Tardigrades, which are often called water bears, are nearly microscopic. Although they are usually water dwelling creatures, they can be found in Antarctic ice, ocean depths of 14,000 feet and in the Himalayas at a height of 20,000 ft. They can survive just about anywhere, including outer space. Fossils of tardigrades have been found in …
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Tag Archives: Optimization
I just finished a book on the swirling times we are in, called Thank you for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman. In it Mr. Friedman pauses to reflect on the forces currently reshaping our world. With the tumultuous, confusing, threatening, forces of advances in technology, (due to Moore’s Law), Globalization of the Market, and Climate …
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Supply Chain and Development Expert, Steve Cutler There is always some buzz or excitement around Profit Point. Some days, we are developing custom software for a customer or working on a Supply Chain Optimization solution. On other days, we are testing an unusual solution to an existing problem. Here’s one day that I’ll never forget! 7:00 …
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I recently read an e-book published last month by Llamasoft, a large supply chain network design software provider, suggesting that companies build their own internal supply chain design (SCND) competency (using the authors’ software, of course). Without a doubt SCND is critical to a well-functioning cost-efficient supply chain and is an integral part of the …
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In an article back in 2015 (“The Weak Link in the Chain?) I discussed the importance of what’s known as the Soo locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to barge transportation on the Great Lakes. This is a real choke point for marine shipments on the Great Lakes. Thus the Supply Chains of many businesses …
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Earlier this year I embarked on a project to do some major work on one of the applications that I inherited. I had been working with the code for several months and had a good grasp of how it worked, its layout, and all its main functionality. However, the overall architecture of the code and …
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Like many people I have a home network for which it falls to me – the Dad – to be the administrator. And like many home network administrators, over the years, I have tried many different routers, network bridges, and wi-fi access points to improve reception, coverage, and distance. I have tried Dlink, EnGenius, and …
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One of the really intriguing developments in technology lately is the concept of 3-D printing. Who knows where it will lead … will General Motors or Toyota someday simply print whole automobiles as one large and seamless piece of plastic? Maybe Frigidaire will simply print up a bunch of new refrigerators. But let’s not get …
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My hobby is backpacking. When you backpack you carry everything on your back, so you quickly become obsessed with how much everything weighs. One of the biggest challenges I typically face is meal planning – food is heavy, bulky and often perishable. As a result of this challenge, backpackers typically carry freeze dried food. …
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Here at Profit Point, we typically put in a fair amount of effort up front to scope out a project together with our client. This typically helps us and our client to set appropriate expectations and develop mutually agreeable deliverables. These are key to project success. But another key element to project success is …
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Idempotency – a key to better code Recently I found a term that intrigued me. Idempotency. From the web I saw this definition that I liked: In computing, an idempotent operation is one that has no additional effect if it is called more than once with the same input parameters. Much of my computing experience …
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I recently read 2 separate articles about recent mergers in the Consumer Package Goods (CPG) market that seem to reach contradictory conclusions: and this has gotten me thinking about just who is right. The two items that I’m referring to are “With Competition in Tatters, the Rip of Inequality Widens” (In the New York Times …
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