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...
Globalization, the megatrend spawned by the physical connectivity of every corner of the world and solidified by digital connectivity, has once again come into sharp focus thanks to recent events such as Brexit, trade wars and the Trump administration’s effort to disrupt global supply chains controlled by China.  Yet, globalization...
With lawmakers reaching agreement on the debt ceiling, one of the winners in the negotiations could be wind and solar energy. The debt ceiling agreement paves the way for the building of interstate transmission lines which is key to Biden’s infrastructure agenda. Specifically, it would ease the permitting process for...
Phase Two of the $700B electric vehicle boom—the electric boat rush—is becoming just as crowded as its four-wheeled predecessor, with so many start-ups dotting this landscape it’s dizzying.  Loads of debt, problems getting into production, far-off delivery dates that make revenues a thing of the distant future—if at all—and failures-to-deliver...
Real estate thought it was going to breeze through the pandemic while it watched travel, retail and service industries plunge into COVID uncertainty, and while the industry isn’t crumbling, a visible slowdown will have to prompt change. The Spring 2020 real estate shopping season was pretty much a wash. Newly...
Over the past 2 years Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been hammered as investors headed toward the exits. Major brokers were in flux in 2022 when Binance refused to buy out Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. Some experts warned that Bitcoin could fall as low as $9,000. Simply put, the Bitcoin...
Never before has the risk-reward thesis for critical minerals been more tantalizing.  Rare earth metals have been one of the best hiding places for investors amid a steep market sell-off prompted by fears of global recession, a raging Russian war in Ukraine, a complex regime of sanctions and sky-high energy...
The COVID-19 crisis has packed a big wallop to the global economy that will likely be felt for years to come. Back in June, the World Bank sounded the alarm that the crisis was likely to plunge the economy into the worst recession since WWII. The dire warning has...
2023 has been a slow year for IPOs, due largely to tightening monetary policies and a slowdown of global economic growth according to a report issued by Ernst & Young. While the IPO landscape is quiet at the moment, it is believed that IPO activity will pick up once...
As global automakers transition to manufacturing Electric Vehicles (EVs), it’s critically important that the raw materials are available in the supply chain to ensure battery quality and availability.  Lithium is a critical component in the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and therefore, it is essential for the growth of...