Helping members to improve profits and operations since 1953.

An Introduction to Management Bureaus

Helping Members Succeed!

Methods for Management understands that privately owned businesses have unique wants, needs, and desires. We consider some of the critical questions about your business to obtain the best consulting possible.

Methods for Management is the most experienced consulting firm in the area of Management Bureaus. Our exposure to this process spans a period beginning in 1953 with consulting assignments throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia.

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What Our Members Are Saying

“MFM has been a source of inspiration, support, and accountability. I have developed friendships and learned from industry experts about the business of service above self.”

Lisa M. Sebastian

Ridge Cleaners

“If you are at all interested in making your business more efficient and profitable, someone who wants to become a better owner, then MFM is definitely for you. I would encourage owners to join from the mere fact you will learn so much from the other owners in your group.”

Michael P Harris

Oceanside Cleaners

“MFM has been invaluable to the development of Margaret’s Cleaners. Many of the owners I have met have developed into strong personal relationships and I consider as close friends. MFM has become a helpful resource to monitor how we are performing in the industry. Numerous best practices have been brought back and implemented in our daily practices. Our company would look quite different had we not been associated with MFM.”

Chuck Horst

Margaret’s the Couture Cleaner

“I have been a Methods member for over 20 years. I have no doubt that my involvement with this association has played a significant role in my professional development as well as the ongoing success of my organization. The insights, practices, experiences and counsel of my fellow members – and our facilitators – has been of great value and comfort (we all know how lonely it is at the top!). It is very challenging for we business owners to stay true to goals and objectives without having accountability to anyone or anything beyond ourselves. MFM – acting as a sort of “Board of Directors” – holds us accountable to ourselves and our fellow bureau members. As an added bonus, the friendships developed in MFM have been very meaningful and enduring.”

John-Claude Hallak

Hallak Cleaners

“As someone new to the dry cleaning industry, MFM and its network of owners/operators has been a tremendous resource for learning the business. I can’t say enough about the value of the quarterly meetings as an opportunity to learn and share ideas with your peers in a productive, supportive environment. Anyone who is serious about their business and wants to take it to the next level can benefit greatly by joining MFM.”

Janet Garman

Glyndon Lord Baltimore Cleaners

“Methods For Management is exactly what the name implies…they provide direction and leadership to help us better manage our day to day business. MFM makes Jim Massey’s Cleaners more profitable. They easily pay for themselves.”

John Massey

Jim Massey Cleaners & Laundry

Benefits of Management Bureau Peer Groups

Management Bureaus are designed to be used as tools to enhance the success and profitability of your operation. Company profitability comes from detailed knowledge of your operation, reliable information regarding what level of performance can be expected, and having the drive to take the necessary actions to improve all areas of the operation. Management Bureaus provide a framework in which these factors can be developed.

PRODUCTION FLOOR

FINANCE

MARKETING

HUMAN RESOURCES

STRATEGIC PLANNING

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS

SUCCESSION PLANNING

ACQUISITION/DISPOSITION ANALYSIS

Methods For Management

MfM Provides the following services through its Management Bureau peer groups:



Exchange of New Ideas and Methods

Bureau Members visit each member’s operation. Areas of interest or concern by the member are reviewed by the host’s peers. Analyses and recommendations are offered by the Bureau members and the Facilitator.



Discussion of Comparative Operating Reports

For each meeting, our online database generates in-depth financials reports for each of our members’ businesses. Trends or variances between plants are analyzed in order to increase the understanding of each Bureau member of his company’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.



Contributions by the Facilitator

Each meeting is coordinated and facilitated by a member of the MfM professional consulting team. The Facilitator brings the expertise and past experience necessary for the success of the Management Bureau. The Facilitator directs the evaluation of operating and management problems and informs Bureau Members of the latest systems, procedures, and techniques available for improved management and profitability.

MEMBERSHIP SPECIFICATIONS

GENERAL MEETING FORMAT

A visit to the host member’s plant in which the group critically analyzes and suggests improvements.
A comparative review of financial and operating performance factors among the member plants.
Special reports and training sessions by the coordinator dealing with specific areas of interest.

PREREQUISITES FOR A SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT BUREAU

A desire to improve your operation.
A willingness to disclose financial ratios and production data to the Bureau members.
A willingness to provide data in a uniform manner.
The ability to give and accept constructive criticism.

MEETING & FEE STRUCTURE

Generally, the Management Bureaus meet once each quarter for two days.
The monthly payments cover unlimited phone call and email support between meetings, as well as the meeting fee.
During meeting months there is an additional food and meeting room charge. • The monthly membership fee is charged regardless of actual attendance at the quarterly meeting.

MEMBERSHIP SPECIFICATIONS

A group of 8-12 plant owners from noncompeting geographic areas.
New members require acceptance by 100% of the existing group.

MfM Business Advisory Team

Kermit Engh

Managing Partner - MfM

Vikki Reed

MfM/Studio V

Courtney Wolf

Methods for Management

Francis Flair

Flair Consulting Group

Jeff Gude

MfMBI

Sandra Haralson

Sandra Haralson Dry Cleaning Consulting

Bill Stork

Dry Clean Design

Trudy Adams

Blue Egg Consulting

Bob Clements

Benchmark Business Group

Kermit Engh

Managing Partner

Kermit Engh has been an owner/operator in the dry cleaning industry for over 28 years. He provides expertise in strategic planning, finance, process improvement, succession planning, acquisition & disposition analysis, packaging & branding, corporate culture, employee training programs, profitability, quality & production standards, cost analysis & development of management KPI’s.

Vikki Reed

Methods for Management/Studio V

Vikki is a creative innovator, branding strategist, and design expert with over 35 years of expertise in creating impactful visual brand solutions for clients across numerous industry verticals.

She pairs a broad range of creative leadership experience in brand strategy & development, graphic design, and content management with a deep understanding of the psychology behind branding and design to create effective campaigns and corporate narratives across all platforms and mediums.

Before joining Fashion Cleaners and Methods for Management, Vikki was creative director and content manager for numerous wedding publications throughout the country, such as Arizona Weddings, San Diego Style Weddings, Chicago Style Weddings, and New Orleans Weddings. Her early career included roles at Black Dot Graphics, working on projects for Meredith Publications, numerous textbooks, and advertising for Kmart. She has also worked designing packaging for multiple brands.

Vikki enjoys spending time outside walking, hiking and biking as well as gardening and spending time with her numerous grandchildren.

Courtney Wolf

Methods for Management

Courtney specializes in event planning and Public Relations. Courtney plays a key role with Methods for Management by facilitating client interaction, recruitment, and financial reporting for each membership bureau.

Francis Flair

Flair Consulting Group

Francis is a Certified Customer Experience (CX) Executive trained and licensed to apply the same proven CX methodology used by prestigious brands like Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and The Ritz-Carlton. His priority in every Client engagement is to create new Customer and Employee experience standards and implement systems that lead to concrete, measurable results. In addition, he enjoys solving problems and helping organizations learn how to improve, help employees operate at their best, and love their jobs.

FlairConsultingGroup.com

Jeff Gude

MfMBI Jeff and his group provide functional and technical ownership and development of the Methods for Management analytics platform, MfMBI. Jeff has accountability for overall product development and manages the interaction between business and technical counterparts He has 20+ years in the IT industry, including individual contributor roles to managing domestic and international organizations of technical business analysts, application engineers, application developers, quality assurance analysts, security engineers, and production support engineers providing leadership, vision, and direction of back-office and custom applications supporting small organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Jeff has managed day-to-day activities, strategic application guidance, and change management activities as well as ownership of multi-million dollar IT application projects across multiple countries. In his free time, Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, brewing ridiculously good beer, hiking, and traveling anywhere a car or plane will take him and his family.

Sandra Haralson

Sandra Haralson Dry Cleaning Consulting

Sandra is a mechanical diagnostic, operations, and production expert. She specializes in complete equipment inspections, getting them back up and running to factory standards.

She is a DLI member and well respected by top industry vendors for her unique approach to in-plant training and consulting. She will work with you and your staff with full inspections of your facility, equipment, staff, techniques, quality, maintenance and proper training in all areas.

Sandra specializes in complete equipment inspections, and getting them back up and running to factory standards. Often she has found that cleaning problems can be traced back to equipment malfunction or misconfiguration. Sandra can diagnose the problem, find a solution and make sure it is applied correctly; saving you, the plant owner, time and

money.

Full list of areas covered

· Customer Service

· Quality Control

· Work Flow

· Packaging

· Stain Removal

· Finishing

· Dry Cleaning Operations

· Wetcleaning

· Shirt Finishing

· Flat Work

· Laundry Pant Finishing

· Production Management

· Required Maintenance on all Equipment

Bill Stork

Dry Clean Design

Bill provides expert experience in dry cleaning, industrial engineering, and construction, making him uniquely qualified to assist in planning, equipment selection, plant layout, and construction.

Trudy Adams

Blue Egg Consulting

Trudy Adams has been a familiar speaker with dry cleaning groups and perhaps best remembered for her role as Vice President of Sales & Customer Service at Cleaner’s Supply. Today the principal of Blue Egg Consulting, a sales, marketing, and customer service consulting practice. Trudy’s current responsibilities and past experience have encompassed sales, marketing, and customer service management in both business-to-business and retail environments to grow revenue and create the processes needed to differentiate from competition. She brings a no-nonsense approach to data analysis, training the trainers, training CSR’s and leading teams to deliver a superior customer experience that melds all three to grow and retain sales.

Bob Clemets Methods for Management Business Advisory Team

Bob Clements

Benchmark Business Group

Bob Clements is Co-founder, Strategic Marketing Director, and General Counsel for Benchmark Business Group, which provides business coaching, consulting, and business brokerage services. Since 1999, BBG has coached businesses in most of the 50 States and several foreign countries, in addition to aiding business owners in preparing their business for sale, and assisting buyers in successfully transitioning management and operation of their recently acquired business. It is the most unique and successful business brokerage in Iowa.

For the past 12 years, BBG has distinguished itself in the insurance and financial services industry as a leader in business development coaching and consulting for both independent and captive agents, as well as field leaders and managers, and has fostered exponential growth and life-altering change in countless agencies through its proprietary Optimal Outcome™ Program.

Bob earned his Juris Doctorate in 1973 from Creighton University School of Law and was a practicing attorney for more than thirty years. He has worked primarily in the areas of business law, commercial transactions, banking, business workouts, reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, and in 2002 was certified as a Senior E-Myth Consultant. In a more holistic approach to the practice of law, Bob has guided many business owners through difficult organizational, planning and financial issues, and has served as a facilitator and mediator in numerous business cases. He has been an owner and manager in five businesses, and has been president of his local chamber of commerce, a community improvement association for downtown businesses, and a venture capital group. In addition, for more than ten years, he served as a board member of a multi-bank holding company and two of its subsidiaries.

In addition to his duties as Strategic Marketing Director, he serves as General Counsel for Benchmark Business Group, guiding the Company and its team through the many legal issues that arise during its representation and facilitation of the business buying and selling process. He also remains Of Counsel and advisor to his former law firm.