The Six Nations rugby championship kicked off this weekend just passed, pitting the best European international squads from France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales against each other in a gruelling six-weeks of test matches. Ireland, the defending champions began their campaign in Rome against Italy on Saturday with a young debutant, Ian Keatley, playing in the crucial out-half position.
Alba
Patrick’s Monday Vista #3- Where in the World?
Taking your business international is an extended journey along a route with many milestones, obstacles, defeats and victories. At first, many start their international adventure importing and exporting, whether by necessity, design or accidental opportunity. Later some progress on to limited foreign production, distribution or sales, using in-market partners. Later still, others may pursue the international voyage to full-scale foreign direct investment becoming truly multi-national businesses.
Transcript of Presentation by Patrick Daly to the National Manufacturing Conference, Aviva Stadium, Dublin on 27th January 2015.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
Over the last 15 years or so I have had the, dubious privilege and opportunity to look deeply into the inner workings of up to a 100 warehouses all over the world – here at home in Ireland, in Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America.
60 to 70 per cent of these warehouses have been in manufacturing industry –in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, beverage and industrial equipment. While all warehouse facilities that support manufacturing operations have fundamentally the same processes, one of the things that has struck me most on my travels is the divergence of standards, practices and performance across these different facilities. There is a big gap between the best-in-class and the also-rans.
Is Innovation the New ‘Competitive Advantage?
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, the conversation revolved around innovation and volatility; amongst other pressing issues such as economic and gender inequality, sustainability, education and meaningful leadership.
Chitosan – an alternative to plastic that could be used in large-scale manufacturing
On my recent holiday to the Yucatan in Mexico, I was saddened to see tons of plastic residue from packaging being washed up, tangled up in a tide of sargassum (dense algae), on the otherwise pristine beaches of the Costa Maya. This got me thinking about sustainability, ‘reverse supply chains and closed-loop systems’ and wondering how long it will take before better biodegradable materials are used for packaging.
Cold Chain
Cold chain is the process used to maintain optimal conditions during the transport, storage and handling of vaccines, and, food and beverages. The chain begins at the manufacturer and ends with the end use, and most often involves the transportation through thermal and refrigerated packing methods and logistical planning to ensure appropriate condition of the products along each point in the supply chain. The necessities of the item being in the chain determine the temperature and humidity requirements of the chain.
The Benefits of Measurement in Warehousing and Distribution
‘If you don’t know where you want to go, then it does not matter which way you go.’- An Alice in Wonderland inspired line hold true for warehouse management.
The Business Value of Master Data Management
Businesses, both small and big, have a lot of data associated with many aspects of the operation. Inefficient data management practices lags business growth due to unreliable data being provided thus limiting its potential to make key decisions based on insights and anticipate any future changes. Data management has evolved to being one of the key management aspects of any business. In a business, data changes over time: acquisitions and corrections are being made in multiple entry points for products, customers, employees, vendors, and so on. Master data management (MDM) stores all the data in a single system and synchronizes data acquisitioned from several source systems and provides most accurate, timely and relevant version of truth about essential business entities.
Innovation versus Problem-Solving
Problem-solving and innovation are two essential business processes that we need to master in order to thrive and prosper in the face of the many and varied challenges that we face.
The trouble is that while both processes are necessary, if we spend too much time fixing problems around the place we leave too little time for thinking about how we are going to do things better in future.
Your Productivity and Economic Growth
Productivity growth is one of the three fundamental drivers of economic growth. The other two drivers are capital growth and labour growth. Because in advanced economies such as those of Western Europe and North America labour growth and capital growth no longer grow so fast, productivity growth is now THE major driver of economic growth.
