Author Archives: just2bruce

Robust Westbound Trans-Atlantic Adds Pressure on East Coast Ports

This article ponders the factors influencing the fast-growing westbound ocean freight traffic to the US.  Not least of the reasons is the higher US dollar with respect to Europe.

Piers

Robust Westbound Trans-Atlantic Adds to Pressure on East Coast Ports.

So I guess we can expect labor disputes reaching a crescendo on the East Coast next.  It’s their turn to capitalize on the increasing business to get better working conditions and a bigger share of the pie.  Shipping companies and port terminal managers need to look for bottlenecks now and work on getting the operational issues fixed before they become contentious.

Festo Demonstrates Robots Based on Nature

This article shows that autonomous agents– something only talked about years ago– are becoming a reality. It’s just a matter of time before they take over many routine jobs in factories, and elsewhere.

Festo Demonstrates Robots Based on Nature | Robotics content from IndustryWeek.

Gary Knotts’ paper (with Moshe Dror and me) some 20 years ago about autonomous agents and project scheduling was ahead of its time, and many others ahve refined the concepts since then.

Economists: Don’t leave home without one

 

A McKinsey economist tells us why economists’ thinking is important to business.   Not all economists are academics– many toil in business areas.  Most of what Robert Litan talks about is partially microeconomics and partially behavioral economics.  We have to learn to combine the two.

Economists: Don’t leave home without one | McKinsey & Company.