A Few Thoughts on China, Consistency, and Standardization
7 September 2011
I just returned from my annual trip to visit some customers and attend a trade show in Shanghai, China. Always an interesting experience and I persona…
Counterintuitive Value of Mergers
30 August 2011
Conventional thinking has it that when two similar organizations merge the sum is more efficient than the parts. That's the thought behind mergers…
Non-Manufacturing in America - Kindle, iPhone, and Software
21 August 2011
This past week has seen a trio of articles explicitly lay out the crisis, misperception, and opportunity of manufacturing in America. Two great articl…
The General Relativity of Language
4 August 2011
Bloomberg BusinessWeek had an intriguing article a week or so ago by Peter Coy on the impending debt crisis - now temporarily shoved under the carpet…
As Goes California...
12 July 2011
CNN had another story this morning on the problems with California - specifically with companies fleeing the state. Buffeted by high taxes, strict…
Knowingly Jumping Off a Cliff
15 June 2011
The Bloomberg Businessweek cover story on the U.S. Postal Service a couple weeks ago was a real stunner - filled with so many juicy tidbits that it to…
Beware the Information Filter
21 May 2011
Almost exactly a year ago I discussed the growing trend of people skewing their view of the world by filtering the sources of their news and informati…
And We Wonder Why We're Losing Manufacturing Jobs
22 April 2011
I haven't exactly been Boeing's best friend over the past several years, regularly taking them to task for their nutty 787 Dreamliner outsourc…