POLITICAL CARTOONS

If you read my post on a regular basis you know I don’t concentrate on politics.  I try to stick to subjects involving the STEM professions—in other words, subjects I know something about and have an interest in.  There is nothing wrong with being a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, etc.—there is everything wrong when our elected officials refuse to “throw together” to solve our most-pressing problems.  That is exactly where we are today and I’m probably not the one to solve that problem.

On a daily basis, our “state-of-the-nation” is displayed with remarkably creative and compelling political cartoons.  These guys and gals are truly good at what they do and provide a pictorial summary of where we are as a country.  A picture is truly worth a thousand words. Let’s take a very quick look.

As you well know, the Republican party is having, or has had, remarkable difficulty in fixing or repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act—or Obamacare as it has come to be known as.  I suspect, but do not know, it may be because there is no suitable replacement.

The cartoon above provides a glimpse into a terrible situation existing in our country today. Opioid-related deaths have reached an all-time high in the United States. More than 47,000 people died in 2014, and the numbers are rising. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month released prescribing guidelines to help primary care physicians safely treat chronic pain while reducing opioid dependency and abuse.  That’s where we are in this country.

Senator John McCain cast the deciding vote that killed Congressional efforts to repeal the HCA.  It was dramatic and certainly made the point.  The JPEG below tells the story also.

Our new Director of Communications for the Fed is Anthony Scaramucci and boy does he know how to make a first impression.  I’m probably one of an ever-growing few who remember my mama telling me she was going to wash my mouth out with soap if I did not mind my peas and ques.   Maybe Anthony needs to listen to my mama.  Do we really need another trash-talker in la Casa Blanca?

Washington D.C. leaks like a fifteen-year-old garden hose.  I would definitely hate trying to keep a secret within the beltway.  Imagine you’re a somewhat senior government official — one who doesn’t get a lot of face time with the president, but who has access to pretty important information — and you need to send a message to President Donald Trump. You can try to write him a memo, or get the message into a briefing paper his staff is preparing. But the staff is trying to squeeze a ton of information into the incredibly narrow aperture of “what the president is actually going to read.  Your message had better be less than a page (ideally a lot less, so that it can fit on a page with all the other messages all the other officials like you are trying to send). It had better include a visual aid — a map is good.  Or you can go the easier route: You can just leak the information to someone so that it ends up on Fox & Friends.

The picture above is one of my favorite.  Senator Jeff Sessions was the very first to indorse Donald John Trump for the Presidency.  Apparently, loyalty does not work both ways. If I were Sessions, I would be cleaning out my desk right now.

As always, I welcome your comments.

 

OPIOID CRISIS AND THE WORKPLACE

The publication EfficientGov indicates the following: “The opioid crisis is creating a workforce epidemic leading to labor shortage and workplace safety and performance challenges.”

Opioid-related deaths have reached an all-time high in the United States. More than 47,000 people died in 2014, and the numbers are rising. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month released prescribing guidelines to help primary care physicians safely treat chronic pain while reducing opioid dependency and abuse. Given that the guidelines are not binding, how will the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services make sure they make a difference? What can payers and providers do to encourage a countrywide culture shift?

The opioid epidemic is also having widespread effects on many industries relative to labor shortages, workplace safety and worker performance.  Managers and owners are trying to figure out methods to deal with drug-addicted workers and job applicants.  HR managers cite the opioid crisis as one of their biggest challenges. Applicants are unwilling or unable to pass drug tests, employees are increasingly showing signs of addiction on the job and there are workers with opioid prescriptions having significant performance problems.

Let’s take a very quick look at only three employers and what they say about the crisis.

• Clyde McClellan used to require a drug test before people could work at his Ohio pottery company, which produces 2,500 hand-cast coffee mugs a day for Starbucks and others. Now, he skips the tests and finds it more efficient to flat-out ask applicants: “What are you on?”
• At Homer Laughlin China, a company that makes a colorful line of dishware known as Fiesta and employs 850 at a sprawling complex in Newell, W.V., up to half of applicants either fail or refuse to take mandatory pre-employment drug screens, said company president Liz McIlvain. “The drugs are so cheap and they’re so easily accessible,” McIlvain, a fourth-generation owner of the company, said. “We have a horrible problem here.”
• “That is really the battlefield for us right now,” said Markus Dietrich,global manager of employee assistance and work-life services at chemical giant DuPont, which employs 46,000 worldwide.

As you might suspect, the epidemic is having a devastating effect on companies — large and small — and their ability to stay competitive. Managers and owners across the country are at a loss in how to deal with addicted workers and potential workers, calling the issue one of the biggest problems they face. Applicants are increasingly unwilling or unable to pass drug tests; then there are those who pass only to show signs of addiction once employed. Even more confounding: how to respond to employees who have a legitimate prescription for opioids but whose performance slips.  There are those individuals who have a need for pain-killers and to deny them would be difficult, but how do you deal with this if you are a manager and fear issues and potential law suites when there is over use?

The issue is amplifying labor shortages in industries like trucking, which has had difficulty for the last six (6) years finding qualified workers and drivers.  It is also pushing employers to broaden their job searches, recruiting people from greater distances when roles can’t be filled with local workers. At stake is not only safety and productivity within companies — but the need for humans altogether, with some manufacturers claiming opioids force them to automate work faster.

One corporate manager said: “You’re going to see manufacturing jobs slowly going away for, if nothing else, that reason alone.   “It’s getting worse, not better.”

Economists have noticed also. In Congressional testimony earlier this month, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen related opioid use to a decline in the labor participation rate. The past three Fed surveys on the economy, known as the Beige Book, explicitly mentioned employers’ struggles in finding applicants to pass drug tests as a barrier to hiring. The surveys, snapshots of economic conditions in the Fed’s twelve (12) districts, don’t mention the type of drugs used.   A Congressional hearing in June of this year focused on opioids and their economic consequences, Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine estimated that forty (40) percent of applicants in the state either failed or refused a drug test. This prevents people from operating machinery, driving a truck or getting a job managing a McDonald’s, he said.

OK, what should a manufacturer do to lessen or hopefully eliminate the problem?  There have been put forth several suggestions, as follows:

Policy Option 1: Medical Education– Opioid education is crucial at all levels, from medical school and residency, through continuing education; and must involve primary care, specialists, mental health providers, pharmacies, emergency departments, clinics and patients. The push to increase opioid education must come from medical schools, academic medical centers, accrediting organizations and possibly state legislatures.

Policy Option 2: Continuing Medical Education– Emphasize the importance of continuing medical education (CME) for practicing physicians. CME can be strengthened by incorporating the new CDC guidelines, and physicians should learn when and how to safely prescribe these drugs and how to handle patients with drug-seeking behavior.

Policy Option 3: Public Education– Emphasize the need to address patient demand, not just physician supply, for opioids. It compared the necessary education to the campaign to reduce demand for antibiotics. The public needs to learn about the harms as well as the benefits of these powerful painkillers, and patients must understand that their pain can be treated with less-dangerous medications, or nonpharmacological interventions like physical therapy or acupuncture. Such education could be spearheaded by various physician associations and advocacy groups, with support from government agencies and officials at HHS and elsewhere.

Policy Option 4: Removing Perverse Incentives and Payment Barriers– Prescribing decisions are influenced by patient satisfaction surveys and insurance reimbursement practices, participants said. Patient satisfaction surveys are perceived — not necessarily accurately — as making it harder for physicians to say “no” to patients who are seeking opioids. Long-standing insurance practices, such as allowing only one pain prescription to be filled a month, are also encouraging doctors to prescribe more pills than a patient is likely to need — adding to the risk of overuse, as well as chance of theft, sale or other diversion of leftover drugs.

Policy Option 5: Solutions through Technology– Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) could be important tools in preventing opioid addiction, but several barriers stand in the way. The PDMP data are incomplete; for instance, a physician in Washington, D.C., can’t see whether a patient is also obtaining drugs in Maryland or Virginia. The records are not user friendly; and they need to be integrated into EHRs so doctors can access them both — without additional costs piled on by the vendors. It could be helpful if certain guidelines, like defaults for dosing and prescribing, were baked into the electronic records.

Policy Option 6: Access to addiction treatment and reducing stigma—There is a need to change how the country thinks about — and talks about — addiction and mental illness. Substance abuse treatment suffers when people with addiction are treated as criminals or deviants. Instead, substance abuse disorder should be treated as an illness, participants recommended. High deductibles in health plans, including Obamacare exchange plans, create another barrier to substance abuse treatment.

CONCLUSIONS:  I don’t really know how we got here but we are a country with a very very “deep bench”.  We know how to do things, so let’s put all of our resources together to solve this very troublesome problem.

THE USS GERALD R. FORD

This past Saturday the U.S. Navy commissioned its most powerful warship yet: the USS Gerald Ford.  The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is outfitted with state-of-the-art technology and capacity for more aircraft and weaponry than ever before. A digital photograph of the carrier is given below.  As you can see, it is a massive vessel with a length of 1,106-feet; comparing to the size of approximately three football fields. The extra room allows for an expanded flight deck making it easier for jets and drones to maneuver. Additionally, it features a better-positioned “island” structure, giving the captain of the ship improved visibility.

It features an electromagnetic launch system and advanced arresting gear for faster and more efficient take-offs and landings. The vessel is outfitted with touchscreen navigation display in place of a traditional throttle and is equipped with a reactor plant that can power the ship for up to twenty (20) years without refueling. Imagine, twenty (20) years without refueling!

With more than double the electrical capacity and automated equipment, means the ship can sail more efficiently with at least six hundred (600) crew members. Once officially deployed in 2020, it will house 2,600 sailors.  The Navy says this manning level will save more than four ($4) billion over the ship’s fifty (50)-year lifespan.

Built by Huntington Ingalls Industries, the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the first new aircraft carrier design since USS Nimitz (CVN 68), or the first new design in about forty (40) years.  The Navy has ordered three of these Ford-class carriers -combined price tag approximately forty-two ($42 billion) of which this is the very first.

This first CVN 78 is named after former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford to pay tribute to his lifetime of service to the nation in the Navy and the U.S. government. During World War II, Ford was a Navy lieutenant commander serving on the light carrier USS Monterey (a CVL 26).

The Ford class is designed with sailors and safety in mind. The design incorporates features to improve quality of life on board and to make maintenance easier. A great deal of consideration was put into improved survivability against a wide range of current and anticipated future threats.  Obviously, that helps keeps sailors safer.  The digital photograph below will give you some idea as to areas of improved survivability.

The military will be able to launch about 33 percent more aircraft than it can from the older carriers. The more aircraft the military can launch, the more bombs it can hit a target with.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 1,092 feet: The length of the Ford.
• 256 feet: Flight deck width.
• 100,000 long tons: Approximate displacement with a full load.
• 4,550: Approximate crew, including sailors, supporting air wing and staff.
• 75 or more: Aircraft.
• 2: Nuclear reactors.
• 30 or more knots: Speed (that’s 34.5 miles per hour, for the layman)
• Advanced arresting gear.
• Automation, allowing a crew of several hundred fewer than the Nimitz-class carrier.
• The updated RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow
• An AN/SPY-3X Band multifunction radar and an AN/SPY-4 S Band volume search radar. Designated together as Dual Band Radar (DBR), initially developed for the Zumwalt-class destroyers.
• An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System(EMALS) in place of traditional steam catapults for launching aircraft.
• Stealth featuresto reduce radar cross-section.
• The ability to carry up to 90 aircraft, including the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawkhelicopters, and unmanned combat aerial vehicles such as the Northrop Grumman X-47B.

I have a sneaking feeling there are other marvelous improvements but those are certainly classified.  All-in-all, this is one mean machine and with our ageing fleet of naval ships, a very welcomed addition.

DUNKIRK

My wife and I love to go to the movies. Please note, I said GO to the movies.  We don’t really enjoy downloading a “flick” and watching at home although admittedly, sometimes it is very convenient.  Due to a serious illness our oldest son, today was our first movie in eleven (11) weeks.  We chose to see the movie DUNKIRK.  I’m a little embarrassed to tell you I had to pull up a map to see exactly where Dunkirk is.  Take a look.

The evacuation of troops trapped on Dunkirk, was called a “miracle” by Sir Winston Churchill. As the Wehrmacht swept through western Europe in the spring of 1940, using Blitzkrieg, both the French and British armies could not stop the onslaught. For the people in western Europe, World War Two (WWII) was about to start for real.

The advancing German Army trapped the British and French armies on the beaches around Dunkirk. 330,000 men were trapped in this location and they were definitely a convenient target for the Germans. Admiral Ramsey, based in Dover, formulated Operation Dynamo remove from the beaches as many men as was possible. The British troops, led by Lord John Gort, were professional soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force; trained men that British could not afford to lose. From May 26th 1940, small private ships transferred soldiers to larger ones which then brought them back to a port in southern Britain.

The beach at Dunkirk was a shallow slope so larger boats could not get close enough to rescue the men where they were. Therefore, smaller boats were needed to take on board men who would then be transferred to larger vessels based further off shore. Eight hundred (800) legendary “little ships” were used. It is thought that the smallest boat to make the journey across the Channel was the Tamzine – an eighteen (18) foot open topped fishing boat now on display at the Imperial War Museum, London.

Despite attacks from German fighters and bombers, the Wehrmacht never launched a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk. Panzer tank crews awaited the order from Hitler which never came. In his memoirs, Field Marshall Rundstadt, the German commander-in-chief in France during the 1940 campaign, called Hitler’s failure to order a full-scale attack on the troops on Dunkirk his first fatal mistake of the war. That 338,000 soldiers were evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk would seem to uphold this view.  One of the reason for his reluctance in not ordering an attack was the belief Britain had suffered from the might of the Wehrmacht once and this experience would be sufficient for the island country to come to peace with Hitler. The total destruction of the British Expeditionary Force might have created such a climate of revenge in Britain that involvement would be prolonged. We will never know the true reason.

THE MOVIE:

I definitely enjoyed the movie but if you go expecting a “shoot’em up” you may as well stay at home and watch the national news.  There is very little dialogue in this picture but, in my opinion, this does not detract from the movie itself.  It is meant to be a visual experience which it certainly is.  No blood and gore, either which I feel was intentional on the part of writer/director Christopher Nolan.

Dunkirk was filmed on large format 65mm by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema and, in my opinion, is incredible.  Even more impressive, there are virtually no computer effects in this one.  Instead of opting for digital effects including real images of battleships going under and planes crashing; an image of men trying to escape from an ocean engulfed by oil and fire feels as claustrophobic and horrific as it sounds. Also on display is Nolan’s fascination with time, each story living in different chronologies — a week, a day, an hour — that eventually come together and overlap. Technically speaking, Dunkirk is as impressive by any standard.

I have no idea as to how this movie will do at the box office but I was very surprised that Carmike Cinemas chose to show it in one of their smaller theaters.  There is significant competition right now at the movies with several very good offerings.  I just hope the production team gets a fair return on their investment. I definitely can recommend it to you.

As always, I welcome your comments.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

Portions of the following post were taken from an article by Rob Spiegel publishing through Design News Daily.

Two former Apple design engineers – Anna Katrina Shedletsky and Samuel Weiss have leveraged machine learning to help brand owners improve their manufacturing lines. The company, Instrumental , uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and fix problems with the goal of helping clients ship on time. The AI system consists of camera-equipped inspection stations that allow brand owners to remotely manage product lines at their contact manufacturing facilities with the purpose of maximizing up-time, quality and speed. Their digital photo is shown as follows:

Shedletsky and Weiss took what they learned from years of working with Apple contract manufacturers and put it into AI software.

“The experience with Apple opened our eyes to what was possible. We wanted to build artificial intelligence for manufacturing. The technology had been proven in other industries and could be applied to the manufacturing industry,   it’s part of the evolution of what is happening in manufacturing. The product we offer today solves a very specific need, but it also works toward overall intelligence in manufacturing.”

Shedletsky spent six (6) years working at Apple prior to founding Instrumental with fellow Apple alum, Weiss, who serves Instrumental’s CTO (Chief Technical Officer).  The two took their experience in solving manufacturing problems and created the AI fix. “After spending hundreds of days at manufacturers responsible for millions of Apple products, we gained a deep understanding of the inefficiencies in the new-product development process,” said Shedletsky. “There’s no going back, robotics and automation have already changed manufacturing. Intelligence like the kind we are building will change it again. We can radically improve how companies make products.”

There are number examples of big and small companies with problems that prevent them from shipping products on time. Delays are expensive and can cause the loss of a sale. One day of delay at a start-up could cost $10,000 in sales. For a large company, the cost could be millions. “There are hundreds of issues that need to be found and solved. They are difficult and they have to be solved one at a time,” said Shedletsky. “You can get on a plane, go to a factory and look at failure analysis so you can see why you have problems. Or, you can reduce the amount of time needed to identify and fix the problems by analyzing them remotely, using a combo of hardware and software.”

Instrumental combines hardware and software that takes images of each unit at key states of assembly on the line. The system then makes those images remotely searchable and comparable in order for the brand owner to learn and react to assembly line data. Engineers can then take action on issues. “The station goes onto the assembly line in China,” said Shedletsky. “We get the data into the cloud to discover issues the contract manufacturer doesn’t know they have. With the data, you can do failure analysis and reduced the time it takes to find an issue and correct it.”

WHAT IS AI:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines.  In computer science, the field of AI research defines itself as the study of “intelligent agents“: any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal.   Colloquially, the term “artificial intelligence” is applied when a machine mimics “cognitive” functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as “learning” and “problem solving”.

As machines become increasingly capable, mental facilities once thought to require intelligence are removed from the definition. For instance, optical character recognition is no longer perceived as an example of “artificial intelligence”, having become a routine technology.  Capabilities currently classified as AI include successfully understanding human speech,  competing at a high level in strategic game systems (such as chess and Go), autonomous cars, intelligent routing in content delivery networks, military simulations, and interpreting complex data.

FUTURE:

Some would have you believe that AI IS the future and we will succumb to the “Rise of the Machines”.  I’m not so melodramatic.  I feel AI has progressed and will progress to the point where great time saving and reduction in labor may be realized.   Anna Katrina Shedletsky and Samuel Weiss realize the potential and feel there will be no going back from this disruptive technology.   Moving AI to the factory floor will produce great benefits to manufacturing and other commercial enterprises.   There is also a significant possibility that job creation will occur as a result.  All is not doom and gloom.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

About two weeks ago I visited our Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial Public Library.  The library is right downtown and performs a great service to the citizens of the tri-state area—or at one time did.  Let me explain.   I needed to check out a book on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for a course I’m writing for PDHonline.com.  PDH is the online publisher providing continuing education units (CEUs) for individuals needing twelve (12) or twenty-four (24) credit units per year.  Enough of that.

The science and technical material has always been on the second floor providing a wealth of information for gear-heads like me.  At one time, the library maintained up to date information on most subjects technical and otherwise.   I have been told in times past: “if we don’t have it—we can order it for you”.   I was absolutely amazed as to what I found.  The floor was almost vacant.  All of the technical books and material were gone.  There were no stacks—no books—no periodicals providing monthly information.  You could have turned the second floor into a bowling alley with room for a bar and grill.  (I suggested that to the librarian on my way out.)  I went over to the desk to inquire as to where were all the book.  All the technical “stuff”.  I was told the “Public Library is now focusing on cultural information and was no longer a research library. You can find most of that information on line”.  Besides, those who visit the library on a regular basis voted to eliminate our research capability”.  I inquired, ‘you mean to tell me I can check our “Fifty Shades of Grey” but can’t find information on ANY technical subject?”  I am assuming with that comment I am no longer on her Christmas card list.  It did not go over very well and by the way, I did not get a vote.  What genius made that decision anyway?  That statement also went over like a led balloon.  I left.

I decided to take a look at what complexities might be involved with getting a library card from the Library of Congress.  That lead me to obtaining information on the Library.  This is what I found.

HISTORY:

The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800.  President John Adams signed a bill providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. The legislation described a reference library for Congress only, containing “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress – and for putting up a suitable apartment for containing them therein…”

Established with $5,000 appropriated by the legislation, the original library was housed in the new Capitol until August 1814, when invading British troops set fire to the Capitol Building, burning and pillaging the contents of the small library.  Within a month, retired President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement. Jefferson had spent fifty (50) years accumulating books, “putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science”; his library was considered to be one of the finest in the United States.  In offering his collection to Congress, Jefferson anticipated controversy over the nature of his collection, which included books in foreign languages and volumes of philosophy, science, literature, and other topics not normally viewed as part of a legislative library. He wrote, “I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from their collection; there is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.”

In January 1815, Congress accepted Jefferson’s offer, appropriating $23,950 for his 6,487 books, and the foundation was laid for a great national library. The Jeffersonian concept of universality, the belief that all subjects are important to the library of the American legislature, is the philosophy and rationale behind the comprehensive collecting policies of today’s Library of Congress.

Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897, applied Jefferson’s philosophy on a grand scale and built the Library into a national institution. Spofford was responsible for the copyright law of 1870, which required all copyright applicants to send to the Library two copies of their work. This resulted in a flood of books, pamphlets, maps, music, prints, and photographs. Facing a shortage of shelf space at the Capitol, Spofford convinced Congress of the need for a new building, and in 1873 Congress authorized a competition to design plans for the new Library.

In 1886, after many proposals and much controversy, Congress authorized construction of a new Library building in the style of the Italian Renaissance in accordance with a design prepared by Washington architects John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz.  The Congressional authorization was successful because of the hard work of two key Senators: Daniel W. Voorhees (Indiana), who served as chairman of the Joint Committee from 1879 to 1881, and Justin S. Morrill (Vermont), chairman of Senate Committee on Buildings and Grounds.

In 1888, General Thomas Lincoln Casey, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, was placed in charge of construction. His chief assistant was Bernard R. Green, who was intimately involved with the building until his death in 1914. Beginning in 1892, a new architect, Edward Pearce Casey, the son of General Casey, began to supervise the interior work, including sculptural and painted decoration by more than 50 American artists. When the Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public on November 1, 1897, it was hailed as a glorious national monument and “the largest, the costliest, and the safest” library building in the world.

FACTS AND INFORMATION:

Today’s Library of Congress is an unparalleled world resource. The collection of more than 164 million items includes more than 38.6 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 70 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world’s largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings.

In fiscal year 2016 (October 2015 to September 2016), the Library of Congress …

• Responded to more than 1 million reference requests from Congress, the public and other federal agencies and delivered approximately 18,380 volumes from the Library’s collections to congressional offices
• Registered 414,269 claims to copyright through its U.S. Copyright Office
• Circulated nearly 22 million copies of Braille and recorded books and magazines to more than 800,000 blind and physically handicapped reader accounts
• Circulated more than 997,000 items for use inside and outside the Library
• Preserved more than 10.5 million items from the Library’s collections
• Recorded a total of 164,403,119 items in the collections
• 24,189,688 cataloged books in the Library of Congress classification system

• 14,660,079 items in the non-classified print collections, including books in large type and raised characters, incunabula (books printed before 1501), monographs and serials, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material
• 125,553,352 items in the non-classified (special) collections, including:
• 3,670,573 audio materials, (discs, tapes, talking books, other recorded formats)
• 70,685,319 manuscripts
• 5,581,756 maps
• 17,153,167 microforms
• 1,809,351 moving images
• 8,189,340 items of sheet music
• 15,071,355 visual materials including:

• 14,290,385 photographs
• 107,825 posters
• 673,145 prints and drawings
• 3,392,491 other items, (including machine-readable items.
• Welcomed nearly 1.8 million onsite visitors and recorded 92.8 million visits and more than 454 million-page views on the Library’s web properties
• Employed 3,149 permanent staff members
• Operated with a total fiscal 2016 appropriation of $642.04 million, including the authority to spend $42.13 million in receipts

I think anyone would admit, 2016 was a big year.  If we look at the library itself, we see the following grand structure inside and out:

As you might expect, the building itself is very imposing.

This is one view of the rotunda and the reading desks layout.

Very creative layout highlighting the arrangement in a circular pattern.

The reading desks from ground level.

CONCLUSIONS:

I intend to apply for a library card to the Library of Congress only because they have a mail-order arrangement any citizen and non-governmental type can use.  Better than buying book-after-book that probably will not be read more than once. The process is not that difficult and the paperwork is fairly straightforward, at least for the FED.

PRODUCT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

Various definitions of product lifecycle management or PLM have been issued over the years but basically: “product lifecycle management is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and manufacture, to service and disposal of manufactured products.  PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.

“In recent years, great emphasis has been put on disposal of a product after its service life has been met.  How to get rid of a product or component is extremely important. Disposal methodology is covered by RoHS standards for the European Community.  If you sell into the EU, you will have to designate proper disposal.  Dumping in a landfill is no longer appropriate.

Since this course deals with the application of PLM to industry, we will now look at various industry definitions.

Industry Definitions

PLM is a strategic business approach that applies a consistent set of business solutions in support of the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product definition information across the extended enterprise, and spanning from product concept to end of life integrating people, processes, business systems, and information. PLM forms the product information backbone for a company and its extended enterprise.” Source:  CIMdata

“Product life cycle management or PLM is an all-encompassing approach for innovation, new product development and introduction (NPDI) and product information management from initial idea to the end of life.  PLM Systems is an enabling technology for PLM integrating people, data, processes, and business systems and providing a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.” Source:  PLM Technology Guide

“The core of PLM (product life cycle management) is in the creation and central management of all product data and the technology used to access this information and knowledge. PLM as a discipline emerged from tools such as CAD, CAM and PDM, but can be viewed as the integration of these tools with methods, people and the processes through all stages of a product’s life.” Source:  Wikipedia article on Product Lifecycle Management

“Product life cycle management is the process of managing product-related design, production and maintenance information. PLM may also serve as the central repository for secondary information, such as vendor application notes, catalogs, customer feedback, marketing plans, archived project schedules, and other information acquired over the product’s life.” Source:  Product Lifecycle Management

“It is important to note that PLM is not a definition of a piece, or pieces, of technology. It is a definition of a business approach to solving the problem of managing the complete set of product definition information-creating that information, managing it through its life, and disseminating and using it throughout the lifecycle of the product. PLM is not just a technology, but is an approach in which processes are as important, or more important than data.” Source:  CIMdata

“PLM or Product Life Cycle Management is a process or system used to manage the data and design process associated with the life of a product from its conception and envisioning through its manufacture, to its retirement and disposal. PLM manages data, people, business processes, manufacturing processes, and anything else pertaining to a product. A PLM system acts as a central information hub for everyone associated with a given product, so a well-managed PLM system can streamline product development and facilitate easier communication among those working on/with a product. Source:  Aras

A pictorial representation of PLM may be seen as follows:

Hopefully, you can see that PLM deals with methodologies from “white napkin design to landfill disposal”.  Please note, documentation is critical to all aspects of PLM and good document production, storage and retrieval is extremely important to the overall process.  We are talking about CAD, CAM, CAE, DFSS, laboratory testing notes, etc.  In other words, “the whole nine yards of product life”.   If you work in a company with ISO certification, PLM is a great method to insure retaining that certification.

In looking at the four stages of a products lifecycle, we see the following:

Four Stages of Product Life Cycle—Marketing and Sales:

Introduction: When the product is brought into the market. In this stage, there’s heavy marketing activity, product promotion and the product is put into limited outlets in a few channels for distribution. Sales take off slowly in this stage. The need is to create awareness, not profits.

The second stage is growth. In this stage, sales take off, the market knows of the product; other companies are attracted, profits begin to come in and market shares stabilize.

The third stage is maturity, where sales grow at slowing rates and finally stabilize. In this stage, products get differentiated, price wars and sales promotion become common and a few weaker players exit.

The fourth stage is decline. Here, sales drop, as consumers may have changed, the product is no longer relevant or useful. Price wars continue, several products are withdrawn and cost control becomes the way out for most products in this stage.

Benefits of PLM Relative to the Four Stages of Product Life:

Considering the benefits of Product Lifecycle Management, we realize the following:

• Reduced time to market
• Increase full price sales
• Improved product quality and reliability
• Reduced prototypingcosts
• More accurate and timely request for quote generation
• Ability to quickly identify potential sales opportunities and revenue contributions
• Savings through the re-use of original data
• A frameworkfor product optimization
• Reduced waste
• Savings through the complete integration of engineering workflows
• Documentation that can assist in proving compliance for RoHSor Title 21 CFR Part 11
• Ability to provide contract manufacturers with access to a centralized product record
• Seasonal fluctuation management
• Improved forecasting to reduce material costs
• Maximize supply chain collaboration
• Allowing for much better “troubleshooting” when field problems arise. This is accomplished by laboratory testing and reliability testing documentation.

PLM considers not only the four stages of a product’s lifecycle but all of the work prior to marketing and sales AND disposal after the product is removed from commercialization.   With this in mind, why is PLM a necessary business technique today?  Because increases in technology, manpower and specialization of departments, PLM was needed to integrate all activity toward the design, manufacturing and support of the product. Back in the late 1960s when the F-15 Eagle was conceived and developed, almost all manufacturing and design processes were done by hand.  Blueprints or drawings needed to make the parts for the F15 were created on a piece of paper. No electronics, no emails – all paper for documents. This caused a lack of efficiency in design and manufacturing compared to today’s technology.  OK, another example of today’s technology and the application of PLM.

If we look at the processes for Boeings DREAMLINER, we see the 787 Dreamliner has about 2.3 million parts per airplane.  Development and production of the 787 has involved a large-scale collaboration with numerous suppliers worldwide. They include everything from “fasten seatbelt” signs to jet engines and vary in size from small fasteners to large fuselage sections. Some parts are built by Boeing, and others are purchased from supplier partners around the world.  In 2012, Boeing purchased approximately seventy-five (75) percent of its supplier content from U.S. companies. On the 787 program, content from non-U.S. suppliers accounts for about thirty (30) percent of purchased parts and assemblies.  PLM or Boeing’s version of PLM was used to bring about commercialization of the 787 Dreamliner.

 

JUST WHAT IS A FULL LOAD?

All of my life I have heard phrases, jokes, sayings about a load, this load, a full load, etc etc.   Let’s take a look at just a few phrases heard over the years and see if we can improve our understanding.

• That’s a load of crap.
• Get a load of that.
• THAT is a load off my mind.
• THAT is a load of baloney.
• We need this to lighten our load.
• That boy is one brick shy of a full load.

It makes you wonder—just what is a load?  What quantity constitutes a load or a “full load”?  The following digital pictures just might hold the key, then I have several conclusions.

CONCLUSIONS:

You will notice that all of the digital pictures show individuals in what we would call third-world countries but I like to look at it in the following manner:

• People the world over have enough “smarts” to overcome most if not all obstacles.
• Where there is a will there is a way.
• One individual can really accomplish tremendous feats if challenged.
• Most of life’s situations would represent a “new normal” in the eyes of Western civilization.
• We all have the urge to “get-er-done”.
• The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.

CONSIDER THE COSTS

I’m pretty sure most people, like me, ALWAYS consider the costs of purchased items.  I do NOT buy a pack of bubble gum without asking “how much” nor do I envy those who have enough money to purchase without consideration of “how much”.   The list below is totally random but does represent the fact year after year things we need and want increase at an alarming rate. (At least in my opinion.)

• One dozen organic eggs- $3.50.
• Hatsan Nova 0.22 Air Rifle–$749.00
• IRS estimated value of Michael Jackson’s estate– $434.00 million
• Average cost of one American wedding–$26,700.00. (I’m blown away by this one. Happy I have all boys.)
• Wedding statistics released in 2017 by The Knot show the price brides are willing to pay for their gowns has gone up. The 2016 national average spent was $1,564, and the year before it was $1,469. Apart from venue, photographer, and planner, the wedding dress was one of the costliest items of the whole event.
• According to Cost Helper, traditional metal dental braces cost between $3,000and $7,500. The duration of treatment ranges from one to three years depending on the how severe the problem is for the patient.
• Estimated costs to decommission a nuclear reactor in France–$322.00 million
• Stock bonus given to Glenn Kellow, coal executive who led Peabody Energy through bankruptcy-$15.00 million.
• Amtrak locomotive–$6.50 million.
• One WWII B-17 in 1945–$238,329.00
• Apple i-phone 6–$549.00
• Month of fitness classes in Ohio-$129.00
• One barrel of Brent Crude Oil as of 7 July 2017–$49.15
• A 2008 prediction of one gallon of gasoline in 2015–$9.15.
• The cost of one day in the hospital.
  • State/local government hospitals–$1,878
  • Nonprofit hospitals–$2,289
  • For-profit hospitals–$1791
• Each university online course cost around $300 or $400 per credit hour. On top of that, several classes had application fees in the $30-$50 range.
• Investments in US wind projects over the past ten years–$128.00 billion.
• Global airport security market by 2023-$12.72 billion.
• Cost of rumored purchase of home in LA for Beyoncé and JayZ– $93 million for 30,000 square feet, 10 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms.
• Next generation wind technology for R&D through 2026–$36.90 billion.
• Johnny Depp’s yacht–$33.00
• The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is $3,895, according to the January 2015 Citi habitat market report.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of the world’s population remain low-income or poor, living off  ten ($10) or less a day, according to a new Pew Research Center report that looked at changes in income for 111 countries between 2001 and 2011.  On July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the “land of the free and the home of the brave” so they can begin their American Dream.  That American Dream has allowed our people to succeed, fail, and try again.  Without our system of government, even with all of its flaws and shortcomings, we just might be one of those third-world countries in which ten dollars per day is the norm.  Happy Birthday America.

VOLVO ANNOUNCEMENT

Certain portions of this post were taken from Mr. Chris Wiltz writing for Design News Daily.

I don’t know if you are familiar with the VOLVO line of automobiles but for years the brand has been known for safety and durability.  My wife drives a 2005 VOLVO S-40 with great satisfaction relative to reliability and cost of maintenance.  The S-40 has about 150,000 miles on the odometer and continues to run like a Singer Sewing Machine.   The “boxy, smoking diesel” VOLVO of years-gone-by has been replaced by a very sleek aerodynamic configuration representing significant improvements in design and styling.  You can take a look at the next two digitals to see where they are inside and out.

As you can see from the JPEG above, the styling is definitely twenty-first century with agreeable slip-stream considerations in mind.

The interior is state-of-the art with all the whistles and bells necessary to attract the most discerning buyer.

Volvo announced this past Tuesday that starting in 2019 it will only make fully electric or hybrid cars.  “This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.  The move is a significant bet by the carmaker indicating they feel the age of the internal-combustion engine is quickly coming to an end.  Right now, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based automaker is lone among the world’s major automakers to move so aggressively into electric or hybrid cars. Volvo sold around half a million cars last year, significantly less than the world’s largest car companies such as Toyota, Volkswagen, and GM, but far greater than the 76,000 sold by Tesla, the all-electric carmaker.

Every car it produces from 2019 forward will have an electric motor.   Håkan Samuelsson indicated there has been a clear increase in consumer demand as well as a “commitment towards reducing the carbon footprint thereby contributing to better air quality in our cities.”  The Swedish automaker will cease production of pure internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and will not plan any new developments into diesel engines.

The company will begin producing three levels of electric vehicles (mild, Twin Engine, and fully electric) and has committed to commercializing one million Twin Engine or all-electric cars until 2025.   Between 2019 and 2021 Volvo plans to launch five fully electric cars, three of which will be Volvo models and two that will be high performance electric vehicles from Polestar, Volvo’s performance car division. Samuelsson said all of these electric vehicles will be new models and not necessarily new stylings of existing Volvo models.

Technical details on the vehicles were sparse during a press conference held by Volvo, but the company did offer information about its three electric vehicle tiers. The mild electric vehicles, which Volvo views as a stepping stone away from ICEs, will feature a forty-eight (48) volt system featuring a battery in conjunction with a complex system functioning as a starter, generator, and electric motor.   Twin Engine will be a plug-in hybrid system. During the press conference Henrik Green, Senior VP of R&D at Volvo, said the company will be striving to provide a “very competitive range” with these new vehicles, which will be available in medium range and long range – at least up to 500 kilometers (about 311 miles) on a single charge. Green said Volvo has not yet settled on a battery supplier, but said the company is looking at all available suppliers for the best option.  “When it comes to batteries of course it’s a highly competitive and important component in all the future pure battery electric vehicles,” he said. Samuelsson added that this should also be taken as an invitation for more companies to invest in battery research and development. “We need new players and competition in battery manufacturing,” Samuelsson said.

This new announcement represents a dramatic shift in point of view for Volvo. Back in 2014 Samuelsson said the company didn’t believe in all-electric vehicles and said that hybrids were the way forward. Why the change of heart? Samuelsson told the press conference audience that Volvo was initially skeptical about the cost level of batteries and the lack of infrastructure to for recharging electric cars. “Things have moved faster, costumer demand has increased, battery costs have come down and there is movement now in charging infrastructure,” he said.

Top of Form

VOLVO did not unveil any details on vehicle costs. However, earlier reports from the Geneva Motor Show in March quoted Lex Kerssemakers , CEO of Volvo Car USA, as saying that the company’s first all-electric vehicle would have a range of at least 250 miles and price point of between 35,000 and $40,000 when it is released in 2019.

I think this is a fascinating step on the part of VOLVO.  They are placing all of their money on environmental efforts to reduce emissions.  I think that is very commendable.  Hopefully their vision for the future improves their brand and does not harm their sales efforts.