There seems to be, in some people's eyes, a dichotomy between safety and productivity. The former is regarded as a compliance issue - a chore, a headache, an imposition - a drain on productivity. Of course it partly depends on how safety is treated as an issue. Those who have used poka-yoke as an error-reducing
In the UK, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has signalled a kind of U-turn by scrapping his plans to cut tax credits and offering more money for the health service, for defence and for the police. This seems to be the end of his austerity planning - though he says he still intends to cut
Saturday 12th December has been dubbed “Out of Stock Saturday” by logistics analysts Clear Returns, as it will be the day when the largest number of UK retailers’ stock will be tied up in the returns loop and unavailable to buy. They know this as it happens every year. So does Christmas! Yet peak, seasonal
The title of this post is one of those things our parents taught us when we were kids. It was suggested that we should prioritise our support towards those who were already attempting their own recovery from a problem. Well, if you still subscribe to that philosophy, I urge you to contribute to the current
Do you read the wise words of the business gurus, the management thought leaders? No, me neither. Of course these guys (for they usually are guys) must have done something right to get to where they are - to achieve their fame/notoriety. But that doesn't mean they can necessarily create simple, pithy messages of use
The third Albion Growth Report, designed to shed light on the factors that both create and impede growth among over 1,000 UK SMEs, highlights significant regional differences in tackling the productivity gap: 54 per cent of business owners in the South West said they will increase productivity over the next two years followed by 52 per cent of those in Yorkshire,
The World Productivity Congress is proving to be very interesting. Just before the event I read an article by Robert Gordon about the state of US productivity, the gist of which was that the major innovations of the period 1870-1970 fuelled productivity growth but now we have 'used them up' and productivity is stagnating, compounded
Big Data Analytics for Productivity Date: 19th-22nd October 2015 This Congress was run in partnership with the Big Data conference from October 19-22, 2015 on the theme of Big Data Analytics for Productivity. Programme Former Chairman of the Chinese Association of Productivity Science - Wang Maolin Chinese Association for Productivity Science
The theme for the XVIIth Congress held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 19th – 21st October was Big Data for Productivity: Everything Changes. The Congress was held in partnership with the Big Data Congress and was a big success - importantly establishing the productivity impact of Big Data ... but recognising the context
I am in Halifax (Nova Scotia) for the World Productivity Congress (being held in partnership with the Big Data Conference). This gives me 2 (well, at least 2) opportunities. Firstly, I can meet up with old friends and contacts and find out about developments in the field of productivity across the globe. This is always