Schneider Electric's attempt to move its infrastructure business into the age of the industrial internet
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Interesting post! It’s great to see the potential digital technologies have to improve such a complex supply chain.
I wonder how these digital solutions have been implemented (piloted or rolled out at a large scale) and how Boeing will develop the necessary workforce to support its increased use of digital solutions. Will they rely largely on partnerships (like Microsoft), contractors, or will they seek to increase digital expertise in-house?
It’s great to learn about how a 105-year old non-profit is adapting to the digital age. I agree there is a lot of opportunity in a digital platform to stay relevant and grow the organization (both girls and adult volunteers).
A digital platform could also balance the supply and demand between volunteers beyond local geographies. Volunteers from 1 hr away could support administrative tasks for a troop and engage in-person with regular frequency. While it would be important to balance the number of local and virtual volunteers for troops, lowering the barrier to volunteer could distribute administrative tasks better for everyone.
Increasing connections across geographic boundaries could also increase girls’ access to mentors with different skill-sets. Another way to develop the value proposition of Girl Scouts would be to connect girls to more mentors who can teach them about coding, engineering, fashion, etc. in virtual setting.
Great article!
With the transition of businesses, governments, financial systems, utilities, and consumers to an increased reliance on digital solutions, I cybersecurity is certainly a significant opportunity as you mentioned. I agree that root9B must overcome its size and that this may be particularly tricky.
I wonder if they can address this talent deficit by partnering with educational institutions and creating a feeder program, or if they could grow their global business and recruit the available talent in other markets (I see they have offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, and London).
This was a great read!
From a consumer psychology perspective, it does make sense that Canyon Bikes has been able to increase sales as consumers are increasingly used to higher-risk purchases through online channels. I agree with the previous comment that for new customers the risk of buying online is even greater and it will be interesting if Canyon Bikes develop a solution to educate and upsell new customers.
As Canyon eliminates retailers and distributors, they seem to take on greater inventory risk that was previously pushed down the supply chain. I wonder if features on their website, such as the visibility of stock levels, influence consumer behavior and reduce this risk. I also wonder if this limits the product portfolio they can carry, or if they would do better with a just-in-time production model, like Dell.
After reading your post, I thought of the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment site in the greater Boston area. They use their sludge digester gas for their onsite power plant to create steam and hot water for the facility.
http://www.mwra.com/03sewer/html/renewableenergydi.htmI wonder if there are opportunities where landfills are located near other energy infrastructure to implement similar technology to Deer Island, and that proponents of plasma gasification would want to focus on stand-alone landfills.
I was intrigued to learn about the opportunities Phillips Lighting has in vertical farming.
I think it’s a great opportunity to increase the end consumer’s awareness of the brand through demonstrations as well as a great opportunity to innovate internally. I wonder if this is too niche a market for them to focus on selling GrowWise as product. Given the many opportunities Phillips Lighting and LEDs have in a larger energy efficiency infrastructure market, climate change may offer them many more areas to focus their capital investment.
They may also want to consider selling B2B to other entrants in this niche market, like Grove (https://grovegrown.com/community), and use these customer relationships to establish themselves as the best available technology partner.
Great post! Before reading your post, I did not think of the power and opportunity insurance providers have to influence companies to implement sustainability practices.
I think it would be interesting to compare AIG’s efforts against competitors (like Allstate) and understand if what they’ve done is can be replicated easily or done better. Overall, would larger, multinational companies have an advantage to diversify their “climate change risk” globally (similar to what alandon alluded to) as opposed to region and country specific providers?
Your post did a great job exploring raw material inputs in Levi’s Supply Chain. In the effort to improve the overall sustainability of their jeans’ lifecycle, they also have an opportunity to influence consumer behavior as washing jeans has a great impact on water usage.
Interestingly, their CEO recommends not washing them to save water. Not sure this is something most consumers can get behind, but it does create more attention and earned media highlighting sustainability efforts.
http://www.businessinsider.com/levis-ceo-dont-wash-your-jeans-2014-7
Great article!
-I wonder how the useful life of planes affects an airline’s ability to implement the necessary technology to reduce dependence on traditional jet fuel. Maybe, as suggested by the previous comment, this is an opportunity to work with suppliers like GE to develop small improvements than can be implemented in non-routine maintenance.
-I believe the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to a strategy to reduce GHG emissions as recently as October 7, 2016 with two goals. First to sustain an annual 2% global fuel efficiency improvement through 2050 and second to cap emissions at 2020 levels. While this is great progress, I wonder how LatAm’s efforts as an early mover will be rewarded and how they are aiming to influence policy so their early action remains a competitive advantage.