David Petraeus is arguably the best known U.S. general of the post-Vietnam era. He gained fame after leading the surge in Iraq, a controversial buildup of U.S. forces that was credited with a sharp reduction of violence during the U.S. occupation. After retiring from the Army, he headed the CIA from late 2011 to 2012 and is now a partner at the private equity firm KKR. Petraeus has written about leadership and is known as a strategic thinker who emphasizes painstaking preparation.

Schools are always trying to get their kids interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). But that’s hard to do when the students don’t have a solid idea of what having a STEM-related job really means.

“I don’t think there’s a good connection between the classroom and what people actually do in their jobs,” says Beth Bryan, a middle-school enrichment teacher in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Manufacturing is an eternally forward-looking sector. From the First Industrial Revolution about 250 years ago right up until the remarkable advances in connectivity and information analysis that form the heart of Industry 4.0, scientists, engineers, managers, marketers, and quality professionals have joined forces to continually push the outer edges of practicality, reliability, and economic feasibility, all in a quest to create the breakthrough products that markets just can’t live without.

Part one looked at the innovative possibilities inherent in 3D printing; here we consider some of its shortcomings and the solutions that companies are finding.

Since May 2015, in a section of its WorldPort distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky, United Parcel Service (UPS) has been operating a spare parts warehouse with no spare parts. Instead, the facility is stocked with ultrafast 3D printers that can build up almost any plastic part that’s required, layer by layer by layer—and have it ready for UPS to deliver anywhere in the United States by morning.

I would like to share with you a tale from the real world. It’s an extract from the book Michael McLean and I wrote, Manufacturing Money (Amazon Digital Services LLC, 2015).

Many consider 2017 the “worst year ever” for data breaches and cyber attacks, largely due to the rise in ransomware, and IT experts predict it’s only going to get worse. According to the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), a nonprofit that works to develop tools and best practices that enhance internet security, cyber attacks targeting manufacturers and others nearly doubled in volume from the previous year.

We raise the corrective and preventive action (CAPA) topic often because it is still something that companies tend to struggle with and find themselves in hot water over, particularly when it comes to regulatory audits or inspections.

There’s often a sense that CAPA is another inconvenient process that takes resources away from those preferred revenue-generating tasks, but in reality, failing to give CAPA appropriate focus can cost a company greatly. Could your company be making any of the common mistakes that tend to happen?

For more than 125 years, GE Appliances (GEA) has been designing and manufacturing a full suite of consumer appliances—including refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, freezers, washers, dryers, air conditioners, water filtration systems, and water heaters. Part of the longevity of GE Appliances can be attributed to the company’s commitment to quality and technological innovation.

In ancient times, the story goes, cooks in the city of Sybaris were granted yearlong monopolies for the sale of unique dishes they created. Since then, generations of inventors have relied on patents to discourage copycats from stealing their best ideas. Economists, in turn, have tallied up patents to try to measure innovation (an otherwise squishy concept to define and assess), which has long been tied to economic growth. Certainly, the thinking went, protecting inventors’ work must encourage new ideas in the marketplace.