AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY, INC., AND AWS FOUNDATION FINANCIAL REPORT Our operating surplus came in at $11.8 million, increasing by 20% over the prior year, a new historical high for the Society. We have managed to keep, on average, 28 cents out of every dollar received. Our total assets were $122.1 million, increasing by $12.1 million or 10.9%. Total net assets (net worth) were at an all-time high of $115.8 million, an increase of $10.9 million or 10.4%. The main contributing factor to our increase in net assets this year is our operating surplus. Market gains usually add to our net assets but our investment portfolio did not yield favorable returns in 2015; however, we did weather the volatility in the marketplace quite well, ending with just a slight loss in our investments. With innovation powering what we do, Fiscal Year 2015 was a year of digital initiatives. We completed our data migration from D3 to a Sequel environment. The new database is fueling our website and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. The first phase of our CRM has been implemented. It will allow access of data to better manage our business. We also transitioned into Great Plains, our new accounting system. New functionalities will allow for efficiency and better reporting. Our e-mail system was changed to an industry-standard system. We also launched SharePoint, a collaboration tool that facilitates the sharing, managing and accessing of files. All of these IT enhancements will provide us with the technology needed to support our growth. AWS Learning (AWSL), our online educational platform, is another key digital initiative of great focus, not only from a content perspective that includes quality and relevance, but from a delivery standpoint we launched a new learning management tool, “Moodle,” to improve the experience. WeldLink is another endeavor we took on to enhance membership value for all industry stakeholders. WeldLink is an online welding community tool capable of storing credentials digitally, managing résumés, assessing readiness, mapping career paths, and connecting job seekers to employers and vice-versa, among other features. Under continuous improvement, customer service is an area of focus we have taken on, since our constituents are of utmost importance to us. We spend great efforts monitoring customer service performance metrics, which now include survey-based satisfaction metrics. A new service group was launched in 2015, our Customer Operations Department (COD). COD will allow for a better customer experience. We have started to identify technological tools that can help the COD accomplish this goal. These initiatives are slated for 2016. Also within continuous improvement are our efforts to refresh our CWI exam questions — hence, the new redesigned Part B. In 2015, we spent time orchestrating the release of the new Part B, which included beta testing and collection of data in an effort to get ready for the launch in January 2016. The new part B contains a new pipe specimen as well as larger pieces to expand the ability to test knowledge. Digitally, we are moving toward computer-based exams via Prometrics; more on this later in the year. In the area of international activities, we now have consultants we consider an important physical presence covering India and the Arabian Gulf countries. We also added a consultant in China to complement our Asia Team. We continue to explore potential new Agents abroad, and we continue to strengthen our relationship with our existing Agents. Efforts abroad include emphasizing and communicating AWS advantages over other global/regional welding organizations. We also have signed an exclusive global sponsorship with World Skills. World Skills is an avenue for AWS to gain exposure abroad. Our sales force team has grown to include a dedicated AWSL salesperson and a dedicated Latin American sales representative. The message resonating within our sales team is “We have the product, go sell it.” Our financial position is the healthiest in the 96-year history of AWS. We are very proud of our achievements. Our sincere gratitude once again goes to our entire staff and to all of our volunteers — everyone played a role in our success. We are certain you can benefit from one of the many programs and services we offer. Please visit our website at aws.org or call us at 1-800-443-9353. AWS Foundation Highlights for 2015 The AWS Foundation is 100% focused on strengthening industry research, progress and advancement. Large efforts are spent on recruitment in the welding workforce and enhancing the image of welding as a career. The Foundation total net assets were $49.4 million at December 31, 2015, increasing by $4.2 million or 9.3%. The Foundation has added numerous scholarships over the past couple of years via transfers from the Society and its reserves. In 2015, a $4 million transfer was made to allow for a 50% match for existing Section and District Scholarships and a 150% match for new dollars coming in for the same. In addition, at the November 2015 Board of Directors meeting, the JUNE 2016 / WELDING JOURNAL 37
Welding Journal | June 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above