From the Desk of Wade McDaniel
Welcome to the October 2017 issue of Supply Chain Navigator.
Several years ago, I wrote an article in which I shared my doubts about the maker movement in terms of the potential influence and long-term impact on the technology sector. At the time, pundits were heralding the movement as the start of the “third industrial revolution.” I saw a model that was, without question, exceedingly cool and rife with potential, but still, more vision than reality. As a self-professed supply chain geek, my primary concern was that those intent on revolutionizing manufacturing were not giving proper consideration to the underlying supply chain challenges they would encounter. Nor did they understand how their actions could cascade along the supply chain, causing disruption among an ecosystem that constantly struggles for balance.
Over the past three years, I have watched this movement advance and unfold, not only with astonishing speed but in a much more controlled and organized manner than I frankly thought was possible. Today, we see innovative new technologies and processes borne of this movement such as crowdsourcing, additive manufacturing and open source hardware, which are indeed changing the global manufacturing landscape. Much of the credit for this extraordinary progress is owed to the vision and tenacity of Dale Dougherty. Dale, founder of MAKE Magazine and originator of the Maker Faire, is commonly referred to as “the father of the maker movement.” SCN had the opportunity to meet and talk with Dale recently, and we are excited to share his insights with our readers in this month’s One-on-One section.
Also in this issue, we also have a commentary from Dana Martens, a young woman who recently completed her Master’s thesis from the Parsons School of Design. Dana caught our attention with her thesis project: “Unum: The Blockchain for the Maker Movement.” We found it interesting and thought you might as well.
Our Supply Chain Spotlight topic for October is sustainability. We take a high-level look at the overall greenhouse gas dilemma and then deep dive into HPE’s new Science-Based Targets initiative. We also have some inspiring best practice examples from Philips, ManpowerGroup, and Rockwell Automation, which highlight the more social/human side of sustainability.
We round out the issue with a fascinating commentary on behavioral economics from Deloitte Research Director, Mark Cotteleer and Researcher Tim Murphy. Behavioral economics is a field that is making headlines thanks to the somewhat controversial choice of behavioral economist Richard Thaler as the recipient of the 2017 Nobel prize in Economics.
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Until Next Time,
Wade
Many thanks to the SCN Editorial Advisory Board for their support and guidance:
 Joe DiIorio Senior Director, Supply Chain Transformation, Seagate Technology |
 Lori Osterback-Boettner Chief of Staff, Sr. Director, Supply Chain Operations, Cisco Systems, Inc. |
 Mark Cotteleer Research Director, Center for Integrated Research Deloitte Services |
 Daniel Perry Senior Account Executive EcoVadis |
Questions or comments about our publication can be directed to Supply Chain Navigator Editorial Director Diane Trommer at Diane.Trommer@Avnet.com Connect with Diane via LinkedIn.