Therapedic Times - Vol. 53 - Fall 2019

TIMES Vol. 53 / Fall 2019 Edition / www.therapedic.com

THEISMANN TOUTS TEAMWORK IN THERAPEDIC ADDRESS PRINCETON, NJ

uper Bowl champion quarterback Joe Theismann tossed passes to Therapedic licensees at the group’s annual meeting here.

Mathes, Therapedic’s vice president of brand relations, introduced a team-building exercise in which the licensees divided into three teams, with each team member assigned to paint a small section of a landscape.

He also connected with the licensees in an hour-long keynote address in which he shared leadership lessons forged in the crucible of the National Football League, where he spent more than a decade as a player.

The licensees followed detailed instructions on what they were to paint, and they studied the paintings that they were attempting to recreate, a group that included Van Gogh’s famous “Starry Night.”

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Then, when they were finished, their individual canvases were arranged together to present their group’s version of the artist’s original work. The members of each team posed with their finished work “Therapedic has been gaining market share in the highly competitive bedding arena with a team-oriented approach to the business,” commented Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic’s CEO. “We nurtured our team spirit with our art project, and we learned about what winning teams can accomplish from an elite NFL quarterback who helped lead his team to Super Bowl success.”

From left: Stephen Walter, Joe Theismann and Gerry Borreggine.

“There are 53 players on a team in the National Football League and there are about that many of you in this room today,” he said, looking out at his audience, composed of Therapedic licensees from across the United States and from four countries. “You are individual contractors, just as I was an individual contractor in the NFL. You have the chance to be part of a team. That’s the most important thing.”

Theismann talked about the importance of the team in the NFL, where each player has a job to do, one that affects the ability of the other players on the team to accomplish their goals.

“You have to give the team the opportunity to support you,” he said. “You just can’t do it by yourself.”

Theismann wasn’t the only one who talked about the importance of the team at the Therapedic meeting. Susan

In his address, Theismann talked about key Therapedic brand attributes—nimble, flexible, responsive, teamwork displayed on banners at the front of the room.

He praised the nimbleness of the New England Patriots, whose commitment to excellence makes them a perennial standout. “Average doesn’t cut it,” Theismann said. “I have no interest in average. Why wake up and say: ‘I’m going to have an average day.’”

He also told the licensees they “need to be nimble. You can’t be too locked in. Don’t be afraid to be flexible. Things may be going well. They can always be better.”

Theismann singled out Borreggine, who he called “Coach Gerry,” and said he “has taken the company to another level.” He urged the Therapedic licensees to be open to new approaches in growing their businesses. “It’s a lot easier to be part of a team,” Theismann said.

By David Perry, reprinted with permission, Furniture/Today

THEISMANN TEACHES NFL LESSONS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS PRINCETON, NJ

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ormer National Football League MVP and Super Bowl Champion, Joe Theismann addressed a group of Therapedic International licensees at their recent meeting stressing the benefits of working together as a group, and embracing the value of teamwork.

“Once you commit to working as a team, the value of that effort begins to reward the individual members with positive results,” Theismann said. “And, the effect this teamwork has on the overall team is extremely positive.”

Theismann spoke of his early days as a football player when he thought he could do everything better than anyone else.

He gave an example of him maturing as a player, and allowing the team members around him to do their job in conjunction with him doing his job.

He gave an example of him, being the quarterback, wanting to run a pass play on every down so that he could showcase his prowess as a passer. He said, it wasn’t until he began to rely on his teammates for help that his passing game began to flourish.

“It was humbling for me to learn the truth. But, working together with your teammates yields far better results than working alone,” he said.

Theismann told of a game-day story where the punter of the team got hurt and the back-up kicker was already out with an injury. Theismann said he walked over to head coach, Joe Gibbs, and said, “Coach, I can handle the punting for the rest of the game.”

Gerry Borreggine

When the time came for the Redskins to punt, Theismann jogged out to the field and practiced a few leg kicks to prepare himself for the upcoming punt. He explained that the next few seconds seemed like they were going in slow motion. The team lined-up, the snap came, Theismann fielded the ball, dropped it towards his foot, and let go with the strongest leg thrust he could muster.

The result was the shortest recorded punt in NFL history, 1-yard!

The lesson learned by Theismann that day was that he couldn’t do it all.

“It’s called teamwork!” Theismann said.

Theismann related the NFL teamwork concept to the Therapedic licensees and how they currently operate.

Joe Theismann tosses a pass to Laurie Simpson, Therapedic Northwest.

“You guys are all free agents, or independent contractors that get to wear the same uniform on game day. And, game day is everyday you show up for work. Wearing the same uniform by itself, doesn’t put you on the same team,” he said.

“It’s actually operating as a team, doing the things that help the team, and doing them in-concert with your other team members is what will get you wins in the business world.”

“It was only when I began to realize that I had an All-Pro running back in John Riggins standing behind me, and I started to utilize him in the game plan, that our team began to win consistently,” Theismann said. “Playing as a team is what made the Washington Redskins Super Bowl Champions, and it made me an MVP.”

Earlier in the meeting, Therapedic CEO, Gerry Borreggine spoke to the group about how working as a team would help elevate the group to the next level.

“Before I embraced teamwork, I was of the mindset, ‘Hey, I’m Joe Theismann, I can do it all, and I can do it better than my teammates.’”

“If we work as a team, employ similar operational strategies, and manufacture like products, we will grow beyond the level we sit today,” he said.

“We can’t grow into the top-tier of bedding companies as long as we all are operating as individual companies who are managing their own brands,” Borreggine said.

Therapedic 2019 Annual Meeting P H OT O A L B U M

AUTOMATION A KEY TO BOOSTING BEDDING PLANT PRODUCTIVITY, BLOCK SAYS PRINCETON, NJ

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edding producers can always profit from improved productivity in their factories, Therapedic licensees were told at their annual meeting here.

Global Systems Group’s Gribertz XT9

Paul Block, president of sales for Leggett & Platt’s Global Systems Group, said his group can help bedding producers meet the challenges of a changing bedding landscape.

“Making more with less every day” was the theme of his Therapedic talk. One key way to do that, Block said, is to automate.

He framed his talk by noting that producers serving any bedding market can benefit from the programs and products that the Global Systems Group offers.

“How low can you go?” Block asked his audience. “It may be impossible to cut your selling prices low enough to compete with low-cost suppliers, and selling at the high-end has its own set of challenges. But no matter what market you’re in, you can always profit from improved productivity.”

can move spring units, heavy foam cores or mattresses, Block said.

GSG also offers the Mattress Master Elite, an automated tape edge machine, which features a new, stronger flippanel design and a strong radial turning bale. The machine operator stays stationary so he can focus on sewing, and not walking backwards, as is common on most tape edge machines, Block said.

His group also offers EST-501, a belt-table flange machine designed to handle the heaviest of today’s quilt panels that “de-skills” the operation for any worker, he added. He called the machine “today’s most productive flanger,” and said its ergonomic design reduces worker fatigue.

Block also introduced GSG’s Gribertz XT9 stitch bridge, designed to eliminate sticky glue problems by stitching mattress layers together with a single 35-second pass through the XT9. That thread-based lamination machine reduces material costs by more than 95%, he said.

Global Systems Group’s PS-90

One of the business challenges that bedding producers face these days is a skilled labor shortage, Block said. “Even if you secure a qualified workforce, it’s hard to retain staff when offers from other employers lure them away,” he said. “Your best solution is to de-skill and automate as much as possible.”

The Global Systems Group has a full line of powered and gravity-driven conveyor and work aides, and GSC team members can do full-plant layouts to optimize every part of the mattress factory workflow, he said.

Work aides for greater productivity include GSG’s PS-90, an automated unit stacker. That automated material handler

That system reduces four production steps down to one step, improves finished product quality, and really does enable producers to “make more with less every day,” Block said.

Bedding producers won’t be wasting their time with Waste-exit, a GSG product that provides vacuum-powered scrap removal. The custom-fitted ductwork in the system automatically sucks fallen scrap waste at the machine source.

All of the scrap is collected at a centralized hopper. The ducts are closed to save energy until sensors detect that scrap has passed into the collection point, Block explained.

“Manually handling scrap waste is a losing proposition,” he added. “There is no added value benefit and it poses a safety risk.”

By David Perry, reprinted with permission, Furniture/Today

COMING SOON! B-CALM™ CBD-INFUSED MATTRESS LINE PRINCETON, NJ

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uring its recent annual meeting held in this Ivy League town, Therapedic International announced it would be debuting a new CBD-infused product line, named b-Calm, at the upcoming Las Vegas Winter Market.

The product line will be a 3-to5 number line-up featuring both a CBD-infused cover, and CBDinfused foam, according to Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic CEO and president.

“We wanted the product to be authentic in its features/ benefits story, so we were circumspect in finding the right suppliers who could deliver the CBD benefit in the actual components,” Borreggine said.

The cover has CBD micro capsules embedded within the fiber of the top panel. It will emit CBD esters as friction is applied to the cover’s surface. The foam is a high-performance specialty foam that has been mixed with pure CBD oil, harvested from a boutique hemp farm in Colorado.

When put together, it’s a strong, and authentic CBD benefit story, Borreggine said.

The line is intended to be boxed, but it also will have a factory select option of being flat-packed.

“Not all our factories are able to box mattresses at this point, Borreggine said. “We are allowing for this product to be transitional in that it can be delivered to retailers either in, or out of, a box.”

Save Date THE

2020 Annual Meeting

OCTOBER 7–9 Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center

AURORA, CO