Cooperation + Innovation=Happy Marriage?

November 5th, 2008 mhitchings The vehicle has continued to evolve to meet consumer, industry and world needs. Every 30 years, a change is inevitable, said Charles Morgan, director of design with Morgan Motor Co.

At Morgan, it’s about the vehicle and the consumer, pride in the creation and building of each vehicle, which, he noted, takes about 16 hours and is completely built by hand, no robots, no artificial means of compilation.

“I think it’s important to be open about what you do,” Morgan said. “I think it’s important for people to want to visit the factory and know that real people build the cars…new technology is great and we all need it, but there is an element of craftsmanship at Morgan that is important.” That being said, the company recognizes the need to keep up with energy efficiencies and listen to their customers. In an effort to reduce its environmental footprint, Morgan cars are about 30% lighter than those that are mass produced, he noted.

Morgan was one of three members of the production and supply chain innovation session starting this morning’s second day of the Altermobile Europe 2008 conference in Munich.

Phil Barker, chief engineer of hybrid and electric vehicle technologies with Lotus Engineering, discussed four key themes within the topic of production and supply chain innovation — developing new business models, innovation and design as a core business process, collaboration and cooperation, and internationalizing supply and production.

“The basic problem we are looking at is trying to run a country without oil,” said Amit Yudan, Europe Business Development with Better Place. One of the conference themes was to reduce, if not nullify, dependence on oil and conventional fuels and think more out of the box.

“The real market response is volatile,” said Andre Metzner with Roland Berger Strategy during his portion of the presentation, Cooperative Constellations in the New Auto Innovation Game. “No doubt there is a need to cooperate.”

Metzner discussed a variety of “cooperation,” noting most people are familiar with the “marriage” concept, which is planned for the longer time horizon, is formalized and usually has a low flexibility. He also noted a few other important types: club, syndicate, commune, party, forum and expedition.

“These types are not legal/business categories — they can serve more as conceptual reference points for designing or understanding cooperative constellations,” Metzner said in his presentation white paper. “From my experience, cooperative projects need both, a conceptual foundation and cooperative cultural embedding. The culture part should not be underestimated, especially in situations where fierce competitors cooperate or new ground needs to be (jointly) explored.”

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Sustainability — Fad or True Trend?

August 26th, 2008 mhitchings With so much “going green” and hype about sustainability and energy and alternative solutions in the news, on company Web sites and even down to the food we eat, the grocery bags we use and the clothes we wear, there is a faint whisper from time to time (if you close your eyes, hold really still and listen) about the true meaning of sustainability and whether it has the power to stay over time. 

And who’s to blame for the “bad rep” of “going green” or “sustainability?” Is it one of those very important topics that just has an overused name, to the point people forget, or maybe never truly understood, the real meaning or goal of sustainability? Or, in fact, what the term “going green” means?

 Some groups think it’s a phase the world is going through, with everyone jumping on the “let’s go green” bandwagon. Sustainability and “going green” mean a variety of things, depending on which industry, who and what company you ask, but as to the world’s overall attitude, it seems to be a trend that is here to stay - if anything, to get stronger.

According to Pinnacle Worldwide’s Global Sustainability Strategy Results, “about half of respondents (46%) perceived media coverage of environmental topics as accurate about half the time, with 28% seeing reporting as ‘mostly accurate.’ However, 22% rated media as ‘mostly inaccurate’ or ‘extremely inaccurate.’ When asked how they knew the media was accurate or not, ‘personal opinion about environmental and natural science topics’ was the leading basis for perceptions of media accuracy. 

However, one of the goals respondents in this report cited is education. “Improving perceptions of the company was rated as more important than increasing revenue via sustainability programs.  However, revenue was still seen as ’somewhat important,’” according to the report.

These aspects, while not overly surprising, demonstrate, like most high-profile topics in the world, the power of the press and how much influence the media has on public knowledge and perception. We are stewards of the truth, or thoroughness of cutting through the red tape and getting to the bottom of even the most intricate, confusing and layered of topics. 

Interestingly, 6.7% of the respondents said they believe sustainability is a fad and 4.4% they do not see a way to reduce their environmental impact. Clearly more education is needed among these groups.

For the energy industry, one aspect of “going green” is with investments and clean energy.

Can the refining industry go green? Some say sure, others are doubtful.

The transportation industry already is above many others with alternative fuels such as biodiesel and butanol and vehicles that are more fuel efficient.

I could go on and on but then I’d probably lose your interest and not get my magazine articles written for the next issue … but you get the point. Sustainability and the transition toward “greener” business practices, products and ways of thinking are here to stay.

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Is Nuclear Energy the Future?

August 26th, 2008 mhitchings

With the energy topic prominent in the news, on the forefront of the upcoming U.S. elections and at the top of the global list of sustainability needs, governments, industries and companies are looking toward alternative fuels and unconventional energies to help reduce the environmental footprint, lower emissions and bring the global warming threat to a more manageable level.

The controversial topic of nuclear energy as a power source isn’t getting a lot of attention — as there are an array of seemingly more viable renewables involved in the “alternatives” debate — but it is getting some. Scholars, industry experts, political leaders, economists and a variety of other analysts are all reviewing, debating, discussing and weighing pros and cons. Where does it stand in the line up of alternatives (and even with conventional fossil fuels) — behind or in front of ethanol, biofuels, electric hybrids, gas power, hydrogen, waste … the list is nearly exhaustive.

Some sit on the negative side of the equation: thinking too much energy is required to start up plants already in existence, and some think it’s too expensive and will take too long to build and get new plants operational.

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How Do You Compare with Your Energy Neighbor?

August 15th, 2008 mhitchings

The list of what is environmentally challenging and not quite right with our world is a little daunting and becoming more so by the minute if you really stop to take stock.

 Sustainability is a tough word to define; it means different things to different people, including those within the same industry and indeed the same company. For Petrobras America’s President Alberto Guimaraes, “it would be a responsibility in all relationships. … A company has to be able to grant a conscientious growth, to deliver to its customers what they expect in any environment, in any type of economy, in any type of a standard of life. … It is very much up to the company to be technologically advanced, to develop a culture of technology.” 

For years we as a global community have worked, to a certain extent, somewhat independently from our neighbors in the environmental arena — not really cognizant that emissions in Asia’s air cause weather changes and affect other countries by way of wind currents. We haven’t realized the need for industrialization as a means to drive the economy and thus workforce has been pumping (albeit relatively small amounts over long periods of time) noxious emissions into systems of the very people on whom we depend to keep the economy and workforce moving forward. 

With the approaching change in the U.S. Administration, the world is perhaps more focused than ever on the growing list of energy related buzzwords and is itching to see the new ideas, and, inevitably, challenges, a change in scenery will bring to the energy space. How will it all play out?

Going Green

The word is out there — we are “going green.” More and more companies are rallying behind the items on the ever-growing “what’s-environmentally-wrong-with-the-world-and-how-can-we-make-a-difference” list.

Shell’s David Sexton has noted his company believes its greatest priorities are ” helping to meet future global demand for energy and playing a full roll in tackling carbon emissions. There is no doubt that by the year 2100, the world will have a radically different energy mix. Our charge is building the bridge from where we are now to where we want to be at the turn of the next century.”

For Thomas O’Malley, Petroplus chairman, ethanol is a thorn in the nation’s political side. “Ethanol is one of the clear culprits” for the current U.S. economic problems, and it is doing little to help the environment and global fuel supply, he has said. However, It is not all doom and gloom for the U.S. ethanol market as he’s noted the European biodiesel policies are causing similar problems.

 BP, also a player in the alternative energy arena, believes demand will increase and that it is the future to which the global community needs to work.

“Demand for alternatives will continue to climb,” Sarah Howell, BP environmental and corporate communications director, has said. “BP believes that the U.S. market will continue to grow as the public continues to demand cleaner and reliable sources of power.”

 Do you have a model or belief about what to do to reduce our environmental footprint before it gets too deep? What corporate, social and individual responsibility do we have and how can we work together?

Where do you fit in this mix?

 

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