The End of Just-In-Time Manufacturing as we Know It
Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s by Toyota. The approach was developed as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which aimed to minimize waste and improve efficiency in manufacturing processes.
The concept of JIT revolves around producing...
Deja vu, anyone? GameStop, the video game retailer that became a meme stock sensation in 2021, is back in the spotlight – and investors are once again feeling the sting. This time, the losses are even more staggering, with a whopping $13.1 billion evaporating in just three days.
In this...
Millennials have been labeled many things: lazy, entitled, narcissistic among other unflattering terms. They have also been accused of being highly risk-averse, preferring flashy investments like crypto over slow-n-steady deliverables such as stocks and bonds.
More recently, though, millennials have busted this stereotype.
Last year, they became the largest living adult...
The year 2020 is so far proving to be another bumper year for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency bulls. After a worrying slump following the global stock market crash in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as of end-July 2020, Bitcoin had staged a quick recovery to cross the $11k mark...
In the race to build a new generation of electric vehicles, the demand for certain rare earth minerals has skyrocketed.
Two critical rare earth minerals are Germanium and Gallium, and China is the largest supplier of these minerals. We covered the industrial applications of these minerals in a recent Global...
When we think about infrastructure, roads, bridges and transportation facilities immediately come to mind. The Biden Administration is currently investing $220 Billion in over 32,000 projects in 4,500 communities according to a report in USA Today. It’s the largest focused infrastructure investment since the days of FDR.
Key current infrastructure...
Every once in a while, word gets out about a looming shortage of a certain--usually niche--commodity. Natural resource companies, both large and small, then quickly “pivot” to said commodity, and the next thing you know a surge of investment interest and, frequently, commodity bubbles quickly follow.
It’s a script that...
Imagine driving a car that runs clean, and emits pure water from its exhaust pipe. That’s the promise that hydrogen offers as a fuel source, and these vehicles may be commercially available sooner than you think.Hydrogen as a Green Energy Source
Hydrogen is often considered a green energy source when...
Celebrities may soon find themselves out of an advertising side job when they need to shore up funds.
You don’t have to be a trustworthy figure like Tom Selleck to advertise reverse mortgages, and this is only effective for a dwindling demographic that still watches local TV.
It doesn’t take Jennifer...
A historical event without precedent in living memory, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the commodity markets, including metals and mining, in a variety of ways with many miners experiencing the downside of relying on global supply chains, specialization and ultra-lean operations.
Many mining operations have been disrupted through government-mandated shutdowns...
