Thursday, March 30, 2006

Innovation Couple of interesting tidbits in this week's Business Week. First, a short news item on Japan's attempt to increase the number of lawyers. And BW is in favor of that . As a recent victim of lawyer-mania in the US, I'd have to respectfully disagree that it's good to have more of them--even in Japan. A better article is an interview with IBM CEO Sam Palmisano on its recent survey of other CEOs. Turns out that this year's hot button is innovation--and not just product innovation. That's too easy for competitors to copy. Better is business-model innovation. Seeing that sort of thing as a necessity is one reason we at Automation World have tried to devote some space to business process automation--looking beyond manufacturing process automation. This in my mind at any rate is a huge untapped need that can make companies more competitive. We'll have an issue on that coming up in October. If you have any ideas or examples, please pass them on. 3:04:42 PM    comment []

Ten Years of Palm About ten years ago while I was a sales engineer (rep), I was looking for something small to carry where I could combine an electronic contact database that would sync with Act, a calendar and note taking ability. A friend had an Apple Newton and I was toying with the thought of buying one even though it just wasn't quite right. Then I read a column by Steward Alsop in InfoWorld about a cool little device that fit in a shirt pocket and did all that and more--the Palm Pilot. I've been a user for almost 10 years now, bought one within a few months of its introduction. Still use one. I've gone from Pilot to Pilot 1000 to Palm III (then backslid to an HP Journada) to a Tungsten and now I have a Treo. Love them all. I'm the geek journalist who sits in the back of conference halls (so I can take in everything) taking notes on his Palm. Love them. CNet does a roundup of Palm history. Hope for another 10. 8:04:36 AM    comment []

Lean Report Released Lean is big. I'm not talking cuisine. I'm talking Thinking. It all started with the Toyota Production Method and has morphed from Lean Manufacturing to Lean Thinking. I wrote an article for the November Automation World and have commissioned another for our June issue on the topic. Jane Biddle of the AberdeenGroup did a study of how manufacturers applied Lean and whether they felt they benefited. Rather than construct an abstract model of manufacturing then report whether a vendor's products or services fit the model, Aberdeen reports on fact-based research, interviewing respondants to its surveys, figuring out best-in-class, average and laggards, then offering suggestions to each group for improvement. This study revealed that Lean is exceeding expectations for the best-in-class. They accomplished this by focusing on the basics, implementing Lean techniques and leveraging technology solutions to scale and sustain a Lean culture. Here are some benefits they've derived: Reduction of inventory and assets Manufacturing and design cost reductions Improved manufacturing and supply chain flexibility Improved product quality Improved customer service The press release gave a 7:24:45 AM    comment []