on designing a label that communicates this effort to the consumer.  It is important for the consumer to appreciate all that has gone on to bring the product to them and why it should be chosen over the competition thus leading to an increase in sales.

Key Elements In Designing A Food or Drink Label

Let’s face it you aren’t going to be able to personally sit and sell your product to each and every targeted consumer.  You need to design a label to do this for you.  The label must speak to the consumer.  It must give consumers information on what the product is, who should use it, what it tastes like, how it is produced, ingredients used and so forth.  A label with a solid design should portray all of these attributes.

Your label should be designed to portray the look of your product.  Use colors, fonts, images and illustrations to form brand appeal for your product.  The right style, used to design your products label helps to attract the targeted audience for your product and gives it more of a change to be chosen over the competition.  Your targeted market must understand that your product has been created to fill their need.

Never underestimate how important a good copy is to labeling.  Space for copy on the label itself is limited.  It is important to be efficient in the manner in which you are explaining your product.  The right copy gives consumers a compelling reason to purchase your product over the competition.  Be sure the copy is presented in an imaginative and artistic fashion to compel consumers to make a purchase.

The quality of the printing and label material itself is also important in consumer’s perceptions of your product.  The label material should suit the audience.  Consider the abundance of labeling options from flexible packaging to shrink sleeves there is an option that will give your food product the impression it deserves.

Brand consistency is also important when creating new brands in an already highly established brand line.  Consistency in where the product name, logo or description is found is just one way to add uniformity within a brand on a new label.

No matter what size your company is a product label is a major component to the marketing mix and so should be considered one.  Don’t skimp when it comes to label design and manufacturing.

At Anchor Printing, we take pride in offering our clients cut & stack labeling, pressure sensitive labels, roll-fed labeling, shrink sleeves as well as flexible packaging options. Contact us today at http://anchorprinting.com for all of your product label design, printing and packaging needs.

Anchor Printing

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Label Design Tips To Increase Sales

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Designing product labels for food products can be quite a challenge.  It is important to design a label that depicts the food while capturing the company behind it.  The test comes from creating a design that is marketable that increases sales over the competition for the targeted audience.  Below are some tips that can be employed for food product labels to ensure they keep going through the checkout line.

Know The Targeted Audience

Before you can even begin designing a concept for a food label you must know what your customers are looking for.  What problems do your consumers have and how does your product solve it for them?  Food labels have to do everything a normal product label does and so much more.  Food labels must promote quality and freshness.  In order to design a food label that accurately reflects the product it is crucial to understand what the audience is expecting.  Keep in mind the demographics of your target; anything from age to income level can affect the way a consumer views a product label.

Know The Competition

In a sea of competitors it is important that your product stand out.  Your label should be different from your competition without ignoring the expectations of the consumer.  Meet consumers at the shelf in a fresh and insightful manner that grabs their attention and sets you apart from the competition.

Show The Food

It is one thing to design a label that showcases and image of the food inside but an entirely different thing to actually show the product inside.  Consumers that actually get to see the actual product and treat they are about to taste are more drawn into the purchase.

Emphasize Ingredients and Product Features

Instead of showing consumers the end products showcase the products that went into making it.  Highlight features in an easy to appreciate way on the label itself.  Showcase the features that set your product apart from others on the shelf right next to it.  If your product has won contests or has all organic ingredients the label is the appropriate place to display this information.

Post-Sale Marketing

Never underestimate the power of your label.  From the backside to the inside companies have valuable real estate to use to market their products.  Don’t waste any space when designing your food label.  A valuable way to use the interior of the label is to include recipes or a coupon on their next purchase.

Marketing food products is a challenge but a fun one.  Using these tips when designing your next food label will help to ensure your product moves from the shelf into the consumer’s tummy.

At Anchor Printing, we take pride in offering our clients cut & stack labeling, pressure sensitive labels, roll-fed labeling, shrink sleeves as well as flexible packaging options. Contact us today at http://anchorprinting.com for all of your product label design, printing and packaging needs.

Anchor Printing

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Avoidable Mistakes When Installing Aluminum Fencing

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Spring is right around the corner and the warm weather brings out an abundance of homeowners looking to rejuvenate the interior and exterior of their homes.   The installation of a decorative aluminum fence may sound like a great spring project to consider.  Installing your own fence saves you money, gives you experience with a project, allows you to do it your own way and offers a large sense of accomplishment when all said and done.  In any home improvement project there are mishaps that can happen.  Thankfully many people before you have installed aluminum fencing and can help you avoid making the same mistakes they did.

Top Mistakes To Avoid When Installing Aluminum Fencing

Underground Utilities:  One of the biggest mishaps that occur is when homeowners accidentally cut underground wiring, cables or pipelines as they prepare to install fence posts.  This is important so you might want to read it twice; when you begin planning for your new fence call the utility company to mark the ground for underground utilities.  This task should be done before placing an order for fencing so that if adjustments for underground utilities need to be made they are easily adjusted for.

Issues Surrounding Posts:  One of the trickiest issues when installing aluminum fencing is where to and how to dig out the holes for the posts to go into.  When an original plan is made the number of posts needed will be predetermined.  The aluminum fence company will help you plan the number of panels and posts required.  When installing end posts it is important to get them as close to the house as possible without actually touching the house.  The gate posts also need special consideration when being installed to account for the size of the gate and the hinges.

Also consider the number of posts and the depth required to set each post to determine if you can manually dig the holes or if you should rent an auger.  An auger runs about one hundred dollars a day to rent.  If you are digging more than a couple of holes it makes sense to save your back and rent an auger.  This will make digging the holes needed for the posts much simpler, especially on hard soil.

Concrete:  There are two different types of concrete that can be used when setting aluminum fence posts: dry and wet set.  Most often, wet set concrete should be used because it will dry evenly which provides a more solid anchor.  Dry concrete is easier to use for alignment but tends to dry irregularly and offer a less solid foundation then wet set.  One bag of concrete is usually sufficient for each post hole that was dug.

When buying aluminum fencing online it is important to work with a company that offers sufficient support to consumers throughout the entire process from planning to installation.  The installation process of aluminum fencing is pretty straightforward and painless when homeowners follow the directions provided.

iFenceUSA offers the widest variety of maintenance-free, no-rust aluminum fences and gates in the industry! Whether you are a pool contractor, a building contractor, an architect, a landscaping professional, or a “do-it-yourself” homeowner looking for exceptional value and installation advice, you’ll benefit by buying wholesale aluminum fences shipped factory-direct to your home or business anywhere in America from www.iFenceUSA.com!

iFenceUSA

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Installing An Aluminum Fence On Your Own

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Aluminum fencing is one of the best ways that homeowners can signify their property from the neighbors.   By installing a fence homeowners are providing a natural extension of their home.  Fencing not only adds separation but also privacy, security and stringent limitations for children and pets.  All while providing a decorative manner to showcase your landscaping.

Many homeowners prefer to install fencing on their own.  It is a fairly simple DIY project that produces such extraordinary results.  Whether installing an aluminum fence is the first or thirty first DIY project you are doing it is important to prepare ahead of time.  In this installment on aluminum fence installation we will share some important tips on preparing your yard.

Before you even place an order for aluminum fencing it is important to have your property lines clearly marked by a professional land surveyor.  Educated guesses land you in scalding hot water with you neighbors, HOA and local county officials.  If the fence is installed on property that is not yours be prepared to be asked to rip it out.  Even the smallest infraction can cause you to have to rip of the fence you just worked so tirelessly to install.

After you have established a property line it is important to have a conversation with your neighbors.  You don’t need their approval to install the fence but it is courteous to talk with them about the installation before you begin construction.   This allows you to come to an agreement with them regarding construction, along with the look and size of the fence.  Open communication with neighbors throughout the process helps for a smoother installation.

Another critical issue that homeowners need to address is underground utilities.  It is important that you avoid underground utilities, lines and pipes when digging holes for the post supports.  Hitting a utility line or breaking a pipe not only causes headaches for the county but also neighbors while adding to your expenses.

It is also important to remove all obstacles within the path of which you are installing the fence.  Remove rocks, stumps and other obstructions that will make it difficult to dig post holes or install fence panels.  It is also important to account for obstacles within the landscape itself that cannot be removed such as inclines.  You will need to account for these changes in incline when ordering your aluminum fencing.

Next you will want to stake out the fence line so that you can visualize everything about the fence from where the gate is to where each post will be placed. Run a string between the stakes in the ground this will allow you to accurately measure the yard as well.

You will find a myriad of tools available online to help with the planning, ordering and installation of your new aluminum fencing.  Thorough preparation makes the installation of aluminum fencing a whole lot smoother.

iFenceUSA offers the widest variety of maintenance-free, no-rust aluminum fences and gates in the industry! Whether you are a pool contractor, a building contractor, an architect, a landscaping professional, or a “do-it-yourself” homeowner looking for exceptional value and installation advice, you’ll benefit by buying wholesale aluminum fences shipped factory-direct to your home or business anywhere in America from www.iFenceUSA.com!

iFenceUSA

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The Importance Of Estate Planning

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Everyone knows estate planning is important.  Not only are their advantages you will benefit from personally but making necessary plans for your estate eliminates the guess work for your family.  Take the time and effort now to remove the burden from loved ones during the period they will be grieving the loss of a loved one.

With an estate plan in place you can make necessary arrangements to provide for your family.  This will allow one spouse to set aside the proper amount of funds to continue living the lifestyle you have planned for your future.  If you have children it is crucial that your estate plan has provisions to provide for them as you see fit.  A guardian should be appointed in your estate plan as well just in case you both should pass away before the children have left the nest.  Without a plan in place the court is left to make those important decisions for you.

Another benefit of estate planning is the ability to quickly distributing your property to beneficiaries.  A number of estate planning methods can help with this process including: insurance with benefits paid directly to beneficiaries and a number of trust options.  Talk to an estate planning attorney to see what option works best for your situation.

Estate planning allows you to plan for a time when you may become incapacitated and unable to make decisions.  It allows you to create a plan of action should you become mentally or physically incapacitated.  Having a living will or durable heath care power of attorney in place allows you to choose an individual to help make medical decisions on your behalf.

Estate planning allows you to minimize the costs involved in transferring property to beneficiaries.  It avoids the unnecessary expenses that come along with probate.  It allows you to choose an executor to distribute your estate.  This not only saves you money it reduces the burden that the death of a loved one places on the living and makes administration of the estate simpler.

There are a number of aspects in life that require a detail estate plan be in place.  If you are the sole provider for an elderly parent, dependent child or want to provide the payment necessary for your grandchildren to attend college you can put a plan in place with an estate planning attorney.  If you are a business owner it is also important to create a detailed estate plan with an attorney to allow for an orderly continuation or curtailment of the business.

The Law Office of Sean J. Nichols is dedicated to assisting clients throughout legal issues that come with aging including: elder law, estate planning, probate law and more.  Check out the Law Office of Sean J. Nichols at http://www.seanjnichols.com to contact an estate attorney today.

Sean J. Nichols

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Cutting Costs Without A Decrease In Quality

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

Medical centers are always looking for ways to cut costs when it comes to maintaining, repairing and purchasing new equipment.  This article includes the top ways that hospitals and medical facilities can cut costs while continuing to improve quality care and patient outcomes.

The best way to save money in any industry is to continuing using the equipment that is already owned.  It is common for medical facilities to outsource medical equipment support services.  Using external service providers while having reliable support in house, otherwise known as clinical engineers, keeps equipment running at peak performance.  Simple in house adjustments and simple repairs can save a tremendous amount of money.  Not only are you saving on the cost of outsourced vendor services but also on the costs associated with any downtime experienced with medical equipment failure.

Support can be provided in a number of ways including in person and remote services.  Instead of assuming your issue can only be resolved by having a technician come out to your facility ask about less expensive remote services.  Many repairs can be accomplished through a remote technician.  Through the remote session the technician can diagnosis if the equipment can be resolved with simple tweaks or if service personnel are needed on site.  Most medical equipment vendors can offer support remotely twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  Many times on staff clinical engineers can even repair equipment with the support of the remote operator.  The nature of remote services allows the vendor to support more than one client at a time thus costing less for remote services.

Instead of working directly with the original equipment manufacturer, OEM, consider getting support from trusted third party medical equipment repair support service specialists.  Working with OEMs tends to be more costly and take significantly more time then services using a third party vendor.  This is a simple way to have necessary services performed on equipment while maintaining patient care.

One of the most effective ways that medical facilities can save money when it comes to large, specialized medical equipment is to make sure that regular maintenance is performed.  Imaging equipment including linear accelerators and ct scanners are known for having particularly long life cycles.  It is in the best interest of facilities to take advantage of this benefit.  Scheduling proper maintenance and timely repairs allows facilities to get the most out of expensive medical equipment.

Radparts is the world’s largest independent distributor of OEM replacement parts for Linear Accelerators and Radiation Oncology equipment.  We provide high quality, user friendly, low cost parts support for linear accelerators and radiation equipment.  For more information on low cost parts for repairing Linac equipment find us at http://www.radparts.com.

RadParts

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Differences Between Buying New Construction and Previously Owned Homes

Posted on by Creative Programs and Systems

There is a big difference between buying a new construction home and one that was previously owned.  When you are buying a home that has already been lived in you are purchasing someone’s memories.  One of the advantages of buying new construction is that you do not have to deal with the emotions of the buyer therefore the emotions are left out of the sales process.  When buying new construction, as with a home that was previously owned you will need to secure financing, budget for the unexpected and get pre-approval on a home loan.

If you are contemplating the purchase of a newly constructed home below are some steps to help guide you along the process.

Evaluate the Pros and Cons

One of the benefits of owning a newly-constructed home is that no one else has lived in it.  Everything is bright, shiny and new for you to use before anyone else.  There are three different options in buying new construction including:

  • Buying a new house on spec
  • Purchasing a semicustom home from preselected styles
  • Buying a fully custom designed home

There are many reasons to purchase new construction and a few cons as well.  Previously built homes have mature landscapes where new construction you are cultivating something from nothing.  It could take quiet sometime for the landscape to mature.  Many times new construction is a bit cookie cutter.  Will having homes in the neighborhood that look similar to yours bother you?  New construction also tends to be built super close together; is the lack of privacy worth living in a new construction home?

Investigate Neighborhoods and Area Home Builders

When buying a new construction home you will want to work with a buyer’s agent that not only specializes in new construction but also is familiar with the area, can set up home tours and help throughout the closing process.  The listing agent will be working in conjunction with the builder therefore their agenda will be for the seller not you the buyer.  A listing agent won’t necessarily be looking out for the buyer’s best interest in the sale.  It is crucial that you tour new construction only when doing so with your agent.

Go to the open models within new construction neighborhoods you are interested in.  Make sure to take notes and pictures to keep track of the different options offered and the neighborhoods.  Talk with other homeowners within the neighborhood.  Ask about their experience with the builder and talk to them about the neighborhood.

Make sure to look into the development builder as well.  Talk to local agents that have worked with the builder before.  Talk with the better business bureau about any complaints against them.  Talk with the occupants of homes that the builder has recently finished.  All of these people will offer you a different perspective into working with the buyer.

In our next installment in buying new construction we will talk in depth about what is standard verse what upgrades are extra, home inspections and warranties, and the closing process.

Aspen Construction is an innovative building leader specializing in home additions, new construction, bathroom and kitchen remodeling.  For all of your home improvement needs including electrical services contact us today at http://www.aspencoinc.com/.

 

Aspen Construction

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