Many businesses are struggling to attract and retain skilled workers, with record numbers resigning or retiring. This is particularly true in the manufacturing sector. The Buzz 1: A Manufacturing Institute [MI] survey found that “The Great Resignation” is really more of a “Great Retirement.” 808,000 manufacturing job openings in February 2022 were down from January’s 859,000 [U.S. Census Bureau]…Manufacturing quits rose from 315,000 in January to 337,000 in February, a new record. [rimanufacturers.com/the-great-resignation-or-great-retirement] The Buzz 2: MI’s February survey of 3,000 American ..read more

What’s that up in the sky? … The Buzz 1: “It’s only when you’re flying above it that you realise how incredible the Earth really is.” [Philippe Perrin, Astronaut, stellar-frontiers.com] The Buzz 2: Low Earth Orbit [LEO] satellite production is booming and innovation is accelerating, with billionaires Bezos, Musk, Branson and others investing in this global game-changing opportunity. A LEO is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less, with at least 11.25 orbits per day…Most artificial objects in outer space are in the LEO region, below an altitude of 1,200 miles. [en.wikipedia ..read more

What’s that up in the sky? … The Buzz 1: “It’s only when you’re flying above it that you realise how incredible the Earth really is.” [Philippe Perrin, Astronaut, stellar-frontiers.com] The Buzz 2: Low Earth Orbit [LEO] satellite production is booming and innovation is accelerating, with billionaires Bezos, Musk, Branson and others investing in this global game-changing opportunity. A LEO is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less, with at least 11.25 orbits per day…Most artificial objects in outer space are in the LEO region, below an altitude of 1,200 miles. [en.wikipedia ..read more

Many businesses are struggling to attract and retain skilled workers, with record numbers resigning or retiring. This is particularly true in the manufacturing sector. The Buzz 1: A Manufacturing Institute [MI] survey found that “The Great Resignation” is really more of a “Great Retirement.” 808,000 manufacturing job openings in February 2022 were down from January’s 859,000 [U.S. Census Bureau]…Manufacturing quits rose from 315,000 in January to 337,000 in February, a new record. [rimanufacturers.com/the-great-resignation-or-great-retirement] The Buzz 2: MI’s February survey of 3,000 American ..read more

The Buzz: *** “Many supply chains are perfectly suited to the needs that the business had 20 years ago.” [MIT Professor Jonathan Byrnes] *** “Looking at the world through a sustainability lens not only helps us 'future proof' our supply chain, it also fuels innovation and drives brand growth.” [Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever] *** “Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells.” [Thomas Friedman] In today’s world, manufacturing ..read more

The Buzz 1: A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. [Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup] The Buzz 2: There was a study done in the early 20th century of all the entrepreneurs who entered the automobile industry around the same time as Henry Ford…500 automotive companies that got funded, had the internal combustion engine, had the technology, and had the vision. Sixty percent of them folded within a couple of years. [Eric Ries] The Buzz 3: “The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” [Sir Henry R ..read more

The Buzz 1: XaaS stands for Everything as a Service or Anything as a Service. It's an acronym for providing any products, tools and technologies that businesses may need as a service instead of on premise or with a physical product.” (givainc.com) The Buzz 2: “Whether you view XaaS (everything-as-a-service) as a dream or a nightmare, it’s here to stay.… XaaS is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Nor must it be a revolutionary one – though it will challenge your business.” (manufacturing.net) The Buzz 3: “The concept of servitization is not new, but it is obtaining renewed interest … Rather t ..read more

The Buzz: *** “Many supply chains are perfectly suited to the needs that the business had 20 years ago.” [MIT Professor Jonathan Byrnes] *** “Looking at the world through a sustainability lens not only helps us 'future proof' our supply chain, it also fuels innovation and drives brand growth.” [Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever] *** “Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells.” [Thomas Friedman] In today’s world, manufacturing ..read more

The Buzz 1: “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” [Phil Jackson, former NBA professional basketball player and coach] The Buzz 2: “People achieve more as a result of working with others than against them.” [Dr. Allan Fromme, psychologist, teacher, author] The Buzz 3: “It takes both sides to build a bridge.” [Frederik Nael, Indonesian writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories] The Buzz 4: If designing a traditional business model is like planning and building a house, designing an ecosystem is more like developing a whole reside ..read more

The Buzz 1: An Accenture report found that 53 percent of car buyers would consider buying a car online. (www.rd.com) The Buzz 2: Nearly 30% of U.S. new car sales in 2020 were completed online, compared to 2% of vehicles pre-pandemic. Online car retailer Carvana sold 244,111 cars in 2020, a 37% jump from 2019. (www.abcnews.go.com) The traditional in-person automotive purchasing experience has always been alluring, offering shoppers the opportunity to inhale the new car scent, examine the shiny power under the hood, literally kick the tires, ask questions of a human salesperson, and feel the roa ..read more