As Mitigation Falls Short, Focus Shifts to Climate Resilience
Efforts to address climate change causes have fallen short so far. This is resulting in major efforts to address the symptoms.
Read More →Articles of Interest
Various articles of interest to the industries and current events as it relates to clients MOSIMTEC work with in modeling and simulation.
To Improve Health Care, Focus on Fixing Systems – Not People
Over the past 30 years, many health systems have pursued improvements in care delivery to be safer and more effective/efficient. When these activities fail to a...
Read More →
Newly Signed Bill Will Boost Nuclear Reactor Deployment in the United States
The ADVANCE Act (AA), recently signed into law, will help the U.S. build nuclear reactors faster. Energy demand is expected to grow rapidly as data centers, ele...
Read More →
Survey: QSRs, Fast Casuals Expand Digital Ordering in 2024
Per the Qu 2024 State of Digital Report, quick service (QSR) and fast casual restaurants will add more kiosks in stores this year, along with new mobile apps an...
Read More →
Model One: Revolutionizing Digital Twins in Military and Industry
Per WSJ, the U.S. Air Force recently announced its latest effort to leverage digital twins (DT). This effort, called Model One, integrates 50 military simulatio...
Read More →
Westinghouse Keeps Ukraine Reactors Up
Per WSJ, Ukraine stopped buying nuclear fuel from Russia after their invasion in 2022. Russia had been their top supplier and nuclear power accounted for more t...
Read More →
Will Voice Commerce Continue to Gain Traction?
Voice commerce (VC) is gaining traction with shoppers. While the full potential of AI voice assistants remains to be seen, the convenience of ordering products ...
Read More →
What’s Next in Chips
Per MIT Technology Review, AI is driving a shift in computer chips. Four trends are shown below to define chips of the future, who will make them, and which tec...
Read More →
Soon You May be Drinking Synthetic Coffee
Per WSJ, the cup of coffee is a social and environmental disaster. However, synthetic coffee is poised to come to your dining table. Worldwide, people drink 2 b...
Read More →
Amazon Debuts $400 Million Robotic Warehouse
Amazon opened its largest warehouse in MA, a five-story facility with ~4 million square feet of space. The fulfillment center cost about $400 Million to build a...
Read More →
Silicon Valley Bets on Helping U.S. to Catch Up on Superfast Missiles
Per WSJ, the U.S. is years behind Russia and China in developing hypersonic missile technology. Silicon Valley wants to help the military catch up. Hypersonic a...
Read More →
Big Data Hubs Slow Green Shift
Per WSJ, hyperscale data centers (much larger than previous generations of data centers) are upending utility plans to cut use of fossil fuels. These facilities...
Read More →
A Coal Billionaire is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant Five Times the Size of Paris
India’s Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) is building the world’s biggest clean energy plant. It’s five times the size of Paris, visible from space, and will ge...
Read More →
Kearney 2024 Reshoring Index – Made in America: Here to Stay?
A.T. Kearney’s 2024 Reshoring Index (KRI) examines a U.S. market more reliant on goods made closer to home, continuing a trend over the past few years. The KRI ...
Read More →
2023 North America Robot Orders Down 30% Over Record 2022
Per the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), North American robot sales declined 30% from record 2022 sales levels. Companies bought 31,200 robots in 2023...
Read More →
Defense Sector Gets Lift From Ukraine Aid
Per WSJ, approval of a $95 Billion aid package frees up funding that was held up in Congress for four months. Two-thirds of it will go toward new military equip...
Read More →
District-Scale Geo-Exchange Systems
Per Architectural Record, many colleges were traditionally heated by steam heat from fossil fuels. To reach climate goals, a growing number of schools are movin...
Read More →
US Ratification of the Ocean Treaty Will Unlock Deep Sea Mining
Per the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, hundreds of former leaders are calling for the U.S. Senate to ratify the UN Conventio...
Read More →
New Experiments Aim to Cool Planet
Per WSJ, scientists are exploring new methods to cool the planet since global efforts to address climate change are flagging and time is perceived to be running...
Read More →
Demand Cools for EV Battery Metals
Per WSJ, Albemarle announced plans in 2023 for a $1.3 Billion lithium processing plant in SC to supply the growing electric vehicle (EV) industry. Fast forward ...
Read More →
The Race to Produce Rare Earth Materials
Per MIT Technology Review, China dominates the market for rare earth elements (REE), but the U.S. is racing to catch up. Reducing fossil fuels and adopting lowe...
Read More →
U.S. Companies Find it Hard to Quit China
Per WSJ, U.S. companies, trying to reduce their exposure to China, are turning to factories in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico. Many companies, ...
Read More →
John Deere, SpaceX to Bring Satellite Connectivity to Farmers and Robots
John Deere (JD) plans to improve connectivity to farmers with its new agreement with SpaceX. The companies plan to provide rural areas with cutting-edge satelli...
Read More →
Red Sea, Black Sea and Panama Canal: UNCTAD Raises Alarm on Global Trade Disruptions
UNCTAD, the UN’s trade and development body, has significant concerns over growing disruptions to global trade. It says that recent attacks on ships in the Red ...
Read More →
The State of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s Breakout Year
McKinsey’s 2023 Global Survey on AI shows rapid growth of generative AI (GAI) tools. Less than one year after many of these tools debuted, one-third of responde...
Read More →
J&J Enlists Thousands of Data Scientists in Health Bet
Per WSJ, Johnson & Johnson is making a big bet on using data science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI) to support its healthcare work. They have hired 6...
Read More →
Creation of Next Generation Private Equity Firm, New Private Equity
Per Business Wire, New Private Equity (NPE) is a next generation private equity firm that leverages data and analytics to invest in leading companies and provid...
Read More →
Wood Chips Offer New Route to Make Graphite
Per WSJ, CarbonScape (CS), a New Zealand company, is hoping to cut China’s hold on the graphite market, used to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries. At a NZ te...
Read More →
Amazon to Integrate Drones into Fulfillment Network for Faster Delivery
Per a company announcement, Amazon plans to integrate drone deliveries into its fulfillment network to reach customers faster. Prime Air drones will start depl...
Read More →
2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Twelve
Per MIT Technology Review, Twelve is a company to watch. They are commercializing a process to break down/reform CO2 into nearly any chemical now produced by f...
Read More →
The Powerful Potential of Digital Twin Technology to Improve Drug Discovery, Development, Manufacturing and More
Per Pharma’s Almanac, digital twins (DT) have many potential applications in the pharma industry, from accelerating drug discovery/development to optimizing man...
Read More →
Carbon Disclosure Rules for U.S. Companies are Coming Sooner Than Expected
Per WSJ, California and the European Union (EU) are both poised to approve rules requiring companies that do business there to disclose their greenhouse gas (GH...
Read More →
A $2 Million Coal Mine Might Yield $37 Billion
Twelve years ago, Randall Atkinson bought a coal mine in WY for $2 Million. Several years later, government researchers asked if they could test to see if the g...
Read More →
Regent Aims to Fly Its Electric Seagliders Over the Waterways of Japan
Per CNBC, Regent, a startup developing electric seagliders to transport people/cargo, has raised $60 Million and partnered with Japan Airlines to bring the comp...
Read More →
How AI Fits Into Lean Six Sigma
Per Harvard Business Review, most manufacturing/service operations repeat in some way; this provides the opportunity to continuously improve their underlying pr...
Read More →
Startup Rides Green-Hydrogen Quest to a $1 Billion Valuation
Per WSJ, many companies have promised to produce large amounts of green hydrogen, but none have succeeded. Electric Hydrogen (EH) is the industry’s first unicor...
Read More →
2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: H2 Green Steel
Per MIT Technology Review, H2 Green Steel (HGS) is a 2023 climate tech company to watch. HGS is building a large steel plant in northern Sweden that will rely o...
Read More →
Foreign Firms in China Say Vague Rules and Tensions with Washington Hurting Business, Surveys Show
Per AP News, foreign companies operating in China say tensions with Washington over technology, trade and other issues and uncertainty over Chinese policies are...
Read More →
Companies Look to Create Less-Polluting Cement
Per WSJ, rising demand for housing is at odds with efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions as the building blocks for construction, concrete and cement, are both...
Read More →
Miners Look to Burnish Green Credentials
Per WSJ, the mining sector is working to change perceptions that mining hurts the environment by contributing to climate change. This perception is impacting ef...
Read More →
Farmers Swamped by Data Surplus
Per WSJ, a decade after data analytics promised to revolutionize agriculture, most farmers still aren’t using data tools or specialized software, and of those w...
Read More →
U.S. Takes Bold Step to Break Free From Russian Uranium Hold
The U.S. has been dependent on Russian uranium, importing significant amounts despite geopolitical tensions. U.S. companies spend more than $1 billion per year ...
Read More →
Soap Maker Cracks the Code to Made in America
Per the WSJ, a $7.95 bottle of Bath & Body Works (BBW) foaming hand soap used to take three months to put together. The pieces had to travel more than 13,00...
Read More →
Biofuels Made From Weeds Show Promise as Industry Demand Grows
Per the Wall Street Journal, field pennycress, also called CoverCress, is generally considered a weed. However, its very high oil content, about 50% higher than...
Read More →
Airport Modeling and Simulation Solutions
Airports represent a unique challenge when it comes to resource, capacity and efficiency planning. With so many dynamic and interconnected processes involved, i...
Read More →
Warehouse Robots to Have a Human Touch
Per WSJ, humanoid robots are on their way to warehouses. Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics are among those companies designing robots more closely modeled af...
Read More →
Pharmaceutical Simulation Software Solutions
Making intelligent decisions for pharma industry processes can be enormously challenging due to the complex matrix of interconnected systems. With advanced phar...
Read More →
The AnyLogic Conference 2023
MOSIMTEC will be presenting at the upcoming AnyLogic Conference 2023. It will be a joint presentation with Crouch Engineering of a recent model developed for US...
Read More →
Once a Paper Maker, Now a Lithium King
Per the WSJ, Albemarle, based in Charlotte, NC, started off in 1887 as a paper mill, making blotter paper and paper for commercial packaging. In 1962, it bought...
Read More →
Yeast Could Revolutionize Food Flavors
Per the Wall Street Journal, the classic fruitiness of IPA beer usually comes from hops, the flowers that give many beer varieties their flavors. But if you ord...
Read More →
China has Rival as Factory Floor
Western companies are looking for a backup to China as the world’s factory floor, a strategy known as “China Plus One.” Only India has a labor force and interna...
Read More →
Companies Find Logistics Plans Have Not Delivered
Per WSJ, some companies that set out to build e-Commerce fulfillment services when pandemic-driven online sales boomed are now cutting back on their logistics a...
Read More →
Automakers Invest to Secure Metals for EVs
The auto industry’s shift to electric vehicles (EVs) has triggered a scramble to lock in supplies of lithium, nickel, graphite and other materials core to batte...
Read More →
Retailers Custom-Make Boxes to Fight Cardboard Overload
Shipping tiny online orders in big boxes is getting closer to becoming a thing of the past. Big e-Commerce retailers are now using machines that make packages t...
Read More →
America's Back in the Factory Business
Construction of U.S. factories reached $108B in 2022, a new record. Much of the growth is in electric vehicle batteries and semiconductors, areas backed by gove...
Read More →
Oracle Study Reveals Decision Making Paradox: More Data, Greater Uncertainty
A study by Oracle indicates that access to more information doesn't necessarily lead to better decision making. While 83% of those surveyed agree that access to...
Read More →
‘Net Zero’ Will Mean a Mining Boom
The drive toward net zero will increase demand for lithium, cobalt and other minerals many times over. An offshore wind project uses nine times the minerals of ...
Read More →
Occidental’s Green Bet to Keep Pumping Oil
Occidental is spending >$1B to build the first in a planned fleet of plants using direct-air capture to pull CO2 out of the air. The plan will help it reach ...
Read More →
Firms Plan Australian Super Hub to Produce Green Hydrogen
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) is partnering with Windlab on a project called the North Queensland Super Hub. Energy from the project will produce green hydr...
Read More →
Nations Vie to Lure Producers from China
Firms are looking for factory space to cut dependence on China. Countries like India, Mexico, Vietnam and Cambodia are competing on subsidies, tax breaks and ot...
Read More →
3-D Printing and the Future of Global Manufacturing
Use of 3-D printed parts for manufacturing is growing fast; costs have fallen rapidly. They could help companies re-shore manufacturing and get around supply ch...
Read More →
Carbon Capture Technology Deployed in New York City Buildings
Glenwood Management and CarbonQuest (CQ) recently announced usage of a new carbon capture technology in five NYC buildings. The installation is designed to prev...
Read More →
The Roboconomy is Finally Coming
Per the International Federation of Robotics, a half million industrial robots were installed in 2021, beating the 2018 record by 22%. The world now has 3.5 mil...
Read More →
MOSIMTEC - Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Partnership
Herndon, VA March 6, 2023 – MOSIMTEC, LLC is pleased to announce its corporate partnership with the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). As a ...
Read More →
Companies Race to Build Solar Industry in U.S.
The Biden administration is betting big on solar power, but the U.S. has little manufacturing for almost any solar energy components. China controls >80% of ...
Read More →
U.S. Draws Closer to Europe as Trade Steps Up
Trade and investment between the U.S. and Europe is booming due to the Ukraine war and fraying ties with China. The U.S. now imports more goods from Europe than...
Read More →
12 Benefits of Training Employees in the Workplace
Per Emeritus, there are many benefits to training employees. Examples include less turnover/layoffs, greater employee engagement, enhanced management, increased...
Read More →
What Comes After ‘Made in China’?
Many U.S. companies are considering moving their manufacturing out of China. Producers of Crocs shoes, Yeti coolers, Roomba vacuums and GoPro cameras have done ...
Read More →
U.S. Firms Bring Home Overseas Jobs
U.S. companies are bringing jobs/supply chains home at a historic pace. Per the Reshoring Initiative, American companies are on pace to reshore or return to the...
Read More →
Starbucks Rethinks Just About Everything
Starbucks is rethinking kitchens to be more efficient. In a technology lab, they explore ways to bring equipment closer together, and make syrup pumps, milk dis...
Read More →
European Manufacturers Shift to U.S.
Battered by rising gas prices, European manufacturers are shifting operations to the U.S. Lower energy prices and recent incentives for manufacturing/green ener...
Read More →
Opinion: Fragrance Seller Tries to Cut China Ties
INTERPARFUMS LUXURY BRANDS, INC. (IP), a fragrance seller, is moving away from Chinese production. More companies surveyed by McKinsey are also working to manuf...
Read More →
Opinion: Walmart Expands its Drone-Delivery Service to Reach 4 Million Households
Walmart drone delivery is ready for liftoff. They are expanding drone deliveries across six states with operator DroneUp, bringing the total network to 37 sites...
Read More →
Opinion: Cargo Bottlenecks Spread to East Coast as Ocean Vessels Shift from California
U.S. importers seeking relief from West Coast bottlenecks are causing backups at East/Gulf Coast ports. Dozens of container ships are now backed up in NY, Houst...
Read More →
Opinion: McKinsey 2022 Global Survey on Automation
Per McKinsey & Company’s 2022 Global Survey, the share of companies adopting automation technology is climbing. However, few companies have achieved aut...
Read More →
Opinion: Brazil Tests Cutting-Edge Farm Solutions
Brazil is rushing to roll out high-tech alternatives to fertilizer as global prices surge, impacted by the war in Ukraine. Drones with cameras hover over farms,...
Read More →
Opinion: Harley’s Sales Decline, Hit by Supply-Chain Issues
Harley-Davidson’s North American retail sales volume dropped 28% in 2Q22 to just under 35,000 motorcycles. Their U.S. market share dropped to 41% for the first ...
Read More →
Opinion: Automation Poses Hiring Woe for Mining Industry
Rio Tinto built its most technologically advanced mine in western Australia. The Gudai-Darri mine employs 600 workers on site, also >70 in a control center i...
Read More →
Opinion: Inflation Hurtles to Highest Since 1981
Inflation accelerated to 9.1% in June, the highest rate since 1981. Prices for gasoline, household energy, groceries and shelter rose 60%, 22%, 12% and 6%, resp...
Read More →
Opinion: McKinsey Global Survey on Digital Strategy and Investments
Per McKinsey, company adoption and strategic importance of digital technologies have grown dramatically. However, most firms achieve less than one-third of the ...
Read More →
Opinion: Robot Sales Continue to Surge in North America
While companies are concerned about inflation, they continue to increase investments in automation. In 1Q22, they purchased the most robots ever in a single qua...
Read More →
Opinion: Businesses’ Role in Climate Fight Grows
Governments hit by food/fuel shortages due to the Ukraine war are less focused on climate change. Businesses are taking a bigger role to cut rising temperatures...
Read More →
Opinion: Cat Litter Could be Antidote for Climate Change, Researchers Say
MIT researchers say they have found a potent new tool in the fight against #globalwarming . It is basically cat litter. Their findings could greatly reduce the...
Read More →
Opinion: A.T. Kearney – 2021 U.S. Reshoring Index
A.T. Kearney’s Reshoring Index highlights a shift in sentiment. Thanks to the pandemic, trade wars, tariffs and supply chain snafus, American companies are gett...
Read More →
Opinion: What Retail Inventory Misses and Markdowns Signal About the Market’s Fight Against Inflation
A big risk to the economy is the inventory swing. Companies worry about not having enough inventory, so order a lot. As demand softens, they end up with too muc...
Read More →
Opinion: Volkswagen Rethinks Globalization
Volkswagen AG has faced a cascade of crises – COVID, brittle supply chains, chip shortages, rising raw material prices, now war. They are rethinking globalizati...
Read More →
Opinion: Battle for Materials Slows Oil Drillers
The oil industry is running out of workers, cash and equipment to produce more oil. Inflation is also hitting hard, raising prices for everything. Drillers fac...
Read More →
Opinion: Companies Weave ‘Supply Webs’
As risks to global supply chains grow, it is important to cultivate multiple sources for parts/materials. The U.S.-China trade war, COVID-19, then the Russian i...
Read More →
Opinion: Restaurants Look to Connect with Consumers in Metaverse
The Wendy's Company’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill are testing new experiences in virtual worlds to explore the potential of the metaverse, a virtual environment ...
Read More →
Opinion: Inflation Hits 40-Year High, Reaching 8.5%
Inflation hit a 40-year high of 8.5% in March. Prices for used cars/trucks, energy, air travel and food were 35%, 32%, 24% and 9% higher, respectively, than a y...
Read More →
Opinion: Does the Czinger 21C Supercar Herald the 3D-Printed Future of Car Making?
The Czinger Vehicles 21C supercar isn’t just fast, it’s revolutionary. it might change how cars are manufactured – from Henry Ford’s assembly line to additive m...
Read More →
Opinion: Your Drone Delivery is Here
Drone deliveries are taking off. After years of hype, companies are beginning commercial operations and the FAA is testing an air-traffic control system for unm...
Read More →
Opinion: Companies Race to Build Digital Twins in the Metaverse
As the metaverse expands, businesses are adding tools to fill the virtual void. They are also targeting a younger audience that is growing up in immersive 3D wo...
Read More →
Opinion: Panasonic Gets Factory to Zero Emissions
Panasonic, one of the largest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases (5x the size of Apple) is under pressure to cut emissions. They recently achieved “virtual...
Read More →
Opinion: U.S. Workers Poised to be More Productive
The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported that productivity rose by 1.9% in 2021, after gains of 2% in 2019 and 2.4% in 2020. Productivity is particularly...
Read More →
Opinion: Inflation, Supply Delays Wallop Small Businesses
Small firms are bearing the brunt of supply chain snarls and rising prices, forcing many to tap cash reserves or take on debt to survive. Large companies have t...
Read More →
Opinion: GM, VW Build up Battery Supply Chains Amid EV Push
Automakers are again embracing vertical integration, similar to the early days of the auto industry. Multiple manufacturers seek to control more of their supply...
Read More →
Opinion: Sanctions Deliver a Blow to Globalization Dream
The free trade vision of the past 30 years is fracturing. Russian sanctions are the latest blow, but the concept of globalization, nations trading with few barr...
Read More →
Opinion: The Russia Ukraine War Could Have Dire Impacts on Global Supply Chains
The Russian invasion of Ukraine will snarl supply chains even more. Per Interos, about 4,000 U.S. and European firms have Tier 1 suppliers in Russia or Ukraine,...
Read More →
Opinion: Inflation Speeds to 40-Year High
U.S. inflation reached a 40-year high in January, rising to a 7.5% annual rate. Prices rose sharply for food, vehicles, shelter and electricity. Businesses are...
Read More →
Opinion: Stores Move Faster to Stock Returns
Supply chain snarls continue to limit availability of new inventory. Retailers are responding by getting returned items on-sale faster, particularly as e-Commer...
Read More →
Opinion: American Eagle in $350 Million Logistics Deal
AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS INC. (AEO) acquired Quiet Logistics for $350 MM in November. This was their second logistics-related purchase in 2021 as retailers str...
Read More →
Opinion: Business Grapples with Inventories
Companies are wrestling with how big their inventory should be. Many firms got stuck with too much inventory when COVID hit demand. Many firms are short of stoc...
Read More →
Opinion: Q3 Robot Orders Put 2021 on Track for Biggest Year Yet
Strong robot sales in 3Q21 brought total YTD orders to 29,000 units and $1.48B, record numbers for the North American robotics market according to the Associati...
Read More →
Opinion: Shortages Could Soon Become Gluts
Bottlenecks and strong demand have rekindled inflation. Based on the November CPI, price increases for new cars, men’s apparel and furniture hit record levels. ...
Read More →
Opinion: Pharma Industry Trends and Solutions in 2021
Growing on-line purchases and labor shortages are forcing pharma to rethink distribution. Some manufacturers want to move distribution in-house, automate tasks ...
Read More →
Opinion: EY CEO Imperative Study
EY surveyed 305 CEOs to reveal perspectives on the future enterprise. Thriving companies are building for the future and increasing transformation spend; surviv...
Read More →
Opinion: CEOs Rethink Global-Production Playbook
With global trade slowed and bad weather increasing, businesses are rethinking the status quo in favor of reliability, even if it costs more. Some are moving pr...
Read More →
Opinion: Walmart investing in DroneUp
Using drones for retail deliveries is within reach. Walmart recently invested in DroneUp, the nationwide on-demand drone delivery provider, to continue growing ...
Read More →
Opinion: Your Hot Tub and the Snarled Supply Chain
Hot-tub maker Bullfrog Spas saw demand rise due to COVID, but its global supply chain is snarled. On a typical day, its UT factory gets 40,000 gallons of chemic...
Read More →
Opinion: The Fry Cook That Never Calls in Sick
Fast food companies continue to face staff shortages and wage inflation. While many use self-serve ordering kiosks and other tech tools to automate customer-fac...
Read More →
Opinion: Chinese Factories Struggle to Find Workers
Labor shortages are gripping China as young people shun factory jobs and migrant workers stay home. With demand for Chinese goods surging, factory owners can’t ...
Read More →
Opinion: Seven Lessons on how Technology Transformations can Deliver Value
McKinsey & Company annual IT strategy survey shows how technology investments are proving their worth. They highlight seven lessons. Key messages include: ...
Read More →
Opinion: Data Integrity Trends
Business of Data by Corinium recently published survey results on how 300+ data executives manage enterprise data assets to fuel reliable data-driven decision-m...
Read More →
Opinion: Port Productivity
U.S. ports are severely stressed. For example, West Coast ports face booming import/export levels from Asian trade, staffing shortages, container congestion, ba...
Read More →
Opinion: Time is Money in Transport Snarl
COVID continues to snarl global supply chains. Inventories are low. Prices are high. Shipping delays are rife. Average price worldwide to ship a 40-foot contai...
Read More →
Opinion: Many Jobs Lost in Pandemic to be Eliminated Permanently
While job openings are at record levels, many employers say they will need fewer employees in the future. COVID pushed companies to invest in automation and imp...
Read More →
Opinion: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Per Simio Software, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), aka software robots, automates routine rule-based processes using configured script and AI/machine learnin...
Read More →
Opinion: Shipping Squeeze Punishes Small Business
Long delivery waits and higher costs are hurting efforts of small/midsize businesses to benefit from the rising economy. As large companies rush to restock, sma...
Read More →
Opinion: For Polaris, Parts Decide What Gets Made
Polaris Inc. , the leading maker of off-road vehicles in the U.S., has been hit hard by parts shortages. They change strategies on the fly to cope with parts de...
Read More →
Opinion: Worker and Material Shortages
Factory orders are rising fast, but problems abound. Factories face shortages of parts/workers, rising raw material costs, supply chain disruptions and logistic...
Read More →
Opinion: Inflation Jitters
June consumer prices rose 5.4% from 2020, the biggest surge in 13 years. Prices rose for many products including used cars and trucks, airline fares, apparel an...
Read More →
Opinion: Disruptive Manufacturing
Disruptive companies are changing the rules of the game in manufacturing. Relativity Space (RS) is a great example using 3D-printing to build its Terran 1 rocke...
Read More →
Opinion: Just In Time (JIT) Manufacturing
COVID, freak weather, chip shortages and other factors have automakers re-thinking the Just In Time (JIT) approach. JIT, where goods are received as needed, cut...
Read More →
Opinion: Factory of the Future
Per Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Factory of the Future is a vision for how to enhance manufacturing by improving plant structure, digitization and processes. ...
Read More →
Opinion: US Economy and Businesses Catching Up
The U.S. economy is roaring back to life. Demand for many items is soaring. But many companies can’t catch up due to production bottlenecks, labor shortages, su...
Read More →
Opinion: Cruise Ships Return
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a Conditional Sailing Order to keep cruise ships from sailing in the U.S. to prevent COVID. The Cruise ...
Read More →
Opinion: Supply Problems Impact Global Manufacturing
A flurry of supply problems have slammed global manufacturing. Many companies are having trouble keeping up with demand, facing delays and cost increases, also ...
Read More →
Opinion: Fast Food Drive-Thrus
Fast food drive-thrus are morphing. Traditional single lane, garbled intercom and window payment/pickup are poised to become a relic of the past. Starbucks emp...
Read More →
Opinion: Supply Chain Bottlenecks
Many factories are struggling to keep up with demand. Supply chain bottlenecks are a big factor, including product shortages from overseas contract manufacturer...
Read More →
Opinion: Solar Energy
Renewable energy is a major focus of Biden Harris Administration. Solar farms, including large collections of photovoltaic panels for capturing energy, converti...
Read More →
Opinion: Nuclear Power
Nuclear accounts for one-fifth of U.S. electricity generation and half of carbon-free power. There are 94 nuclear reactors at 56 plants in 28 states. Each reac...
Read More →
Opinion: Supply Chain Stress Tests
The White House is studying whether supply chains for key industries should be stress tested due to semiconductor shortages impacting the auto industry. Stress ...
Read More →
Opinion: Vaccine Manufacturing
Billions of COVID vaccine doses need to be produced. Contract manufacturing by third parties is critical, for large companies like Pfizer with mass production e...
Read More →
Opinion: Defense Production Act (DPA)
The U.S. faced shortages of supplies needed to address COVID-19. The Defense Production Act (DPA) enabled the President to compel domestic companies to manufact...
Read More →
Opinion: Site Management for Vaccine Administration
COVID vaccinations are moving to ever larger sites. FEMA is planning to operate up to 100 federally run mass vaccination facilities. The National Football Leagu...
Read More →
Opinion: Climate Change and Energy
One of Pres. Biden’s top priorities is tackling climate change. Wind power, onshore and offshore, is one solution, with linkage to smart grids optimizing renewa...
Read More →
Opinion: Introduction to Biden Priorities and How MOSIMTEC Can Help
A new administration brings new priorities. Four top focus areas for President Biden are COVID-19, climate change, the economy and healthcare. Each area presen...
Read More →
Opinion: Updated Data Governance and Management
Data is a strategic asset, critical for managing and leveraging current/emerging technologies. You need to pay as much attention to your data as you do to hard ...
Read More →
Opinion: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a common manufacturing KPI for equipment productivity. If OEE is 100%, a work center is considered at full capability d...
Read More →
Opinion: Smart Factories and Industry 4.0
One benefit of Industry 4.0 is smart factories. Per SAP, these are “highly digitized, largely autonomous facilities that take full advantage of advanced technol...
Read More →
Opinion: Automation in Industry 4.0
Robots are a pillar of Industry 4.0. Per SAP, autonomous mobile robots (AMR) vary greatly in size and function, from inventory scanning drones to robots for pic...
Read More →
Opinion: Big Data and Its Relationship to Industry 4.0
Big Data is a pillar of Industry 4.0. Per SAP, data is “collected from a wide range of sources, from factory equipment and IoT devices to ERP and CRM systems…An...
Read More →
Opinion: Introduction to Industry 4.0
We’re in the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). Per SAP, it takes automation/computerization to the next level via digital industrial technology, powered...
Read More →
Opinion: Future of Warehousing
COVID hit warehouses hard. Demand surged for some items, crashed for others. Staffing was hit by the virus, also by social distance requirements. Demand for eCo...
Read More →
Opinion: Management Consulting in 2020
Management consulting was down 13% in 2020. According to Source Global Research (SGR), HR, strategy and operational improvement projects were down 28%, 19% and ...
Read More →
Opinion: Supply Chain Reorganization
Per Gartner, one-third of companies have or plan to move their supply chains out of China by 2023. Alternatives include reshoring to the U.S., Vietnam, India an...
Read More →
Opinion: Drones
Drones are everywhere! There are more startups, users, uses and excitement every day. Amazon recently won FAA approval for its Prime Air drone delivery fleet, ...
Read More →
Opinion: Covid Vaccine for LDCs
The vaccine cold chain from factory to syringe is challenging, but particularly in least developed countries (LDCs). Three billion people live in countries with...
Read More →
Opinion: Mine-to-Market Value Chain
Per McKinsey & Company, the mine-to-market value chain can unlock value for mining companies. Focus on end-to-end processes (mining, processing, transportat...
Read More →
Opinion: Bubbles
Multiple sports have used pandemic-safe bubbles to protect athletes from COVID. The NBA and NHL were very effective, with MLB and NFL less so. Other industries...
Read More →
Opinion: Distributors
COVID is giving distributors a headache. Companies are experiencing unprecedented drops in demand and explosive increases in demand in other areas. Despite the ...
Read More →
Opinion: Domino's Pizza Innovates
COVID hit restaurants hard. Per The Wall Street Journal, >15,000 failed since the pandemic began, but Domino's Pizza thrived. How did they do it? Domino’s i...
Read More →
Opinion: Healthcare and Flu Season
Healthcare will be tested this fall by COVID and flu season. Hospitals, clinics and medical offices are in danger of being overwhelmed. Already high demand for ...
Read More →
Opinion: Cold Storage Supply Chain
Billions of vaccine doses are produced annually. Most all require cold storage; 25% lose effectiveness due to temperature excursions outside the required range ...
Read More →
Opinion: Batteries
Industrial batteries are everywhere – cars, drones, robots, and more – and technology is changing fast. Battery performance powers asset performance so battery ...
Read More →
Opinion: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. Spending on AI soft...
Read More →
Opinion: Ski Industry
The U.S. ski industry lost $2 Billion in revenue last winter due to COVID-19. An early outbreak in the pandemic was at a ski festival in Idaho where >100 ski...
Read More →
Opinion: Digitization
South Korea is showing us where the world is headed. The government announced a Digital New Deal to focus on big data, AI and 5G, and aims to be the world’s 3rd...
Read More →
Opinion: Cruise Lines
Cruise ships were growing fast until they became a poster child for COVID-19. As of early May, >40 ships had cases, some weren’t allowed to dock, and multipl...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID and New Normal
When COVID hit, companies went into crisis mode. After 6 months, they’re getting visibility into today’s reality. Chevron is planning for lower oil prices. Equ...
Read More →
Opinion: Robotics
Here come the robots! While robotics was already a national trend, COVID-19 has taken it to the next level. Robots are popping up everywhere for health/efficie...
Read More →
Opinion: Sports
Sports are a sanctuary. They give us the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. They’re coming back to life, in fits and starts, but are they doing enough to pr...
Read More →
Opinion: Automation
Interest in warehouse automation is surging, based on a survey of warehouse operators by Intelligrated. E-Commerce (66%), Grocery, Food and Beverage (59%) and L...
Read More →
Opinion: School Reopening
Schools are in a bind. Kids need to learn, parents need to work, teachers need to teach, but COVID is an ever-present danger. School decisions are local. All m...
Read More →
Opinion: Business Models
A business model is a company’s plan for making a profit, including products, services, markets, pricing and cost. But models come and go. You need to keep them...
Read More →
Opinion: Hospitality
COVID decimated hotels. Occupancy rates fell to 22% in April, but rose to 48% in the week ending 7/25. Per The Wall Street Journal, automation and AI are key to...
Read More →
Opinion: Oil and Gas
Per The Wall Street Journal, COVID is transforming oil drilling from on-site specialists, who steer drill bits and interpret well data, to remote engineers ofte...
Read More →
Opinion: Supply Chain
Per WSJ, packaged food companies are struggling to keep shelves stocked, so have changed procurement strategies. General Mills temporarily increased the number ...
Read More →
Opinion: Vertical Farms
Per Wall Street Journal, COVID has disrupted food supply chains. Shortages have emerged. Prices have risen. Crops have been dumped. The future of cities is als...
Read More →
Opinion: Private Equity and Investment Modeling
At the end of June, private equity's $1.48 Trillion in dry powder has done little to help the companies they own. Thirty-four PE-backed companies went bankrupt ...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Retail Carnage
The impact of COVID on retailers is growing. Bankruptcies are soaring, with Ascena Retail Group, parent of Ann Taylor/Lane Bryant, Tailored Brands, parent of Me...
Read More →
Opinion: Material Replenishment Strategies
Manufacturers of multiple products and product lines face a common problem: how to support parts replenishment for assembly lines. If you don’t do it right, par...
Read More →
Opinion: Break the China Habit
New York Times focused on businesses looking to “reshore” supply chains. Japan has funded $2.2B to help companies shift production out of China. European trade ...
Read More →
Common Problems in Supply Chain Management
The modern supply chain can be complicated. Thanks to the advent of the internet, globalization, and international shipping, the average supply chain has transf...
Read More →
Opinion: Pandemic to Jumpstart Spending on Data Tools at Manufacturers
Wall Street Journal recently reported demand growth for data tools at factories. Manufacturers have recognized the value of data/sensors to remotely monitor pla...
Read More →
Bottlenecks in Supply Chains Worldwide Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has created a massive disruption in the global supply chain. Avenues of trade that were once taken for granted have now been ...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Safety Protocols
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted problems at factories post COVID-19. Some have jumbled supply chains; others are less efficient due to social dista...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19's Impact on Management Consulting
COVID-19 hit management consulting hard. Current projections by Source Global Research are that global consulting will drop 16% in 2020, with similar impact in ...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Grocery Shopping
COVID changed grocery shopping. Customers cut stores of choice, changed shopping days, shifted browsing to rushing, and moved from favorite brand to any brand. ...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Oil Prices
Oil was hit by dual shocks – COVID-19 crushed demand and a Saudi-Russia price war piled on. While prices are now rising, it’s doubtful oil markets will return t...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and the Rail Business
Freight railroads have hit a rough patch. While PSR improved performance, COVID has dealt a severe blow. Carloads fell 28% and intermodal dropped 13% in May fro...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Mining Business
COVID has taken a toll on mining. Demand and prices for many commodities remain weak and volatile. Many mines are idle. Staff have taken pay cuts or unpaid leav...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Online Retailers
COVID-19 has not treated retailers equally. Companies that sell necessities , like Amazon and Walmart, have surged while those selling non-essentials have tanke...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Airline Industry
Airline traffic remains weak with TSA screenings 88% below 2019 pre-Memorial Day. This creates a period of reckoning for airlines/OEMs. Boeing had zero orders i...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Pharma Industry
COVID-19 has had big impacts on big Pharma. Supply chains are tested by foreign sourcing of active ingredients (APIs), generics and vaccines. Clinical trials ar...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Fast Food Industry
Fast food is big - $277B sales, 194,000 sites, 3.9M staff in 2019. But COVID-19 has taken a big bite. Most dine-in options are closed. Sales plunged 57% from Ap...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Hospitals
Hospitals face wrenching decisions and jarring changes. Demand for virus care has rocketed while elective care has plunged. There are shortages of staff, beds, ...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Drone Use
Human interactions make us happy. They help us work, play and socialize. But the biggest toll of COVID-19 is on human interactions. Every contact is now a risk,...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and the Airline Industry
COVID-19 has crushed airports. Flights are down 80%. Passengers are down 95%. Empty planes line runways. Stores and restaurants are empty. The good old days ar...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19's Effect on Manufacturing Industry
All crises cause change and COVID-19 is no different. Manufacturing is not immune. Look inward at what you do and outward at what is possible. If you snooze you...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and Supply Chains
COVID-19 is creating havoc for supply chains. Factories are shut down. Workers are at home. Demand and prices for some items have skyrocketed, while others have...
Read More →
Opinion: COVID19 and MOSIMTEC
COVID-19 is changing the way we live and work. Companies, non-profits, and government entities are faced with questions and decisions about how we return to wor...
Read More →
8 Best Practices for Manufacturing Cost Management
Photo: PixabayWhen considering managerial or cost accounting, something that is going to come up frequently is the notion of manufacturing cost management. When...
Read More →
Top 8 Business Process Improvement Methods (2021)
Photo: PixabayWhen Henry Ford reimagined the assembly line and shortened the time it took to manufacture a car from 12 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes, he was a...
Read More →
4 Types of Logistics Costs You Should Keep Track Of
Logistics are the heart of your organization’s business process. While the typical supply chain used to be small and simple, our global economy has forced to ev...
Read More →
3 Steps To Building a Sustainable Supply Chain Network (2019)
Here’s the cold hard truth - the days of worrying only about bottom line are fading...quickly. Building a sustainable supply chain is a must in 2019, and beyond...
Read More →
Intern’s experience at MOSIMTEC
Catherine Hume is an undergraduate Mathematics student at Georgia State University with a concentration in Applied Mathematics. She interned at MOSIMTEC as a Si...
Read More →
8 Notable Predictive Modeling Examples (2021)
(Source: DepositPhotos) Predictive modeling employs statistical models to forecast potential outcomes. For businesses, these outcomes could center on understan...
Read More →
3 Key Factors of Supply Chain Sustainability
(Source: DepositPhotos) In 2019, the demand for sustainable supply chains is at an all time high. There’s a growing global expectation to eliminate greenhouse e...
Read More →
6 Emerging Aerospace Trends in 2019
Photo Source: Boeing The world’s top aerospace and defense (A&D) OEMs -- Boeing and Airbus -- are driving several major new aerospace trends in 2019. And ...
Read More →
Top 9 Government Regulations to be Aware of Before Mining
As global competition intensifies, the mining industry faces more and more challenges with every passing decade. Decision makers are called upon to reduce opera...
Read More →
4 Big Disadvantages of Lean Manufacturing - A Criticism of Six Sigma’s Approach
Like every modern industry, manufacturing hasn’t made it through the millennium unscathed by rapid globalization. Most Western manufacturing companies, large or...
Read More →
From mine to motherboard - the lifecycle of silica mining towards electronics
The story of how raw silica sand is transformed into cutting-edge chip technology is a fascinating one. Beginning with mining extraction from the Earth through ...
Read More →