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Author Archives: Chris Chiappinelli
Shamed Into Sustainability
Summary: In an age of rampant free speech, manufacturers must realize that a poor record on sustainability can cost them customers, partners, and more. Throughout the last century in America, it was often said that the free press was free to anyone who could afford a printing press. The insinuation was that it wasn’t [...]
Posted in Sustainability Tagged Apple, Change.org, CSR, free press, free speech, green, Internet, manufacturers, manufacturing, social media, suppliers, supply chain, sustainability, Twitter, YouTube 2 Comments
Lean Manufacturing: Not Worth Its Weight?
A new study reveals some significant shortcomings in Lean manufacturing and other operational excellence practices, begging the question of whether Lean still works for manufacturing. Is Lean manufacturing bankrupt? In some circles, that question stirs a reaction similar to dropping a bank CEO into an Occupy Wall Street demonstration. Proponents of Lean manufacturing and [...]
Manufacturers and Connected Products: A Dangerous Combo
Manufacturers with no history of cybersecurity prowess are now launching products that connect to the Internet and the cloud. It’s time to define this new category of manufacturing, because it will soon cover a good portion of the industry. Whether they like it or not, many manufacturers are now in the business of cybersecurity. [...]
Posted in Cloud Computing Tagged cloud computing, connected devices, customer data, customer information, Cyber-security, Cybersecurity, data breaches, hacking, hacks, IP addresses, manufacturer, manufacturing, PlayStation, PlayStation Network, product liability, product protection, Sony Leave a comment
Steve Jobs on Sustaining the Future
A business is only as strong as its next idea. Apple’s Steve Jobs reminded us that business sustainability depends on a company’s ability to project its worth far into the future. The sustainability of any endeavor hinges on a clear vision of its future state. I considered that premise this morning against the backdrop [...]
Posted in Product Innovation, Sustainability Tagged Apple, Apple TV, business leaders, crowdsource, Cupertino, iCloud, iPod, Steve Jobs, sustainability, sustainable business Leave a comment
Manufacturers: Cloud Computing Costs Could Surprise You
A new survey shows that manufacturers are eager to add cloud computing to their IT portfolios, but are they counting all the costs? The manufacturing industry has an “immediate appetite” for cloud computing. So say the researchers and analysts at IDC Manufacturing Insights. Their recent survey of manufacturing companies, titled “Business Strategy: Cloud Computing [...]
Manufacturers: Retire the Apprenticeship
The manufacturing industry must think more progressively about how to attract the young generation, and an apprenticeship isn’t the way to do it. Call it an internship, not an apprenticeship. I found that message hidden in the announcement this week that 50 U.S. companies will boost their offering of engineering internships in 2012, an [...]
Should Operational Excellence Go Mobile?
Just because I can deliver overall equipment-effectiveness metrics to my line manager’s iPad doesn’t mean I should. A consideration of operational excellence in the age of distraction. I heard it again last week: The announcement of an iPad application that delivers manufacturing intelligence and promotes operational excellence. I thought, Do we need to be [...]
Posted in Enterprise Mobility, Operational Excellence, Operations Management Tagged data overload, iPad, iPhone, iPod, manufacturing applications, manufacturing intelligence, manufacturing metrics, mobile applications, mobile apps, OEE, OEE Monitor, Operational Excellence, OpEx, overall equipment effectiveness, smartphones Leave a comment
Rust on Our Heart
Rust does not become us, and rust will not sustain us. Across America, rust has eaten through the things that once defined us, leaving silence in places that once roared with the noise of creation, the presses that thundered metal into submission, the lathes that screamed as they spun goods into being. We have heard [...]
SAP, Oracle Give Cloud Computing Business Cred