Membership voice, May - June 2006
Too often, unfortunately, we hear the comments 'I did not realise we were Members! Had I known, I would have used your services many times'.
Each Industrial Member company appoints an Official Representative (OR) to be the authorised technical and administrative link with TWI. It is their role to ensure maximum benefit is obtained from the collaboration.
Member companies who have informed their key staff of the range of services offered through membership and who regularly use the technical enquiry service, the library and information services, attend TWI events, consult JoinIT and place projects with TWI feel that they more than recoup the value of their membership investment.
TWI relies on the OR as the main point of contact for information about new projects, events, training courses, products and software. The OR should forward the information received to appropriate colleagues and ensure that TWI records are up to date. ORs are regularly invited to panel meetings, open days or technology awareness events to ensure that they are conversant with TWI projects relevant to the needs of their companies.
The OR's duties are quite straightforward for middle-sized companies. Usually, the role is fulfilled by the Technical Director or a senior manager. A typical mailing for a fabrication company of 500 staff may have upwards of ten names, which the OR can easily review once a year. It is interesting to note that some people prefer 'paper' information ( Bulletin and Connect newsletter) and others opt for a password on JoinIT so that they can help themselves to TWI information on the web.
The task of the OR is more onerous for large, multi national, multi divisional companies. Some of our larger Members have over 200 contact names in five continents. In large companies it may be difficult for one person to be aware of the technical needs of all the divisions. This is why TWI welcomes direct contact from the employees of Member companies. Even though we want the membership relationship to be co-ordinated by the OR, we do not want communication to be restricted to a single point of contact.
If you are not sure about your membership status, please contact the Member Services section. We can check your membership entitlement, issue a JoinIT password and add your name to our mailing list so that you receive membership publications on a regular basis. We can also tell you who is the OR in your organisation. In order to help promote TWI information amongst Member companies, TWI produces Contact a video news about major developments at TWI. This should be circulated by the OR, who can also organise group showings for a wide distribution of relevant information or order additional copies.
My colleague Geoff Booth is about to contact all ORs for suggestions on the content of the next Core Research Programme (CRP). The CRP is critical in defining the areas where TWI develops expertise. It is therefore important for TWI and for you that your company responds to our survey. Your responses will shape the areas of knowledge that Members want TWI to develop, acquire resources, generate R & D data and build staff expertise to support your business in the coming years.
Fred Delany - Head of Industrial Member Services
fred.delany@twi.co.uk
