Let's Talk Business!

Manufacturing's Bane

2013-03-20T17:30:00.001-07:00

I visited a factory recently, which is something I love to do. But on this tour I made a very surprising discovery. I found out what it is that is holding American manufacturing back.

Testosterone!

The company, by their account, is so busy that they are not taking on new customers. However, I noticed that few of the machines were running and there didn't seem to be much activity anywhere. When I asked about this discrepancy I was told that "we don't operate on testosterone.".

Who knew that has been the problem all along. But testosterone or not, of you want to get orders out the door and serve the customers you do have, you have to keep things moving.

Maybe I'm missing something.
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Dave Shoji's 5-T's

2013-02-06T16:15:00.001-08:00

I just saw a presentation by University of Hawaii Women's Volleyball coach Dave Shoji. Thirty eight years of winning volleyball, including several national championships, he can teach you a lot about putting together a winning team.

He talked about his 5-T's.

1) Technology - you need to use the right technology to accomplish your goals and keep up with the latest technology. In his sport it is athletic apparel, training equipment, nutrition, etc. You need to keep up with your industry.

2) Technique - in volleyball it's how to hit the ball, how to block, how to position yourself. For you it might be how to schedule production, how to manage inventory, how to prepare a purchase order.

3) Training - train, train, and train some more before you play a game. For Operations professionals it's plan, plan plan, execute.

4) Tactics - how you are going to engage the other team. How you are going to attack and defend, who is going to play and who is going to sit on the bench. For you it is how you are going to compete in the market.

5) Team - he expounded on this.

A) keep your players happy. Take care of their needs and they can focus on the game / job.
B) practice. You can't be good enough unless you practice enough.
C) team chemistry - it's overrated. Important, but overrated.
D) leadership. You can't appoint a leader. You have to see who emerges as the leader.
E) your role. You have to understand your role and accept it. If your role is to sit on the bench and challenge the better players into keeping their starting position, do that well and support the team from that role. If you want more playing time,maybe you should move on.

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Support the Women Eagles Tour

2012-11-05T18:39:00.001-08:00

The Women Eagles are going on tour to Europe to play Franc and Italy. Please help so they are not asked to pay their own way. This is our national team!

Read More

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Natural Selection

2012-11-05T18:32:00.001-08:00

This is a great article about player selection in rugby, but it is also an excellent example of how businesses should go about managing employees and selecting those for promotion. Take a look.

Selection

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The Business Author's Show

2012-11-01T09:07:00.002-07:00

Listen to my interview on The Business Author's Show.

I was not able to listen to the completed interview until it was available this morning, and I was pleasantly surprised. Danielle is very impressive and she produces a very professional show.

I have heard myself before and sometimes I think my voice could be better or I could have said things differently (i.e. better), but I am very happy with this interview.

If you are an author, I heartily recommend Danielle and The Business Author's Show.

Take a listen. It's only about 12 minutes.

Want to buy the book, go to Amazon.com, or Amazon Canada.

(please note that the price change on Amazon Canada has not taken effect yet. I have changed the price to CDN$24.95. Also, the inventory has not yet arrived so it is still showing out of stock at this moment).

Management Tips

2012-10-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

This was just sent to me and it is worth posting. Many people find themselves in a management or supervisory position with no training. That is not good. But here are some tips that will help.

I also noticed that there are a number of other articles posted that look very useful.

20 New Manager Tips

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Vietnam Supply Chain Congress 2012

2012-10-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

Here is a news clip from the conference I recently attended. Wait until the very end to see me sitting in the audience. I need to lose weight.

VSC Congress 2012 News Clip

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Location:Ho Chi Minh City

Hawaii High School Rugby All Americans

2012-07-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hawaii youth rugby is really taking off. Almost 20% of the current High School All American team currently touring in South America are from Hawaii. Hawaii was also well represented in the recent HSAA 7's team that played in England.

Here's a great article in

RugbyMag.com

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In Fine Form

2012-05-01T19:46:00.002-07:00

"I can hire you as soon as you're on the list", I was told.

"How do I get on the list?" I asked.

I was recommended for a consulting job with a government entity. After a couple of meetings to discuss the scope of the project things were looking good. That's when the subject of getting on the list.

Here's how it's going so far:

1) The person I was speaking with told me they would send me a link to the form I needed to complete.
2) I didn't get a link, so I asked, and still didn't get it.
3) I looked for the form myself and found one that looked like the right one. (paper form)
4) My contact said they have never seen that form, and gave me the number of the form to use, but still no link.
5) I filled out the form (online).
6) I got a notice that they needed more information.
7) I added more information and re-submitted the form.
8) I got another notice telling me this is the wrong form, and they referred me to the proper form by title, but no link or form number.
9) It is the form I originally found.
10) I sent the form in again, but to a different department.
11) I'm waiting to hear if I'm on the list.

Unfortunately, this process is not one that we discussed in the scope of the project. I'll have to work on that.

Rules of Rugby

2012-04-13T12:19:00.001-07:00

This video was just brought to my attention. Everything you need to know about rugby in about 2 minutes.

http://vimeo.com/38619465

If you notice that the ball has no logo or markings, you are a real rugby player.

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Where Did It Go?

2012-04-03T18:21:00.001-07:00

I toyed with the idea of going to the APICS mini conference in Seoul, South Korea, which was to be held April 2-3. I couldn't make it, but when I went to go see the details, who would be presenting, what events would be going on, etc, I saw it had disappeared.

I'm assuming they had to cancel for some reason, but when I went to look a month or so ago there was no indication that it had ever existed. Good marketing I suppose, don't advertise that you had to cancel. But I hope they try again because I want to visit Korea and an APICS conference would be a great reason to add justification to go.

Hawaii Rugby

2012-02-18T23:34:00.001-08:00

I haven't been keeping up with rugby in Hawaii as I should. Luckily I checked today before heading down to Kapiolani Park, the regular venue, because today's games were on the other side of the island, in Kahuku.

But I did find the season's schedule, and discovered that the Union's website is not up to date as they have apparently moved to Facebook.

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Location:Hawaii

ASQ Hawaii Meeting

2012-02-18T23:20:00.001-08:00

ASQ Hawaii meeting on Tuesday, February 21st at Natsunoya Tea House. Vino Mehta will be speaking on Game Changing Innovation. It should be good. See you there!

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Location:Natsunoya tea House

The Love Shack

2012-01-23T17:27:00.001-08:00

I think this picture speaks for itself.

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You Won!

2012-01-18T23:22:00.001-08:00

If you've ever been involved with a professional organization, or other type of membership organization, you can probably relate to this story on the San Joaquin Chapter of APICS website.

How (not) to Elect an APICS Chapter President!

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Chinatown Photos

2012-01-16T01:07:00.001-08:00

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Lion Dance

2012-01-16T00:45:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to post this video for two days. It should be easy. It makes me wish the video was better.

From Chinese New Year celebration in Honolulu Chinatown.

YouTube Video

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Art

2011-12-05T12:42:00.001-08:00

I call it "Lunch on the Floor"

USA, USA!

2011-09-11T00:53:00.001-07:00

Fantastic game by the U.S. against Ireland tonight. I was very impressed. Outstanding defense, some good attacking, but best of all they played full out for the full 80 minutes. To prove that, they scored a try at the 79th minute. I look forward to watching more of them. Woo Hoo!!

How to Make Cement

2011-09-09T14:59:00.001-07:00

How cement is made. By Holcim. Every company should have videos like this.

Part 1

Part 2

Made in ... Wherever

2011-09-09T13:54:00.001-07:00

I love stories like these:

Wiffle Ball: Born And Still Made In The USA

Georgia Company Exports Chopsticks To China

Not because of the made in the USA angle, but because location and being the low cost provider are not always the primary factors of business success.

I went to a talk yesterday by Darren Kimura of Sopogy, a Hawaii based developer and manufacturer of solar energy systems (I interviewed Darren for my upcoming book). One thing I found very interesting was their manufacturing strategy. They are pursuing what they call Localization in both their manufacturing and sales strategies.

They originally manufactured in their own plant in California. Then they outsourced to a facility in China. They thought that the low cost of this production would serve their needs around the world, but they found out that wasn't the case. Because of all the additional costs of shipping, export and import duties, and various taxes, the final costs ended up not being so low. So now they manufacture in three different facilities around the world that align with their sales markets.

These examples fit in with my philosophy of define your goals, then determine how you'll reach them.

Rugby vs American Football

2011-09-09T10:42:00.001-07:00

Interesting comparison of a few statistics. The difference in the average distance covered in a game stands out the most. That explains the differences in average size of players and max bench press.

I got this from here, if you want to read more.

Will They?

2011-08-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

This proves that I am not the only goofy person in the world...

Counting down to the Rugby World Cup. All eyes are on New Zealand.

I saw this on Total Flanker.

Author! Author!

2011-07-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've been interviewed on the BusinessInfoGuide.com website. Take a look, leave a comment, buy my book, find lots of good info on the site.

Conference Report

2011-06-06T01:27:00.001-07:00

The LogSo conference was a great success for me. I think a little disappointing for the organizers due to low attendance, but well worth the trip for me. I learned a tremendous amount about both the challenges and opportunities here, primarily in the supply chain area. I also met some great people, locally and throughout the southeast Asia region.

There were a few key things that kept being discussed over and over at the LogSo conference. First was infrastructure, or the lack thereof. That's an issue that is going to depend mainly on the government, but there is a role for the private sector.

The second, and maybe more important is the general lack of knowledge of supply chain and it's importance to the success of any business. Many people spoke of the lack of awareness about supply chain among executive and senior management, let alone at the lower levels. The awareness is slowly growing, but it is well behind other countries in the region and the more developed countries in the world.

Since there is only a nascent awareness of supply chain, there is also a severe lack of education and training in all aspects of operations and supply chain. The two organizations that spoke at, Vietnam Supply Chain Community & Vietnam Supply Chain Insights / LogSo, are trying to do their part to increase the knowledge in supply chain areas.

Another very important factor discussed was human resource and workforce issues. There is a shortage of people with the skills and education that is needed by companies. That is with specific supply chain knowledge and general education and basic work skills.

But with all the challenges they face, companies are optimistic and many are doing very well.

As far as my presentations went, they went well. I had a lot of good comments after my lunch presentation. After my workshop, I had a couple of gentlemen tell me it was a great presentation. Then after my last presentation on Supply Chain Trends, a man told me how much he and his employees liked it.