Decisions are required to be made in business regarding capital investments, reorganizations, changing ways of working, promotions, training and so on. Understandably, in the light of the recent past and the current uncertainty we may tend to be overcautious, inclined to favour inaction over action, over-analysis in preference to decisiveness.

Bear in mind however that all the great achievers have always known instinctively that the time to move ahead is actually before they feel completely ready. So if the time has come for you, the options have been considered, the risks and rewards have been weighted up and it is time to move forward – take action now!

You can always course-correct while moving forward if necessary rather than waiting for everything to be just right before moving ahead and missing your opportunity.

© Patrick Daly 2010

“There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Any Leader that does not set out the context for change sufficiently and involve the workforce extensively at every level will simply not succeed.“  Liam Cassidy, President, LCL Ltd.

Liam Cassidy

Managing Change

In a career spanning over three decades working with major multinationals, change for me was never ending. Multinationals are marvelously constructed organizations where regardless of the economic environment, pressure for results is never ending, and relentless. If you are expanding, the bar simply goes up, if you are reducing, you align your resources to match that, which means shedding resources and trimming costs. In either situation, change has to be managed and although there are challenges with both situations, they are more difficult with the latter where difficult decisions must be made, communicated and executed.

For the last 15 of those years I have been implementing a formula that has been highly successful and provided great results. I have turned ailing and poor performing factories around, creating what is known within the manufacturing world as Benchmark sites. That is, they become a model for the rest of the organization to imitate.

This article is therefore written from the perspective of a Factory Manager. It is not an article with academic references. Rather, it is based on my own experiences witnessing and being part of both failure and success, and gradually evolving to a formula that has provided outstanding results even in situations when others said it would not be possible. I have learned much during that time, but one thing is clear: “nice” managers are not successful. Neither are they respected. By “nice” I mean those that sidestep sensitive and difficult issues. They give similar Performance Appraisal ratings to high and poor performers alike. Sensitive issues involving people are ignored. They conform and will not challenge or “rock the boat”. Managers that confront difficult issues, that challenge the status quo, which will not ignore people related issues, will be successful.

I have successfully managed factories in Ireland, USA, India and China. What I will describe here is what I do when I go to a site, how I engage with the workforce, how I deal with people who are going to slow down what needs to be done and the tools and techniques applied that has consistently provided spectacular results. Space does not allow me to go too deeply into detail, but I hope readers will get a good idea of what guarantees success, and what will ensure failure.

The Threat is Real – Communicate That!

In every case where I managed factories competition was fierce. Within multinationals each manufacturing source is constantly being compared. You fight to hold what you have, and try everything at your disposal to attract new investment. It is essential that this message is imparted to the workforce and repeated at every opportunity. Sometimes the threat is very direct, like when I was sent to a factory in the USA to prepare it for closure within two years, or in Ireland immediately after my then organization, Gillette, was acquired by Proctor and Gamble, and they had tentative plans to close our plant and move the business to their own legacy site in Germany and to a new one in Eastern Europe. In such circumstances it is easier to communicate as the threat is clearer. In other circumstances the threat is more indirect. I have seen many factories enjoy good years, get complacent, and lose their business to other sites that have become more competitive. Those stories are shared. Examples of factories that either no longer exist, or are losing business and therefore also losing jobs are shown. They are made aware of the ongoing pricing comparisons that are always taking place, so that a constant awareness of the competitive environment is being created.

Communicate the Vision

I begin by laying out the challenges, threats and also the opportunities if we implement necessary change. A vision is created of where we can go to. Usually this says something like: “We will be among the best in the world in which we compete” (In reality I mean “The Best”, but to declare so will create too much resentment from sister factories and the senior people associated with them). I tell them that I have a toolkit, which I can apply with their support, but before completing the formula I need their input. So I ask them 4 key questions: what is working, what is not working, what we should retain, and what we need to do to become a great plant. External facilitators are used to conduct this exercise with the entire workforce in groups no larger than 20, so that involvement and confidentiality is assured. The outcome of the consultation process is printed in booklet form and every employee gets a copy. This a wonderful tool to show everyone that their opinions matter, and provides the moral high ground when rolling out the change programs.

 ”The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting that and are willing to pay for such talents.”  Amos Parrish 

Call to Action: iIentify the People Barriers to Change

Meantime, managers at all levels are being appraised, identifying who is going to embrace what needs to be done, and who will get in the way of the necessary changes. It is my experience that at least one third of senior, middle and front line managers need to be separated. Usually, I take on board a small team of consultants I know and trust to help me quickly identify those,  and to educate and train people in the various programs. It is absolutely essential that the people, particularly those at senior level who are not going to make it, are quickly removed. Otherwise, momentum will be slowed down and undermined by their presence. It must be emphasized that this is critical. The factory manager must be absolutely ruthless in driving this, because the greater good, perhaps the very survival of your plant, will be jeopardized.

Lean Toolkit – Making it Happen

In parallel with this, we set about putting our Lean tool kit in place. There is no more effective way to obtain better results than through the “Lean journey.” I like to have multiple programs working in parallel. So purchasing begins to work with key suppliers to get new working agreements in place. We establish Kanbans to our warehouse and then to our factory floor, and for the internal movement of work in process.  We train people in the art of Process Mapping and get people working throughout the plant on generating improvements. We start to get people thinking about Value Streams, (factories within factories) and usually within 3 months have an exemplar value steam emerging, with others identified to work on later. Meantime, all of our plant reports are being redesigned so that every work center has data that they can make sense of, enabling them to track their own performance. All data collected is analyzed, if it is not adding value and being used to inform and improve it is eliminated. We also get our entire staff, including office and factory personnel, involved in redesigning their work areas through the 5S Process. This is an outstanding tool for maximum involvement of people and when implemented will transform how the factory looks.

Visible Results

With all of these programs in play, credibility for the new programs becomes well established. What has been promised is being delivered upon. The challenges facing the plant have been laid out backing it up with clear evidence. The workforce has been asked to answer the 4 key questions I referred to earlier, therefore taking their views on board. Those not delivering are being separated (workforces always know who those are and this further increases credibility). The factory is looking much better through the 5 S programs, and painting and refurbishment. Data that was not being used has been discontinued, new reports from every department have been redesigned and now both inform and add real value. Communications processes are in place, and as much as possible this is done through Visual Management, with results and key messages posted throughout the plant. Space has been freed up in the warehouse and shop floor through the introduction of Kanban and implementation of 5S. Value Streams are being created to drive out waste with allocated people being decentralized so that they sit and work together.

 Usually after 3 months great excitement has been generated, with many programs already in place. Improved results are already visible. After 6 months a very substantial change is visible in both the atmosphere of the plant and its appearance, and of course its results. After 1 year it is truly spectacular, and then just keeps getting better as people become more familiar with the new way of working and with the various tools and techniques.

This is what works for me. I have achieved spectacular results by using this formula. The plant I was sent to close in the USA was declared a Benchmark site by Gillette within 2 years. The Ireland plant survived and still thrives as a Benchmark site. They continue to see off threats from Eastern Europe and Asia. In fact, they have just recently leased an adjoining factory.  In my last assignment in Shanghai, I also left a Benchmark site behind. With this formula, applied without compromise, there is no failure, only spectacular success!

 ”The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers”  Drucker

Operating Principles – Without Compromise

Twelve years ago, in frustration with the lack of urgency and engagement of the management team and workforce at the plant I was then assigned to, I wrote what I called; 10 Operating Principles – Without Compromise©, that I have used then and since to summarize and help communicate my thinking, and to focus the workforce on what it needs to concentrate on. The language used is deliberately clear, direct and unambiguous. They are posted all over the plant, everyone is educated on what they really mean, and regular surveys are arranged so that we remain on track. They have worked wonderfully well for me.

1. Create an open honest environment where good communication is treated as an essential part of the process and in which everyone has a genuine voice.
2. Maintain high awareness of the competitive environment and a constant focus on cost reduction and continuous improvement.
3. Build urgency and speed of response into all processes through the empowerment of people and elimination of bureaucracy.
4. Acknowledge people as our greatest asset and invest in their education and development on a continuing basis.
5. Clearly communicate goals and objectives to employees at every level and hold each person accountable.
6. Nurture an organization that is in constant touch with developments in technology, the markets, the wider organization and that anticipates and prepares for change, rather than reacting to it.
7. Design transparent financial reports so that managers and people at all levels have key cost measures as tools and can be held accountable for effectively managing their areas.
8. Develop an effective Performance Appraisal system so that every employee is given an assessment of their performance, strengths and opportunities, with follow up plans to address and monitor their needs.
9. Take swift action to deal with employees, regardless of level, who obstruct or do not sufficiently contribute to change that is necessary for the ongoing development of the business.
10. Empower people, by creating a team based matrix organization that allows for fast decision making and where occasional mistakes are treated as opportunities for learning.

 Why do so Many Attempts at Change Management Fail?

If what has been written so far is about how change works, what about failure? For me it is clear. If success is down to Leadership, then we are also responsible for failure. Any Leader that does not set out the context for change sufficiently and involve the workforce extensively at every level will simply not succeed. They must establish a communications process that is 2 way with comments and questions listened and responded to. They have to provide the necessary education and resources to ensure successful implementation of the various programs. Managers and employees that slow down or block the changes must be removed. It is within these critical areas that too many leaders compromise, and subsequently fail.

Recently, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has confirmed that over 60% of attempts at change fail. Personally, I think the figure is on the low side. From what I have seen over 3 decades it is much higher than that. I would have put it at around 80%. However, organizations are understandably reluctant to admit to failure, with very good reason. So I suspect that always getting the real data is not so easy. Acknowledging failure means shattered careers, lost bonuses, and perhaps even a share slump. Divisions and departments close ranks and partial success or even downright failure is often celebrated as success, or the program quietly dumped soon to be superseded by the next new flavor of the month. (Those readers working in large organizations will understand exactly what I mean!)

Over my career, I have been able to tap in to people’s natural instinct for survival, and natural desire for meaningful work.  Workforces have the same needs all over the world, regardless of where they reside. They want to be respected, and to be acknowledged by having a voice that is listened and responded to. They want opportunity for education and development, and to be fairly remunerated so that they can provide security for themselves and family. The wonder is why so many organizations struggle to see that, or to implement programs putting them in place!

Finally, I conclude with one of my favorite descriptions of the organization that I believe provides an essential basis for success!

 ”The old rules of traditional hierarchical, high external control, top down management are being dismantled; they are simply not working any more. This has changed the role of manager from one who drives results and motivation from the outside into one who is servant leader, one who seeks to draw out, inspire and develop the best and highest within people from the inside out.” Stephen Covey 

 Liam Cassidy can be contacted at email: liam@consultlcl.com.cn or: cassidyliam8@gmail.com  visit: www.consultlcl.com

If you are going to invest time and money in improving things in your supply chain, how do you know which things you should be improving?

How do you know which things will make a real difference to the business?

It’s not enough to know which processes and practices could be better. You must understand which processes and practices actually matter.

• Attempting to optimize the wrong processes and practices will lead to no measurable improvement in desired business results.
• Attempting to optimize all processes and practices is simply dysfunctional and is not achievable.

Both approaches are a waste of time, effort and resource.

To really know where to focus your effort, you need a two-pronged approach as follows:

• A clear understanding of the practical capabilities that will really deliver the results of the declared strategy of your business.
• An objective benchmark of the current state of the processes and practices that underpin these strategic capabilities.

Once you are clear on both of these points, then you are in a position to commit your time, money and resources to improvements that will achieve the desired results - not before.

Here are the business benefits of this approach:

• The current state of every process and practice that matters is benchmarked on a scale vis-à-vis industry best practice.
• Specific measures and metrics can be developed to track and manage improvements in these attributes.
• Improvements can be prioritized and targeted where they will deliver maximum business benefit quickly.
• The investment in every improvement initiative can be evaluated explicitly against the value that it will provide in real business outcomes such as quality, profitability, compliance, capacity and capability.

If you want to get started now, contact Patrick Daly on +353 86 811 6030 and pdaly@albalogistics.com

This allows you to decide, based on your particular business strategy, which elements of your supply chain you will target for improvement.

It is important to remember that it is dysfunctional to try to optimize all elements – the business strategy must be the guiding light on this.

There is a comprehensive set of supply chain diagnostic and benchmarking tools available through WERC and CSCMP that can provide you with a great starting point. These have been produced by Kate Vitasek and her team at Supply Chain Visions.

The ones I recommend are:

1. The Supply Chain Management Process Standards available from CSCMP – there are 6 of these covering the Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Enable and Return aspects of the supply chain.
2. Warehousing and Fulfilment Process Benchmark and Best Practices Guide available from WERC
3. Warehouse Manager’s Guide to Benchmarking available from WERC.

They can all be purchased online through WERC and CSCMP. Here are the links www.werc.org and www.cscmp.org.

Here is a small selection of some minimum standards under the headings of Rules and Structures, Measurement and Performance Management, Continuous Improvement, and Facilities Maintenance. 

Rules and Structures

• On receiving and despatch docks there should be a structured work plan with scheduled receipts and desptaches so that shifts can be planned to match resources with demand.
• Zero tolerance of bottlenecks and interrupted processes in receipts and despatch areas with structured work plan and designated areas for specific activities.
• Standard ways of working defined and implemented for major warehouse processes such as receipt and checking, put away, picking, replenishment, returns, cycle counting, and shipping.
• Where different racking types and depths of storage are in use, clear definition and adherence to put away rules for supplier receipts and production receipts in order to maximize the utilization of the storage equipment.
• No part pallet storage or picking in high density racking systems such as push-back racks and gravity flow racks.
• Structured and selective cycle counting regime, preferably systems driven.
• Take advantage of round-trip opportunities to complete tasks on the dead leg. For example, if dropping a pallet of packaging to a line side, take advantage of return to warehouse to take back a pallet of finished product. 

Measurement and Performance Management

• Daily and weekly targets and goals for all operatives, supervisors and managers.
• Vision boards for daily performance tracking of actual work versus planned work.
• Definition and measurement of key productivity indicators such as dock-to-stock time, pallets put away, lines picked, pallets despatched, stock accuracy, space utilization and so on.

Continuous Improvement

• Regular and scheduled offline supervisor time to focus on process improvement, training, certification and compliance.
• Cross-training of personnel across the critical tasks and activities of the warehouse operation.
• Structured and formalized mentoring program for new hires.
• Regular offline workshops involving operatives, supervisors and management to improve standard ways of working, solve problems and create new ways of doing things.

Maintenance and Facilities

• Scheduled time and clear responsibility for warehouse housekeeping activities both indoors and outdorrs.
• Periodical warehouse storage equipment damage review and repair or replacement.
• Regular and scheduled materials handling servicing, maintenance and repair.
• Clear signage and floor markings for designated areas and activities.
• Regular facilities servicing and maintenance including docks, doors, floors, yards, lighting, air conditioning, fences, gates and so on.

Whatever the input from an external consultant, whether it be engineering knowledge, executive mentoring, data analysis, running surveys or leading events, it is in both yours and the consultant’s best interest to be clear at the start on the results and the benefits that you will get from the consultant’s involvement in your projects.

You need to be asking yourself the following;

• What is the killer gap to fill?
• What is it that I will point to at the end of a project and say “this was a resounding success”?
• How will I know that things are better – how will it look and feel?

The value of these benefits has to be really significant and compelling relative to what you pay in order to justify the consultant’s involvement and any self-respecting consultant wouldn’t have it any other way.

For you, as the person committing budget, getting to a common understanding with the consultant on this value is the single greatest catalyst to providing you with the confidence in the return that you will achieve on the investment. It can take some time to get to this but it is very worthwhile.

The typical consultant is interested in rates and how many days they are going to spend – in my view this is unethical because it incentivizes time wasting and non-value add activity. I, as a value-oriented consultant, am interested in adding value fast in exchange for fees that are a good deal for both parties.

This a different way of doing business and is dependent on the quality of the relationship and a certain level of trust, but without this understanding, the consultant’s input becomes just another cost to be minimized as much as possible and the real opportunity of the partnership is missed altogether.

In every case and for every person buying consultancy services, the value that they see is different – some aspects of value are tangible and some are intangible and that is normal and valid.

Here are some of the typical outcomes that are valued in most cases: 

• Creating the capability to do certain things.
• Transferring of knowledge and skills.
• Achieving target levels of efficiency, productivity, compliance, quality and so on.
• Reducing Risk.
• Enhancing reputation and prestige.
• Providing confidence and peace of mind.

All of these are focused on what comes out at the end and not what goes in at the beginning such as days, methods, events, equipment, training and so on. All of these are just means to the end and represent no value themselves.

Achieving valuable business outcomes and getting there fast is the real value of external consultancy.

Explicit agreement on the value of those business outcomes between the person committing the budget and the consultant must always be the start point of the partnership– anything else is a road to disappointment.

S&OP has been getting a lot of attention lately indicating a growing interest and a market for improvement initiatives in this area. However, like all business initiatives, success comes from focus on the essential business outcomes. Therefore it is important to be crystal clear on what these are and how linking together the demand side and the supply side of the enterprise can contribute to managing the global supply chain effectively. Bill DuBois takes a humorous perspective on the subject here http://tinyurl.com/3ao8hxz

Global Supply Chain Strategy Summit

Dubai’s Supply Chain and Logistics Group (SCLG) will be holding its 3^rd Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management Summit on 12^th May 2010 at the Madinat Jumeirah complex in the Gulf city. Over 200 speakers and panelists from around the globe will gather under one roof to discuss the current and future global scenarios of Logistics and Supply Chain Management. More here www.sclgme.org

Economic Recovery Underway

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Group is showing significant improvement in its industrial units. Berkshire Hathaway owns interests in a diverse range of quoted companies and this provides Mr. Buffett with unique insight into the performance of the wider economy. According to Mr. Buffett “American business is improving from everything I see now”. Buffett expects to see a decline in unemployment feeding through soon as companies begin to rehire. More here http://tinyurl.com/2wt6dhd

World Trade Expansion

Lawrence Webb at the Wall Street Journal writes that exporters and importers are increasingly bullish about prospects for world trade in the next six months. While world GDP is expected to come in at +3.1% this year, world exports are set to rise by a whopping 9.2%. The rise in emerging markets and the growing middles classes in China, India and Brazil are the main drivers. While the overall panorama is positive, some clouds on the horizon to look out for are volatility in currency exchange rates and protectionism. More here http://tinyurl.com/2wq6n9e

Supply Chain Risk

James A. Cooke writing in DC Velocity magazine focuses on how the recent Icelandic volcano eruption interrupted air freight movements to and from Europe and disrupted global supply chains. This natural phenomenon illustrates how unforeseen events can dramatically impact today’s integrated and globalised supply networks. Explicit risk analysis leading to the preparation of rapidly implementable contingency plans is a must now for those responsible for operating global supply chains. More here http://tinyurl.com/39cpy2s

Kardex Group, the manufacturers and integrators of automated storage and retrieval technologies have appointed Allied Ireland as their strategic partner with sole distributorship rights for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Kardex provide integrated solutions for warehouse and materials handling applications such as order fulfilment, order consolidation, kitting, sorting and picking.

Allied Ireland supply and install storage systems for commercial and industrial applications. The range includes racking, shelving, conveyors, partitions, cabinets and  office furniture.

For more information www.allied.ie

China – The People’s Currency

The peg that has been maintained between the Chinese currency, known as the Renmenbi (RMB) or “People’s Currency”, and the US Dollar has been the source of tension between the two countries in recent months. However, in latest developments, two new appointees to the People’s Bank of China monetary committee have hinted that China may relinquish the peg on its own initiative in the near future. This is expected to have the effect of allowing the RMB to appreciate gradually. This could be another indicator that China is adjusting its future strategy towards internal consumption and the efficient allocation of capital to balance the over-dependence of the economy on high volume, low margin exports. More at www.statfor.com  

USA – Supply Chain Intelligence

Today’s complex supply networks require continuous collaboration with upstream and downstream supply partners. A new report by the Aberdeen Group highlights the importance in best-in-class performance of integrated Business Intelligence (BI) capability embedded in supply chain processes that can provide immediate intelligence to process owners and managers. The capabilities provided by best-of-breed BI systems include internal and external scorecards, analytics and reports, supply chain modelling, data management services and role-based exception alerts. See the report here www.aberdeen.com   

USA – Tylenol Recall

McNeill Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson has undertaken an extended recall of Tylenol, Motrin, Rolaids and other brands due to reports of a musty odour and consumer illness associated with some products. The problem has been put down to small traces of a chemical known as 2,4,6-tribromoanisole which is believed to have originated in chemicals used to treat wooden pallets sourced in the Dominican Republic and used to store packaging materials at the firms plant in Puerto Rico. This has led to a move away from chemically treated pallets to heat treated pallets for the transport and storage of both ingredients and packaging. The wood pallet industry in the US is sceptical however that the wood pallet is indeed the root cause of the contamination.  More here http://tinyurl.com/yecppz8

Persian Gulf – Layoffs at Agility

The Kuwait headquartered Agility is the Gulf Region’s largest logistics company and provides integrated logistics and supply chain services primarily in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The firm is undergoing a major staff restructuring programme which has seen 500 to 600 staff laid off according to the Arabic Al Qaba daily. A slowdown in large new contracts is cited as the cause. In latest developments the firm has had trading in its shares suspended on the Kuwait Stock Exchange for failing to report quarterly financial results in time according to Bloomberg’s Fiona MacDonald. More here http://tinyurl.com/y9bmlgn

USA – Stolen Medicines

US law enforcement officials say that criminal gangs who used to steal laptops and fragrances are now turning their attention to low-bulk, high-value prescription medicines such as painkillers, drugs for erectile dysfunction, anti-depressants and other medications. The trend has been signalled by the recent high-profile $75 million robbery of anti-depressants and other medications at an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse in Connecticut believed to have been the biggest of its kind so far. $184 million in prescription drugs were stolen in the US in 2009. More here http://tinyurl.com/ydqf3pk

 Costa Rica – Sustainable Coffee

In the conflict between the interests of farmers and those of the ecosystems, supply chains and markets that support their livelihoods, examples of profitable and sustainable solutions are emerging according to a BBC report. Coffee is one of the top five traded global commodities and over 100 million people depend on it for their living. A number of projects in Costa Rica are developing new sustainable techniques to enhance farmers’ output while at the same time mitigating the effects of intensive agriculture. http://tinyurl.com/yajmsbc

 USA – “Inventory – it’s the Enemy” Jim Cramer

The host of CNBC’s Mad Money Jim Cramer has identified the enemy of economic recovery and its name is Inventory. Inventory needs to be financed and carrying excess inventory, particularly in an environment in which credit is scarce, tends to delay economic recovery. Consequently, working off excess inventory is a necessary step in bottoming out the decline and starting on the road to recovery. Jim Cramer explains in this entertaining clip http://tinyurl.com/yat83z2

Here are a few items of interest that caught my eye this week.

Google Spat

Google’s spat with the Chinese government continues unabated. Google has begun rerouting visitors to its google.cn site in mainland China through to its uncensored Chinese language site hosted in Hong Kong. For more on this story http://www.kxk.me//l/ae7

High Tech Order Picking

Ocado Limited of Hatfield UK is unconventionally bringing high tech to the web based grocery business. Ocado can service 65% of British post codes from one warehouse located on a 27 acre site on a former airfield in Hatfield.  The in-house developed high-tech solution comprising complex order routing algorithms, conveyors and high productivity picking churns out 90,000 orders a week and is a central plank of the company’s IPO pitch rumoured to be worth £1.1billion. However, while sales and earnings are up, the business which is now 10 years old has yet to turn a profit. More here  http://www.kxk.me//l/aeF

Designer Salt

PepsiCo have developed a new designer salt for their Lay’s potato chips which reduces the consumer’s intake of sodium by 25% while leaving the taste and flavour of the product unaltered. It’s all part of Chairman Indra Nooyi’s commitment to provide healthier products to customers. For more on this story http://www.kxk.me//l/ae8

Green Supply Chain

The green supply chain is a reality it seems but only where the results of green initiatives deliver real business benefits in terms of efficiency, cost reduction and improved corporate image. Check out the Global Supply Chain Council’s Green China Supply Chain survey here http://www.kxk.me//l/ae9

Energy Security

Unconventional gas sources located in shale and coal beds could lead to a geo-political game change with Europe and North America potentially self-sufficient for up to a century. While America is ahead of Europe in exploiting this resource, the future looks promising for both and holds out the prospect of reducing dependence on existing suppliers such as Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Libya. More here  http://www.kxk.me//l/aeD