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March 30, 2007

Light Friday: Top April Fool's Hoaxes, Generous Execs, Ladybug Wine...

... Dad's a Diamond, Dog Dislodges Apple, Grand Canyon Engineering (again) and MORE!

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March 29, 2007

Is Business Intelligence a Boon or a Bust?

Two conflicting reports recently came to light that involves two of the biggest research firms about the future investment of Business Intelligence (BI). This incredible contradiction proves just how easy it is for analysts to sensationalize data for their own special clients, er, interests. In this case, we're no closer to finding out whether BI is a boon or bust.

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Create Harmony with Purchasing

If you're involved with processing, you have a symbiotic relationship with purchasers in your company. They need you to create a product to accrue profit and you need them to keep maintenance items, parts and sometimes service coming to you.

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March 28, 2007

First Patent Granted Under Accelerated Review

Here's an event to toast to tonight: a bureaucracy improved! A patent now issues in six months — 18 months sooner than under the regular process. Whether you invent in your garage, basement or loft or you labor in a corporation, this is good news.

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Dreamliner on Schedule, No Thanks to Olive Trees

During the first update this year on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Mike Bair, head of the 787 program, focused on innovative materials that will comprise the center sections and more than 60 percent of the fuselage. The airplane is "on target" to roll out in July… now that some pesky olive trees are out of the way.

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March 27, 2007

Diagnosis: Medical Device Industry Looks Healthy

As new medical devices offer tremendous promise to the world's aging population, some global trends are directly affecting the competitive industry — particularly the increasing emphasis on design and Asia's booming role in the worldwide market.

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America's Health Care Conundrum

We've all heard about the "health care crisis," so it should come as little surprise that there are more than 48 million Americans without health insurance and approximately 32 million others who are under-insured. Here we offer benefits spending trends for employers and insurance tips for employees.

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Burning Question

Should health coverage be mandated by government?

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Work Can Be a Real Pain

Employers in the U.S. alone spend nearly $1 billion a week on wage payments and medical care for workers hurt on the job. Whether it is machinists not wearing PPE or desk rats sitting all day, sometimes the best employees won't even admit they are in pain.

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Do Drugs Make Us Feel Better or Worse?

Prescription-drug spending increased 13 percent annually between 1993 and 2003; retail prescription prices increased 8.3 percent between 1994 and 2004; and pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S. was the third most profitable industry in 2004 alone. Should this make us feel better?

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Quality & Regulatory Compliance: Who's Responsible?

The medical device market, having grown rapidly in the past decade, shows no sign of slowing. As the output of life-saving, diagnosing and disease-treating devices increases at such a fast clip, we must not overlook quality, regulatory and compliance functions.

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To the Edge and Back: Grand Canyon Engineering

The Grand Canyon's much-hyped Skywalk is touted as a million-pound engineering marvel. In March, the U-shaped and glass-bottomed walkway that rests more than 4,000 feet above the canyon floor was inaugurated and opened to the general public.

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Need Business Space? Think Low ... Very Low

Underground storage isn't new: pioneers and some of our ancestors stored vegetables in root cellars, while some of today's back-to-the-land folk install underground culverts to store items and provide shelter. For businesses, too, "out of sight, out of mind" can have its advantages.

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I'm Not with Stupid

Our society seems to be dumbing down, and this lack of critical thinking skills results in serious business mistakes. When you convert a half-witted workforce into power thinkers, you retain your best talent and increase both customer satisfaction and product quality goals.

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Recommended Reading

Sweet and Low is the testament of an American family and its patriarch, a short-order cook who, converting his cafeteria into a factory, invented the sugar packet and Sweet'N Low™ and amassed a great fortune that would destroy his family. It is also the story of immigrants, sugar, the health and diet craze, and U.S. government regulation of food.

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March 26, 2007

The Days of Dr. Miles May Be Numbered

Supreme Court Justices today will hear arguments over one of the biggest and hoariest precedents in antitrust law — the Dr. Miles rule — revisiting caps on manufacturers' suggested retail prices. The issue at stake is the court's 1911 decision that a manufacturer's requirement that a reseller not price its goods below a set minimum is an automatic violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

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Senior Health Costs Could Rise 25 Percent by 2030

In 2006, almost 500 million people worldwide were 65 and older, and by 2030, that total is projected to increase to one billion. The world's workforce depends on this population. If older adults take the advice provided by the health care provider community, and motivate themselves, they can achieve two goals: live healthier and perhaps longer, and reduce health care costs.

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March 23, 2007

Light Friday: The Super Edition!

... 'Super Man' Mentality, Super Math Mapping, Super Rats (I and II), and the Super List of (Mostly) Engineers in TV and Film!

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March 22, 2007

Innovation & Emerging Markets: Perfect Together?

Everybody's talking about innovation these days, but is anyone really doing it and doing it well? Are execs really using innovation to meet revenue goals and drive competitive advantage? A new study from Deloitte says "not really."

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Gonna Be a Long Night, It's Gonna Be All Right, On the Night Shift

The majority of industrial mishaps take place during the early hours when night-shift workers are prone to doze. And increasingly more white-collar workers are working the night shift. Might we all face this change in lifestyle? If so, here are some tips to help adapt to the night shift and stay sane.

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March 21, 2007

Another N. Orleans Black Eye for Corps of Engineers

This time it's faulty pumps. In its rush to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed defective flood-control pumps last year — despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents The Associated Press has obtained.

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Connected to the Max

Technological advances permit maximum connectedness in manufacturing. If the plant you work at hasn't integrated all areas, the ability to report for compliance or track for recalls may not be fully realized.

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March 20, 2007

Airbus Lands Super-size Private Aircraft

For years, the wealthy elite around the world relied on aircraft such as Learjets to get from point A to point B quickly with a modicum of comfort. Now they buy much larger aircraft with special features, like the Airbus A380 "Flying Palace."

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Free Access to Massive Civil Engineering Archive

Two centuries' of civil engineering knowledge has been made available free to colleges and universities in the United Kingdom. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Virtual Library contains every peer-reviewed technical paper published by the ICE between 1836 and 2001.

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March 19, 2007

How NOT to Proceed with PLM

While some organizations think Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) isn't worth the time to spell it, others live and succeed by it. Looking at someone else's mistakes provides us with knowledge of the traps to avoid and thus helps us shorten our own time and costs to achieve success.

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March 16, 2007

Light Friday: Whiskey PC, Tea and Bots, Biodiesel Boy ...

... Highway Havoc (Tech AND Unicorns), Marble Meteor, Pedal-Powered Roller Coaster, and MORE.

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March 15, 2007

U.S. Deficit (Only) $195.8 Billion

The United States racked up its fifth consecutive record trade imbalance last year, yet an improvement toward the end of the year could mean that the country's import-export gap will start to close, according to the Commerce Department this week. The deficit may narrow this year for the first time since 2001 as U.S. exports rise and oil prices stabilize.

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March 14, 2007

Design a Tech Lab, Win $250K

Calling all architects and designers: in a new contest, the Open Architecture Prize will be awarded to the architecture firm or individual with the best design of a computer lab "that can be adapted to local needs and built in communities around the world." Build a lab — if not for the sheer challenge, enjoyment and humanitarianism, then how about for the $250,000 winnings?

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March 13, 2007

How the Heck Does That Get Funding?!?!

Over the past decade, research and development funding has undergone significant changes relative to past marginal predictability. Herein is a comprehensive guide to the scope and strategy of current federal, industrial and academic R&D investment in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

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Mad Machines and Deviant Devices

Smell-o-Net, Earwax Cinema, Mechanical Tiger, Silent Speaking Translation, Better Nut Shelling, Walking/Throwing Bots, Shake-and-Sweat Exercise, Robotic Parking Garage, Deep(est)-Sea Diving, a Giant Spiderbot and Your Own Techno Sanctuary! Here we offer an array of oddly interesting machines and tech toys.

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Maniacal Medicine

Fractures, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, brain surgery and organ growth — all of these may someday take only a quick stop by the doctor's office. Beyond the sci-fi of Luke Skywalker reattaching his hand and wiggling his fingers, the following medical advances intend to not only make our lives more convenient; they are meant to enable longer, healthier lives.

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Burning Question

What's your favorite gadget?

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Mind-Boggling Materials

Spray and Bomb-Resist, Scented Tires, Stretchable Wonder Thread, Black Hole Coating, Modern-Day Dark Age Technique, NASCAR Lifesaver, Tips from the Twinkie and "Cheerio, Silicon?" The more materials and their applications advance, the wilder they get. What follows is an assortment of far-out material developments.

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Be a Catalyst for Creativity

Without the imagination to apply new or previous thoughts to solving a problem, creativity cannot exist. And in business and manufacturing, creativity can surely provide a competitive edge. But is it innate? Or is it something that can be taught and nurtured? Here we address these questions and more as they relate to meeting today's challenges.

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Eccentric Engineering

Earthquake-Reducing Bacteria, Revolving Doors and Human Behavior, Engineering Sexiness, Shipbuilding, Space Oddity, Fab@Home, Phenomena Beyond Imagination, WowWee da Vinci and Bananas! Here are some quick takes of unique engineering projects, processes, circumstances and devices.

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Weird in the Workplace

Napping On the Job, Robotic Receptionists, Customer Service Psychosis, USB BBQ, 24-Carat Gold Printer, Desk-Treadmill, Bad Posture's Benefits and Seriously Cool Workplaces! The daily grind can elicit interesting insight and creative ideas in the name of health, productivity or simply to spice up the banality of the everyday workplace... as you'll see here.

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Kooky Energy

Expert guessers think the world's oil supply is on the decline, and with more than 6 billion people competing for resources, is it time to think about spending less for gasoline? Beyond a resounding "Yes!" some people will go to any length looking for energy.

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March 12, 2007

RFID Gets Help from Fluidic Self-Assembly

Microfluidics is a technology in its infancy, and its potential for manufacturing very small products will certainly attract investment and spark advances. But will it change manufacturing industries in a way similar to the transition from electronics to microelectronics? Fluidic self-assembly itself may lead to smaller and less expensive RFID tags.

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March 9, 2007

Light Friday: Daylight Savings Comes Early (Everybody Panic!), Suicidal Cancer Cells, Human-Rice Hybrid ...

... Chic Bulletproof/Stabproof Coat, Hijacking the Easter Bunny, How Astronauts E-mail in Space, Stone Age Offends, and MORE.

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March 8, 2007

Appealing to the Future Manufacturing Workforce

Without question, fewer young people are interested in pursuing a professional future in manufacturing than in the past. How does industry appeal to this slipping-away future workforce, particularly high school students? Here are some ways in which hands-on experience is being utilized to engage these young students.

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Bill Gates Addresses U.S. Competitiveness

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates testified before the Senate Health, Energy, Labor and Pensions Committee yesterday to spur science education and research. On the discussion of competitiveness in the 21st century, he recognized that "many of the most important advances in computing, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, and many other fields" have originated in the U.S. However, his pride is mixed with deep anxiety.

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March 7, 2007

Embattled Car Brands Try to Bounce Back

Recalls and other roadblocks are preventing U.S. automakers from realizing their turnaround strategies. When will it end?

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March 6, 2007

U.S. Economic Outlook Upbeat, Manufacturing Not So Much

Increases in productivity have helped create an environment in which "employment is up, real wages are rising and inflation is under control," emphasizes the chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisors. Amid the optimism, however, others are less cheery about the future due to rising healthcare costs and other issues.

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March 5, 2007

'Going, Going, Gone' is a Myth, but Concern is Essential

The UK government's perception of manufacturing is out of date. This according to Richard Wilson at Electronics Weekly, at least. Could the same be said of the U.S.?

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March 2, 2007

Light Friday: New IMT Blogger, Industrial-Strength Junk Food, Americans Hate their Jobs ...

... Time is Not on Your Side, Smoking Saps Security, Ice Cream and Infertility, and More.

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March 1, 2007

Indirect Procurement: The Challenges and How to Make it Work

In many organizations, indirect procurement has been a low priority compared with direct procurement, according to NelsonHall, a Boston-based business process outsourcing (BPO) analyst firm whose recent study reveals that more than half of companies think reducing costs and managing large numbers of suppliers were the bigger challenges of indirect procurement.

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