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.

In April, Ford announced that it will be phasing out nearly all of its passenger cars in the United States. If all goes according to plan, 90 percent of Ford’s portfolio in North America will be trucks, SUVs, and commercial vehicles.

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.

In our June 15, 2018, episode of QDL, we get a field report from the HxGN LIVE user conference, examine the “story of quality,” and consider the importance of experience.

HxGN Live recap

Mike Richman went to HxGN LIVE... but I didn’t. I relive it vicariously through Mike’s field report.

It is a great time to be a small business in manufacturing. Today’s digital disruption is about ideas, not major capital investments or facilities with sprawling footprints. Although it’s true that larger companies possess more resources, yet with the right technology, small companies can behave like large ones—while still retaining the agility that makes them perfectly suited to the digital era.

The future of transportation in waterway-rich cities such as Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Venice—where canals run alongside and under bustling streets and bridges—may include autonomous boats that ferry goods and people, helping clear up road congestion.

In May 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his cabinet issued a strategic industrial plan; its title translates to “Made in China 2025.” The plan took more than two and a half years to draft and included the input of 150 experts from the China Academy of Engineering. Made in China 2025 was described as an “initiative to comprehensively upgrade Chinese industry” by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an American think tank based in Washington, D.C.