IndustryWeek Forums http://forums.industryweek.com These are the Weblogs, discussion boards and forums for IndustryWeek -- Leadership in Manufacturing en Wed, 16 May 2012 19:45:46 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.industryweek.com/IWImages/misc/rss.jpg IndustryWeek Forums http://forums.industryweek.com 10 Pricing Mistakes Suppliers Make with Procurement http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=40001&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 15:55:05 GMT Customers who involve procurement in their purchases are in a stronger position to gain price concessions from their supplier. Why? Because procurement organizations see supplier pricing mistakes every day and use these mistakes to their advantage in price negotiations. Understanding common... Customers who involve procurement in their purchases are in a stronger position to gain price concessions from their supplier. Why? Because procurement organizations see supplier pricing mistakes every day and use these mistakes to their advantage in price negotiations. Understanding common mistakes will help you better understand what you need to do to maintain price when procurement is involved in the purchase decision. From the article "Ten Pricing Mistakes Suppliers Make With Procurement”, as published in the Professional Pricing Association's Pricing Advisor, as well as Control Magazine. The complete article can be found on the Articles page at[url="http://www.valuepg.com"].

Ten Mistakes: 1.Not understanding the culture, needs, and incentives of the procurement organization. 2. Sales representatives discusses only price not the value of their offering. 3. Assuming that procurement knows your value proposition. 4.Not recognizing customer cost of change from the incumbent to a new supplier. 5.Thinking Reverse Auction award decisions are based only on price. 6.Not acting quickly to pass on commodity driven cost increases. 7. Not capturing price by using your ability to help manage your customer’s risk. 8. A misguided view of strategic partnerships. 9. Expressing a weak financial (supplier) position in attempt to gain price. 10. Not getting involved in the customer’s New Product Development Process ]]> Manufacturing Talk JMB37637 http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=40001 Lakers vs Thunder http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39991&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 15:43:16 GMT Join me later tonight and you will be able to get the Celtics vs 76ers Live Stream (http://www.gameinformer.com/blogs/members/b/nbaplayoffs2012x_blog/archive/2012/05/15/celtics-vs-76ers-live-stream.aspx). The NBA Playoffs continue and the 76ers have tied things up. It was a amazing game 2 but now... Join me later tonight and you will be able to get the Celtics vs 76ers Live Stream. The NBA Playoffs continue and the 76ers have tied things up. It was a amazing game 2 but now they head to game 3 in Philly.

Who is your favorite team in the playoffs this year? Mine would have to be either the Celtics or Thunder.

Lakers vs Thunder Live Stream, Celtics vs 76ers Live Stream, Lakers vs Thunder Live Stream, Celtics vs 76ers Live Stream, Celtics vs 76ers Live Streaming, Celtics vs 76ers Live Stream Game 3, Lakers vs Thunder Live Stream, Lakers vs Thunder Live Stream Game 2, Lakers vs Thunder Live Streaming ]]> OleDoog http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39991 Lean Manufacturing Library. Chapter 1: 5S Methodology http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39681&goto=newpost Tue, 15 May 2012 21:33:14 GMT Everything you need to implement 5S in you plant: video, brochure, methodology,...
If you need more, just ask for it.

http://www.leanmco.com/?p=1946&lang=en ]]> Manufacturing Talk Lean MCO http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39681 Why the Economy Needs Churn http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39671&goto=newpost Tue, 15 May 2012 15:37:46 GMT Healthy economies exhibit plenty of churn or labor market turnover. Employees leave companies in large numbers and (hopefully) join or start other companies in even larger numbers. Prior to 2006, an average of 5.3 million Americans were hired every month and 5.1 million left their job or were... Healthy economies exhibit plenty of churn or labor market turnover. Employees leave companies in large numbers and (hopefully) join or start other companies in even larger numbers.

Prior to 2006, an average of 5.3 million Americans were hired every month and 5.1 million left their job or were fired. Net employment grew by 172,000 per month.

But a new report by TD Economics finds one of the lingering impacts of the Great Recession is a low level of churn. While 3 million people quit their jobs every month prior to the recession, that number is now less than 2.1 million.

Why is this bad? Economists Beata Caranci and James Marple point out that churn results in workers leaving jobs for ones that better fit their skills or that pay more. As younger workers are traditionally the most mobile, the result of this lower turnover in the workforce could be lower lifetime earnings for today's workforce entrants.

Small businesses are the engines of churn, Caranci and Marple point out. "Businesses with fewer than 250 employees simultaneously create and destroy three times the number of jobs as their larger peers," they write.

But new firms are not starting up at the same rate as they did prior to the recession. The number of jobs created by startups fell in 2010 and available data indicate there is yet to be any significant improvement in the situation.

What is holding back small business creation and growth? Credit and poor sales have been problems but both are showing improvement, Caranci and Marple point out. They expect real estate prices to bottom out this year. Less certain, they note, is clarity about legislative and regulatory burdens on small businesses.

Despite nearly three years of economic recovery, they note, "hiring rates cannot return to normal until conditions for small businesses do. Unfortunately, this is likely to be a slow grind upward." ]]> The Manufacturing Life Steve Minter http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39671 My Views From Europe: Part 1 http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39591&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 14:55:02 GMT I am currently on a three-week swing across 10 countries in Europe.

I am meeting with high-level business, education, and political leaders, as well as many folks on the street.

Given all that is going on here, I thought it might be interesting to share with you some "on the ground" reporting, as the crisis here reaches its apex.

What happens in Europe in the coming months will very well influence the business climate in China, it's biggest trading partner.

For American companies, the imminent break-up of the Eurozone will provide new opportunities to reassert their leadership across a wide variety of industries

So here goes, one man's view- starting from the Black Sea region:

Turkey is growing, but probably too fast for its own good, at least economically. Everyone- even the taxi drivers- are talking about the rise in real estate values and how much they are making on their houses. We've seen this movie before...

With the American presence in Iraq and the greater Middle East being reduced, it seems Turkey is seeking to fill the void. Whispers of a modern version of Ottoman influence are growing louder.

The Turkish Airlines Club at Istanbul Airport is one of the most interesting places I've been in a while. It is huge and the diversity of people from around the globe is impressive. Here at least, iPhones seem to out number both Blackberrys and Androids 3:1.

As exciting as Turkey is, Moldova, Europe's poorest country is the opposite. Still, the free wi-fi at Chisinau Airport is the best I've ever seen.

And the wine, too. I'd put Moldovan wine up against the top brands anywhere. The wine of choice for the British Royal Family has been, for generations, Moldovan.

Russian influence is very evident. All the signs in the country are in both Russian and Romanian. Russian troops still occupy Transnistria.

Migration and corruption remain the country's biggest challenges.

The population is mostly older folks and children. The people in their 20's and 30's are few. They say Moldova's biggest export is people, especially the college-educated.

Moldavans are some of the best IT workers in the world. Their software engineers, developers- and hackers- are renowned.

Organized crime is very influential here. Odessa, one of the great trading centers on the planet, makes contraband easy to attain.

Black market cigarettes and knock-off Hermes purses seem highest in demand.

Europe's boom-to-bust is quite evident in Romania. In Oradea, near the Hungarian border, two new $60 million shopping malls that were built for a population of less than 200,000 never opened. Weeds are everywhere, growing through the concrete parking lots that sit empty.

Romanians are praying for the Euro to collapse, as most of their personal loans are in Euros and very expensive; while their currency, the lei, continues to fall.

The Romanian government went down last month due to anger over harsh austerity measures. This was a precursor to the devastating elections in Greece, France, and Germany.

The message is becoming clear: voters are tired of government cut backs and won't support anyone who thinks it's a good idea. Politics are trumping economics.

More next week from Hungary, England, and Spain.

Thanks for reading! ]]> The ART Of Business Andrew R. Thomas http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39591 IW Best Plants Deadline Extended to May 31 http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39541&goto=newpost Sun, 13 May 2012 02:43:33 GMT Download the 2012 IW Best Plants competition application and start the process of showcasing your manufacturing plant's operational excellence!

Deadline extended to May 31

http://www.industryweek.com/research...uidelines.aspx

All entrants receive the following: a customized benchmark report; an IW Best Plants Statistical Profile; and reduced or complimentary registration to the IW Best Plants conference. ]]> News and Announcements Frank Chloupek http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39541 USPS Takes a $3 Billion Bath while Congress Watches http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39481&goto=newpost Thu, 10 May 2012 20:35:53 GMT The U.S. Postal Service certainly is making it more and more difficult to root for them in their current struggles. Whoever is in charge of public relations or strategy for the USPS might want to adopt a new tactic, because the steady stream of layoff announcements, service cutbacks, post office... The U.S. Postal Service certainly is making it more and more difficult to root for them in their current struggles. Whoever is in charge of public relations or strategy for the USPS might want to adopt a new tactic, because the steady stream of layoff announcements, service cutbacks, post office closings and calls for legislative protections probably isn’t winning them any new friends.

For the first three months of 2012, the USPS posted a loss of $3.2 billion, which in the convoluted inner circles of Washington could be seen as an improvement since they posted a $3.3 billion loss for the last three months of 2011. But compared to a year ago, when the USPS lost “only” $2.2 billion for the same period, that extra billion in losses doesn’t look so good.

The USPS is also putting Congress on notice that unless they pass legislation offering some relief from all the troubles currently ailing them, the USPS will most likely default on payments due to the Federal Government. Not quite sure why the USPS wants to draw attention from the IRS with a statement like that, but there you go.

One of the problems with running a quasi-government agency (the USPS notes in every press release that they receive no tax dollars for operating expenses and that they rely on the sale of stamps and other products and services for their revenues) is that there’s only so much you can do before some bureaucrat or politician steps in to tell you, “nope, can’t do that.” For instance, the USPS originally said it was going to close as many as 3,700 post offices (mostly in rural areas), while consolidating some of the smallest post offices into regional branches. This sent various politicians into fits of apoplexy, leading to predictable outcries from people fearful that their entire communities could vanish if they didn’t have a post office anymore.

So, the USPS backed completely off that idea, and now says that instead of closing all those POs, they’ll instead just shorten the hours that the retail windows are open. No citizen will have to feel threatened that their ZIP Codes will be eliminated.

The USPS has also tossed out various other ideas to remain solvent, such as a reduction of its workforce by 220,000 employees by 2015, elimination of Saturday delivery and slowing down First-Class delivery so that mail would take an extra day to be delivered (effectively redefining the very concept of “first class”).

Meanwhile, total mail volume for the first three months of 2012 was down 4.1% from the same period a year ago – that’s a decrease of 1.7 billion pieces. Revenues were basically flat, while expenses were up 5%, mostly because of “expenses related to the legally mandated prefunding of retiree health benefit payments,” i.e., the payments that the USPS has warned Congress it will probably default on.

I’ll admit my bias: I like the USPS. I’m one of those guys who always looks forward to the mail arriving, even if I’m not expecting a thing, just on that off-chance that something unexpectedly will show up. Even an inveterate blogger like me enjoys getting magazines delivered through the mail. There’s just something about the tactile sensation of words-on-paper that makes physical magazines a great pleasure to look at and read, especially when they’re done well. Based on the passionate outcries whenever the USPS threatens some level of service diminishment, I’m hardly alone in my regard for the Postal Service.

But as various USPS officials remind us all the time, the Internet and mobile technologies (to say nothing of the likes of FedEx and UPS) have cut dramatically, and probably permanently, into the dependence on daily mail deliveries. The supply chain of 2012 still has a place for the USPS, but it’s not the same place it had just a decade ago, or even five years ago, when texting and tweeting and Facebooking and Skypeing became this century’s version of the fax machine (you remember the Fax; it was going to put the USPS out of business back in the 1980s).

As this article reminds us, the USPS has threatened to drop Saturday delivery at least once per decade or so since the end of World War Two, and while digital technologies certainly have redefined the way that people communicate, the good ol’ Postal Service still delivers 554 million pieces of mail per day, or nearly 168 billion pieces per year. It’s not like nobody is using the daily mail anymore, so clearly there’s a lot of posturing going on in Washington over exactly how the USPS should be run and funded. But with the USPS already losing $6.5 billion in its current fiscal year, the time for posturing seems to have expired, and what is needed now is a concrete plan to move forward. The USPS says such a plan is in the works and will be revealed soon; whether or not Congress allows any of it to happen remains to be seen. ]]> Chain Reactions David Blanchard http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39481 The Consumer Speaks -- Should We Listen? http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39461&goto=newpost Thu, 10 May 2012 17:54:00 GMT Most people who have heard me speak at a company or association meeting know I am not a fan of the Consumer Sentiment Index, a gauge of what consumers are expecting in the near and long term. Staffers conduct the monthly survey by calling at least 500 consumers who are asked about 50 core... Most people who have heard me speak at a company or association meeting know I am not a fan of the Consumer Sentiment Index, a gauge of what consumers are expecting in the near and long term. Staffers conduct the monthly survey by calling at least 500 consumers who are asked about 50 core questions. The questions include their assessments of their personal financial situation, their buying attitudes, and their view of overall economic conditions.

I have shown in many presentations that the monthly data trend does not compare well to retail sales or general economic trends. The monthly figures do compare well to the monthly figures in the S&P500, so perhaps consumers are responding to movements in the stock market. The lack of correlation is not surprising given the sheer volume of data consumers take in on a daily basis. There is also the problem of social proof, where "everybody knows" becomes a certain fact (e.g. 83% of Americans believe we are still in recession and social proof says that many people cannot be wrong; ergo, we must be in a recession). The reality is that a majority of people can indeed be wrong about objective facts and their opinions on the matter do not change the facts. We the people can get it wrong.

However, there is a way to harness the information gathered and turn it into a reliable leading indicator. The Consumer Sentiment Index becomes a reliable leading indicator when you make it into a 12/12 rate of change. That one-step gives the Index a correlation of .72 to the U.S. Industrial Production 12/12 (.72 is a good correlation). Further, the Index 12/12 leads the US Industrial Production 12/12 by nine months. The Index 12/12 has been rising since December 2011, telling us all to expect a faster rate of rise in the U.S. economy later this year and into 2013.

Readers who have done a Trendcast™ should use the Index 12/12 as a leading indicator to your business. The 12/12 will allow you to take monthly noise and convert it into economic music; understanding how to harness this indicator will help you make decisions with confidence about the future of your business. ]]> Make Your Move ITR Economics http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39461 <![CDATA[Google's Driverless Car Gets Competition From Cadillac]]> http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39421&goto=newpost Thu, 10 May 2012 12:26:14 GMT Two interesting pieces of news from today's spin around the internet:

First, from Slate, news that Google's driverless car is getting licensed in Nevada:
The Silver State’s DMV this week became the first in the nation to give Google a license to begin testing its driverless cars, which use a combination of GPS data, video cameras, lasers, and radar sensors to get around.

The catch: Nevada state law requires at least two people in the car—one behind the wheel and the other in the passenger’s seat as a safety precaution, according to the Las Vegas Sun. A human driver can take over control of the vehicle by turning the wheel or pressing on the brake.
Second, a piece of news from Time concerning GM's own efforts, called SuperCruise:
"...the car handles steering, braking and lane centering on its own while the driver goes hands-free.

Super Cruise uses a combination of radar, ultrasonic sensors, cameras and GPS data, and it works in bumper-to-bumper traffic as well as open roads. It’s largely based on Cadillac’s Driver Assist technology–available in some 2013 vehicles–that can automatically stop the car at low speeds before an impending collision.

GM’s plan for autonomous cars seems gradual, keeping in mind that not everyone’s ready to trust machines to drive."
You ready to trust a driverless car? Or, to put it another way, are you ready to give up the thrill of putting the hammer down? ]]> MFG 2.0 Brad Kenney http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39421 Making it in the USA http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39371&goto=newpost Wed, 09 May 2012 21:28:22 GMT Nick Schulz DeWitt Wallace Fellow the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Michael Lind and the good folks at the New America Foundation have produced an interesting report on American manufacturing, “Value Added: America’s Manufacturing Future.” ... Nick Schulz DeWitt Wallace Fellow
the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

Michael Lind and the good folks at the New America Foundation have produced an interesting report on American manufacturing, “Value Added: America’s Manufacturing Future.” It notes that “a world-class, dynamic manufacturing sector contributes to innovation and American prosperity.”

This was a theme discussed by Henry Nothhaft at the recent NCF Business Horizons Summit (and will be a topic of conversation at the upcoming Business Horizon Series meeting featuring AEI scholar and National Chamber Foundation fellow Mark Perry).

Nothhaft is the author of “Great Again: Revitalizing America’s Entrepreneurial Leadership.” While Nothhaft is in favor of robust trade linkages among nations, he also believes America needs a strong manufacturing core if it hopes to continue to be a leader in innovation.

The New America report is filled with several sensible policy proposals designed to ensure the United States is a welcome home for manufacturing enterprises of all kinds. The authors note that “America’s manufacturing companies also anchor America’s innovation ecosystem, providing demand for American researchers and a supply of investment in R&D in the U.S. Innovation in the U.S. cannot be severed from domestic production; the two belong to an innovation system whose elements benefit each other and flourish or fail together.”

This is a theme championed by Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute among others. Mandel has recently done interesting research on what he calls the “app economy” and the jobs being created thanks to the mobile information and communication boom. That boom rests upon American manufacturing prowess – an electrical, energy, information, and communications network infrastructure system that provides lots of jobs and drives economic growth. And that continued boom is only possible if it rolls along in concert with a healthy and dynamic manufacturing sector.

At AEI, Schulz researches issues of political economy and technology. He is editor-in-chief of American.com, AEI’s influential online journal of ideas focusing on business, economics, and public affairs, as well as the National Chamber Foundation’s (NCF’s) Scholar. Schulz is also a columnist for Forbes.com. ]]> Public Policy Guest Blogger http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39371 Consumer Credit on the Rise http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39341&goto=newpost Wed, 09 May 2012 02:35:22 GMT March saw consumers add $21.4 billion to the liability side of personal balance sheets. The amount of the increase is large; in fact, it is the largest jump in a decade. The total owed through March stands at $2.54 trillion. That is a lot of money any way you look at it. However, is the... March saw consumers add $21.4 billion to the liability side of personal balance sheets. The amount of the increase is large; in fact, it is the largest jump in a decade. The total owed through March stands at $2.54 trillion. That is a lot of money any way you look at it. However, is the increase a bad sign?

The answer is no, it is not necessarily a bad sign. Fed statistics show that only $5.2 billion of the $21.4 was revolving debt, which includes credit cards. This is the first gain in revolving debt in three months. The balance of the increase in consumer debt, $16.2 billion, was for auto loans and student loans. Let us consider them separately.

Purchasing an auto at today's very low rates is a good idea. Low incentive financing compares very well with the consumer price index, which means consumers are smart to lock in the debt and pay it back with cheaper, inflated dollars. Add to this the expectation of higher rates in the future, and the argument for buying now is increased. Indeed this is very similar to the advice we are giving our clients and during our presentations. Now is the time to take advantage of very low rates and invest the money in your business. The cost of the investment is lower now at pre-inflation rates, and the interest rate is also very favorable. Factor in the repayment with inflated dollars, and you have a great plan for building wealth in the future.

I suppose all of us would like to live in a world where student loans are not needed, but for now we will deal with reality. A higher education is expensive, and many people find it necessary to finance that education. A surge in student loans is good on two fronts. One is the reason discussed in the paragraph above. Interest rates on student loans are set to double on July 1 if Congress does not act. Students are prudent to lock in the lower rate now. The second reason is that a better-educated workforce is generally a good thing for society and our global competitiveness.

On a final note, consider that a doubling of the student loan rate would increase the annual payment on 7.4 million students by $1,000 a year. The termination of the current payroll tax cuts will also cost most wage earners about $1,000 ($50,000 income with a two percent increase in the payroll tax). The latter reduces disposable personal income by $1,000 on millions of people, and the former reduces discretionary spending by $1,000 on 7.4 million people. Consumer spending will be negatively impacted by these events, and this is wholly compatible with our projection of a slowdown in the US economy in the latter half of 2013.

(news source: Bloomberg) ]]> Make Your Move ITR Economics http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39341 Solving the Manufacturing Skills Gap http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39331&goto=newpost Tue, 08 May 2012 14:46:04 GMT Michael Hendrix, Research Manager National Chamber Foundation Is there a skills shortage in manufacturing? In a word, yes. IndustryWeek recently highlighted a survey by MFG.com ... Michael Hendrix, Research Manager
National Chamber Foundation

Is there a skills shortage in manufacturing? In a word, yes. IndustryWeek recently highlighted a survey by MFG.com of small American manufacturers which found that hiring skilled workers is "one of their greatest challenges."

Another recent report by Deloitte and the National Association of Manufacturers said that nearly 600,000 manufacturing jobs were left unfilled because of a lack of qualified applicants. Indeed, some 67% of the manufacturers surveyed noted a dire shortage in skilled labor.

You see that demand for skilled labor being played out in the workforce. Since 2006, over half of the manufacturing labor force consisted of people with at least some college education, according to the Economics & Statistics Administration, and the recession has only reinforced this trend in the intervening years.

The sector is also graying at a rapid pace, which is both a cause and a consequence of fewer younger workers willing to work in manufacturing. Some of the most skilled jobs remain in the hands of those ages 55 and older, while younger workers choose other occupations. When these workers retire then, firms may be faced with large legacy costs and a shortage of younger workers able to fill the missing spots. Some 56% of respondents to the earlier Deloitte survey worried what would happen to the skills of their workforce once these baby boomer workers retired.

The long and the short of it is that many workers chose to train for employment in other sectors. Manufacturing has been losing jobs for decades, once at a drip in the years up to 1980 and then in a rush in the 2000s. A sense of opportunity in the sector slipped away while the American economy made a shift toward the service sector. You can see that change reflected not just in where jobs are found, but how people see themselves.

Gallup found in 1963 that half of all Americans identified themselves as being members of the "working class." Just 27% saw themselves in the same light by 2008. Higher education only seems to reinforce this trend toward service sector employment and a middle class that no longer identifies with the shop floor.

There's no shortage of ideas about how to alter this dynamic. Darlene Miller, a small business owner on the President's Council for Jobs and Competitiveness, has been working closely with The Manufacturing Institute to forge ties between companies and community colleges.

With this sort of cooperation, the hope is that colleges can better understand the skills they need to impart to their students in order to make employable, while firms can hire students who are equipped from the beginning. This is not too dissimilar from Germany's approach, which centers around practical, vocational training after high school. Once trained, organizations like The Manufacturing Institute have developed the capacity to test and certify needed skills.

And let's not forget the apprenticeships of old. Rolls-Royce, for example, just unveiled its Apprentice Academy to train some 400 young new hires each year. These are all investments being poured into the foundation of manufacturing's future.

Perhaps the greatest hope for closing the skills gap is found in the changes within manufacturing itself. As The Economist notes, "The definition of a manufacturing job is becoming increasingly blurred." Making things in America today is often less about the shop floor. Skilled jobs in manufacturing now mean accountants and supply chain managers just as much technicians.

With greater frequency, we're seeing jobs and skillsets merge between manufacturing and services as workforce needs and technology changes. That opens up a much bigger reservoir of skilled workers who had never knowingly placed themselves in the running for manufacturing jobs.

To the surprise of too many, American manufacturing is in demand. So are its skilled workers.
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If you're interested in the topic of manufacturing, be sure to come to our Business Horizon Series on May 17th. NCF will be teaming up with NAM and MAPI to discuss the manufacturing as a "new cornerstone of competitiveness." ]]> Public Policy Guest Blogger http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39331 <![CDATA[Please TSA: Don't Over-React!]]> http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39311&goto=newpost Tue, 08 May 2012 13:25:47 GMT As the latest attempt to destroy a commercial airliner using an IED comes into focus, here is some context, which is detailed in my most recent book on air security (http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Landing-Airline-Industry-Strategy/dp/1430236779) and in a recent news interview (http://bit.ly/JcC55Z). ... As the latest attempt to destroy a commercial airliner using an IED comes into focus, here is some context, which is detailed in my most recent book on air security and in a recent news interview.

•Blowing up airliners is nothing new. It can be traced to the origins of commercial air travel.

•Whether it is terrorists or criminals, each have always sought to destroy airliners.

•The first bombing of a commercial airliner occurred in 1933. It was a United Airlines flight and the bomb was propelled by nitroglycerin. No suspect or motive were ever found.

•Pan Am 103 was destroyed in 1988 by an IED hidden in a piece of checked-baggage.

•Pablo Escobar, the most infamous terrorist before Osama Bin Laden, blew up an Avianca airliner in 1989 with an IED, killing 107 passengers and crew.

•In 1995, Operation Bojinka was nearly pulled off by Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 WTC attack. The plan was to detonate 2 IEDs on separate flights, and hijack five others.

•In the post-9/11 era, Al Qaeda operatives have tried to detonate IEDs hidden in shoes, underwear, wallets, and toner cartridges to destroy airliners.

•It is a fact of life that airliners will always be the prime targets of choice.

Our fervent hope should be that the TSA does not over-react and deploy more intrusive, expensive, and poorly effective security measures simply in the name of “making us feel safer”.

This has already happened with pat-downs, shoe removal, liquid prohibition, and most recently the use naked x-ray machines.

None of these have reduced or will reduce the risk to passengers and the system from the next generation of IEDs. They are security theater and nothing else.

We should truly fear that by trying to "protect" the air transport system, TSA ultimately ends up causing it irreparable harm. ]]> The ART Of Business Andrew R. Thomas http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39311 Challenges in chemical processing industries http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39301&goto=newpost Tue, 08 May 2012 07:01:14 GMT Major challenges that usually encountered : 1. Failure to track inventory data accurately as there are huge number of items and high mix due to various composition. 2. FIFO/LIFO control can be inefficient and this will end with huge amount of wastage due to expiry. 3. Poor space... Major challenges that usually encountered :

1. Failure to track inventory data accurately as there are huge number of items and high mix due to various composition.

2. FIFO/LIFO control can be inefficient and this will end with huge amount of wastage due to expiry.

3. Poor space utilization.

4. Warehouse staffs are busy for locating right item and this result poor productivity.

5. Wrong item being sent to production for processing or customer.

Any idea to improve it? ]]> Manufacturing Talk estockcard http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39301 10 Manufacturers Who Make Everything You Consume http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39231&goto=newpost Mon, 07 May 2012 15:43:11 GMT ... or so insinuates the ever-evocative headline from the Huffington Post. Nestle, P&G, Mars, Kraft, Kellogg's, Unilever, J&J, Pepsico, Coca-Cola and General Mills are all represented, along with a bewildering blizzard of logos.

What's interesting to me is to see a company like Nestle manufactures everything from Gerber baby food to Ralph Lauren clothing. What's next after food and clothing -- a house-building company, in order to cover Maslow's entire bottom tier?

Larger image at this link.

]]> MFG 2.0 Brad Kenney http://forums.industryweek.com/showthread.php?t=39231