| Yakko | I really don’t know why we’re here. Spend Analysis is so yesterday, all the analysts say so. I think the doctor needs to give himself a check-up for recommending it to us. |
| Wakko | Really? |
| Yakko | Anyone can build a Spend Analysis system, all you have to do is follow the old Frictionless Commerce strategy from 2002, and grab technologies off the shelf. You take an OLAP database… |
| Wakko | Like Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle? |
| Yakko | Right. Then you slap on a front-end OLAP viewer… |
| Wakko | Like Databeacon or Business Objects? |
| Yakko | Yes, exactly. Then you find someone to family and map your A/P transactions… |
| Wakko | Like Grihasoft or Spend Radar? |
| Dot | Yup. Then, ta da! |
| Wakko | Ta da? |
| Yakko | Ta da! |
| Dot | That’s all there is to it! |
| Yakko | Right! sound of crickets chirping |
| Wakko | I don’t get it. |
| Dot | What’s not to get? You’re done! |
| Wakko | Why? |
| Yakko | Why not? You can drill around your spend! You can even run some canned reports! |
| Dot | Yippee! Drill, drill, drill! Report, report, report! |
| Wakko | I still don’t get it. |
| Yakko | OK, I’ll explain it slowly. You’ve never had this view of your spending before. You were never sure whether all of your IBM spend was really being counted, because there were lots of different entries for IBM in the Vendor Master. Plus, you weren’t really sure what commodities you were actually buying, because the GL code didn’t tell you, and the vendor alone wasn’t good enough. Now you can see, pretty accurately, exactly what you spent with whomever on equipment, on consulting, on maintenance, and so on. And, you can see who spent it, by cost center. And when. And how it was booked to the GL. |
| Wakko | So what? |
| Yakko | What do you mean, so what? |
| Wakko | So what do I do with the Spend Analysis system once I can see all that? |
| Yakko | You take action! You source some categories! You fix process mistakes! |
| Wakko | No, no, what do I do with the Spend Analysis system next? |
| Yakko | With the Spend Analysis system? |
| Wakko | Yes. |
| Yakko | Next? |
| Wakko | Yes, next. |
| Yakko | Well, you… um… |
| Dot | You refresh your data every month, and… |
| Yakko | and… well, you can see how your initiatives are progressing… |
| Dot | and… um… |
| Yakko | er… well… sound of crickets chirping |
| Dot | Maybe we better ask BIQ (acquired by Opera Solutions, rebranded ElectrifAI) after all! |
| Yakko | We’re here … I think. |
| Dot | Are you sure? All I see is a house on a hill. Where’s the big corporate headquarters? The parking lot? The sign on the door? |
| Yakko | the doctor did say that BIQ was, in Ariba terms, a micro-operation organized as a virtual organization. Yakko knocks on the door |
| Eric Strovink | Uh-oh! Here comes trouble. What do you guys want? |
| Dot | Define Spend Analysis! |
| Yakko | In twenty-five words or less! |
| Wakko | And then get us some baloney sandwiches! I’m hungry! |
| Eric | OK, let’s start with the basics. Where’s the data? |
| Yakko | In the accounting systems! In payables! |
| Eric | Well, that’s one place. But what about PxQ data on invoices, by vendor, by commodity? How about cell phone usage? Facilities? Fleet vehicles? Equipment repair records? Contract labor detail? HR salary and benefits data? T&E? How about the revenue side? Sales, leases, loans, mortgage data? Insurance claims? Web clicks? Medical records? |
| Dot | That’s a lot of data. |
| Eric | Yes, it is. That’s why BIQ customers typically build dozens of datasets, not just one “A/P dataset.” |
| Yakko | Wait, they build them themselves? |
| Eric | Of course. If you had to pay a third-party services organization to build 75 datasets, could you afford it? |
| Dot | 75?? |
| Eric | That’s at just one company. |
| Yakko | But I thought it was hard to build datasets and map data. |
| Eric | There are plenty of reasons to pay someone to build and map datasets, but you should always have the option to build and map them yourself, and it should be easy. |
| Dot | Do people build datasets frequently? |
| Eric | Yes, and they change them all the time, too. Serious data analysis requires flexibility. You need to be able to build datasets quickly — in minutes — and you need to be able to modify them in real time. You need to change their structure on the fly, map them on the fly, and whip them into whatever shape you need for the analysis that you have in mind. And then you need to do the same thing for the next analysis. |
| Yakko | But how can you make those kinds of changes if the dataset is shared by hundreds of users? |
| Eric | You can’t. That’s why sharing a dataset across hundreds of users that’s supposedly going to be used for ad hoc analysis just doesn’t work. |
| Yakko | So much for my off-the-shelf technology idea. |
| Dot | But where’s the server? |
| Eric | There doesn’t need to be one. BIQ runs perfectly well on your laptop, supporting very large datasets — on an airplane, on a desert island, wherever. Or you can connect to a server. Or both. |
| Dot | What about reports? |
| Eric | BIQ populates your own Excel models with OLAP data, then books them by dimension. It’s a much more powerful paradigm than static reporting. And furthermore… |
| Wakko | interrupting Wait a minute, I think I get it! |
| Eric | Get what? |
| Wakko | I get what you do with the Spend Analysis system next, after you build an A/P dataset! You build more datasets, lots of them. And you modify the ones you have. You keep learning from your data by looking at more and more of it, in new and different ways. everyone stares at Wakko for a moment |
| Yakko | I can’t believe it! He actually uttered a coherent thought. |
| Dot | I’m stunned. |
| Wakko | I’m hungry. |
| Eric | And I’m going back to work. Eric Strovink disappears back into BIQ headquarters. |
Category Archives: Vendor Review
The Sourcing Maniacs 2008 Vendor Tour Part III: Apriori
At the end of Part I, the Sourcing Maniacs had just completed their Aravo visit, the first stop on their journey. After Aravo, they took a trip to Massachusetts to visit their old friends Pinky and the Brain, but were unsuccessful as their friends were under lockdown until the annual user conference. However, being in the Boston area, they decided to continue their vendor tour through the sourcing alphabet and decided to pay a visit to Apriori, home of the Wizard of Cost, before moving onto the B’s. We join them on their hearty jaunt up Baker Avenue in Concord, MA.
| Yakko, Wakko, & Dot | We’re off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Cost We hope he is a Whiz of a Whiz if ever a Whiz there was If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was, we hope the Wizard of Cost is one because because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things a cost wizard does We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Cost! |
| Yakko | We’re here! |
| Dot | Where? |
| Yakko | At Apriori, of course! |
| Wakko | Are you sure? |
| Yakko | As sure as a Massachusetts black bear does his thing in the woods. |
| Wakko | But where’s the big neon sign? |
| Dot | And the big corporate headquarters? |
| Yakko | Not all companies own their own buildings, Dot. And not all companies feel the need to throw up flashy 1950’s neon signs to advertise their business. After all, those signs cost money. And I think cost management is supposed to be about not spending money you don’t need to spend. But that’s what we’re here to find out, isn’t it. |
| Dot | I sure hope the Wizard of Cost can see us! |
| Wakko | And that we don’t get shut out again. I mean, we were wako’d by Ariba, but we were almost wak’d yesterday! |
| Yakko | I don’t think we’ll be shut out here. the doctor tells me that Apriori are very friendly and open people. |
| Wakko | But will they welcome us with open arms? |
| Yakko | Well, I never really asked if they’d welcome us. But we’re solo now … and I don’t think they ever competed with Ariba anyway. I’m sure they’ll talk to us. |
| Dot | After all, who can resist pretty lil me. Dot strikes her cutest pose and starts fluttering her eyebrows shamelessly. |
| Yakko | So who wants to knock on the door? |
| Wakko | I do! I do! Wakko takes out his mallet and waks on the door. |
| long pause … door opens | |
| The Wizard of Cost | Hello? |
| Wakko, Yakko, & Dot | We’re the sourcing-maniacs And we’re zany to the max |
| Dot | I am cute … |
| Yakko | and I like to yak |
| Wakko | while I pack away the snacks |
| Wakko, Yakko, & Dot | We’re the sourcing-maniacs |
| Dot | I’m Dot, |
| Wakko | I’m Wakko, |
| Yakko | and I’m Yak… |
| The Wizard of Cost | Yes, I know who you are. Can I help you? |
| Yakko | We want to learn about enterprise cost management! |
| Wakko | And beg for food! |
| Dot | And find a job! |
| The Wizard of Cost | Well, I can certainly help you with the first topic. I’ve made it my personal mission to spread the word of enterprise cost management and how it can help direct sourcing organizations, as well as manufacturers, save money in these troubling times. |
| Wakko, Yakko, & Dot | That’s great! |
| The Wizard of Cost | But you have to promise me something first. |
| Yakko | What’s that. |
| The Wizard of Cost | That you’ll sit down … |
| Wakko | No problem! Wakko plops down on the floor. |
| The Wizard of Cost | listen … |
| Wakko | We’re all ears! Wakko stretches his ears in his best Dumbo impersonation. |
| The Wizard of Cost | and behave. You have a bit of a reputation, and we’re a no-nonsense operation here at Apriori. |
| Yakko | We can behave! |
| The Wizard of Cost | Promise? |
| Wakko, Yakko, & Dot | We promise. |
| The Wizard of Cost | Then take a seat and let’s begin. |
| The Wizard of Cost | Let’s start with the basics. Every business is in business to make a profit. Profit is defined as the difference between revenue and cost, or, the difference between the money you take in from sales and the money you spend on supplies, overhead, and taxes. That says there are fundamentally two ways to increase profit – increase sales, which falls under the purview of Sales and Marketing, and reduce costs, which generally falls under the purview of supply & spend management. We focus on cost.
However, not all costs are equal. If we look at a balance sheet, we see there are three main types of costs: COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), SG&A (Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses), and D&A (Depreciation and Amortization), and that COGS usually represents 80% of the costs under enterprise control. So, unlike many e-Procurement firms that just try to reduce the cost of the transaction, which only serves to reduce SG&A expenses, we focus on reducing COGS, as every dollar reduction in COGS has five to six times the impact of a dollar reduction in SG&A. To reduce COGS, we start with the understanding that COGS is a combination of raw material costs, labor costs, production overhead costs, and margin. All of these costs can be reduced with the right insight — and this is where we are different than a standard sourcing application that just tries to get you the lowest price per unit through a volume buy or leverage-based raw material buy. Then we help you identify the right product, produced by the right process, to meet your needs at the lowest possible cost. |
| Wakko | How do you do that? |
| The Wizard of Cost | We have software that implements a virtual production environment that not only allows us to model a part, but an entire production process. This allows us to calculate not only how much a modeled part should cost, but whether or not there are other processes that could be used to create that part. For example, if you have a door hinge, you have a bend, a cut, and some hole punches. And there’s more than one way you can order the steps. |
| Yakko | But you still have to do the steps, so how does reordering save money? |
| The Wizard of Cost | Well, reordering allows you to do three things. First of all, it allows you to plan your production so that you don’t have multiple production runs waiting on the same machine at the same time. This increases your production throughput, which lowers your cost of production per part as you produce more parts in a day. Secondly, if you punch before you cut, and you have a machine capable of doing multiple hole punches simultaneoulsy, you might be able to punch four or eight hinges on a sheet of metal simultaneously, which would increases your productivity eight-fold. Finally, it allows you to consider different machines given the partial state of completion the part is in at any one time. And this is where a lot of the power of the VPE comes into play. Maybe instead of a punch, you can use a laser drill that can drill 10 pieces simultaneously if they are stacked, but only if you have enough extra metal around the edges for the grips to hold the stack in place. If the laser drill costs you half as much to operate as the old punch, then you want to use it — which is something you can do if the hole creation step comes first, but not if the hole creation step comes last. |
| Dot | That sounds really neat! |
| The Wizard of Cost | It is, and it’s quite powerful. |
| Yakko | But how does the buyer know what the costs are? And doesn’t this take the supplier, who’s supposedly an expert in part manufacturing, out of the picture? |
| The Wizard of Cost | Good questions. Fortunatley, we have some good answers.
The platform plugs into market feeds and our database of standard pricing that we have built up for North America and China, and this gives us a first level estimate. Secondly, it allows the buyer to enter their costs, or their supplier’s quoted costs, for each variable and refine that cost model further. Finally, it allows them to use a supplier’s VPE to calculate precise cost or set up a VPE specific to their supplier if their supplier does not already have one. In addition, we realize that the best results often come from collaboration and from taking advantage of expertise on both sides of the table, so we have been working hard on improving our supplier interface that allows buyers and suppliers to share designs and data back and forth, through a new CAD-independent viewer that’s coming out in our next release, so that both parties can work together. And, unlike some vendors, who shall go unnamed, that force suppliers to pay a registration fee to be listed in, or gain access to, their system, our basic viewer is totally free to the suppliers of any buyer who licenses our system. This keeps the supplier in the picture, in a non-cost prohibitive fashion, and helps the buyer find the best product at the best price, produced from the best production process, for their needs. In our view, that’s what enterprise cost management is all about. |
| Dot | That’s a really cool take. |
| Yakko | Not at all what we’re used to … coming from a sourcing world that has traditionally focussed on e-RFx, e-Auctions, contract management, and spend visibility to reduce cost. |
| The Wizard of Cost | It is a bit different, and we think it plays very nicely with those traditional approaches. Whereas they primarily reduce SG&A, and in the case of contract management, insure that agreed upon costs are adhered to, we primarily reduce COGS. It’s a big sandbox, we can play nice, and when we do, we think everyone wins. What do you think? |
| Wakko | I think I’d like to see more. |
| The Wizard of Cost | All in good time. Our next release, v6*, is slated for next quarter. |
| Dot | Then I guess it’s time to go! |
| The Wizard of Cost | Thank you for stopping by. And by the way, when you recount this story to the doctor, which I’m sure you will do, try not to leave anything out. Enterprise Cost Management is about a whole, and if you leave out any parts, it doesn’t really make sense. |
| Wakko | We’ll try. |
| The Wizard of Cost | Promise? |
| Wakko, Yakko, & Dot | We promise. |
| The Wizard of Cost | Farewell and safe travels! |
| Yakko | Well that was different! |
| Dot | Not at all what I expected! |
| Wakko | And they didn’t feed us baloney sandwiches. I like baloney sandwiches. I’m hungry! |
| Dot | You’re always hungry! |
| Yakko | Let’s go eat. |
| Wakko | So where are we going next? |
| Yakko | On to the B’s! |
| Dot | Bearing Point? |
| Yakko | They’re a consulting firm. We do products. |
| Wakko | Bravo Solution and their VerticalNet suite? |
| Yakko | We’d have to hike all the way to Pennslyvania, wouldn’t we? There are B companies locally. Let’s go visit BIQ! They’re just a few miles away in Southborough! |
| Wakko | What do they do? |
| Yakko | Spend Analysis. |
| Dot | But we already did that at Ariba. That’s old news. |
| Yakko | the doctor says BIQ is different, and that how we define “spend analysis” is not the right way to define spend analysis. |
| Wakko | Why not? |
| Yakko | I don’t know. Let’s go find out! |
| Wakko & Dot | OK! |
| Yakko, Wakko, & Dot | We’re off to BIQ To see what they do for you |
| Wakko | And maybe find a clue |
| Dot | To dealing with data times two |
| Yakko, Wakko, & Dot | We’re off to BIQ … |
Tomorrow we recount the Sourcing Maniacs’ tale of their visit with BIQ. Stay tuned!
*Editor’s note. Apriori released v6 in early October.
The Sourcing Maniacs 2008 Vendor Tour Part I: Aravo
| [Wakko, Yakko, & Dot] | We are the sourcing-maniacs And we’re zany to the max So just sit back and relax You’ll laugh ’til you collapse We’re sourcing-maniacs! |
| [Wakko & Yakko] | Come join the ‘Riba Brothers |
| [Dot] | And the ‘Riba Sister, Dot |
| [Wakko, Yakko, & Dot] | Just for fun we ran around the corp’rate parking lot They locked us in the boardroom whenever we got caught But let us loose from the caboose And now you know the plot! |
When we last heard from the Sourcing Maniacs, shortly after the acquisition of Procuri by Ariba, Chicken Boo had just fired all three of them. Confused and hungry, the ‘Ribas began marching northward from the Ariba corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, on their grand adventure to find a new job. They vowed to visit every sourcing company from Aravo to Zycus, if necessary, in their quest to find a new company to whom they could provide their maniacal insight. I’m sorry to report that, unlike Pinky and the Brain (who have been quiet for quite some time now), the Sourcing Maniacs are still unemployed, but I’m happy to report that they are willing to share with the readers of this blog some of the insights they acquired in their 2008 Vendor Tour. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
| Yakko | We went to see Aravo The wizards of 2Sustain |
| Dot | We went with lots of gustavo As far as we could ascertain |
| Wakko | We heard that they were masters of SIM so we challenged them to a duel But it turns out SIM’s short for “Supplier Information Management” Not SIM City … and again I played the fool! |
| Yakko | So we asked for an explanation Of why we needed SIM |
| Wakko | And what it could do That we couldn’t do with Vim |
| Dot | And then sat down to listen |
| Wakko | Which we do so rar-i-ly |
| Dot | As Aravo’s chaps, all dressed in chaps Spun a tale of data transparency |
| Yakko | This is Yakko’s summary of the Aravo story, edited by the doctor
In the beginning there was the web. It was a wild, wild frontier where data could roam free. A virtual gold-mine, enterprise software companies staked their claim and started to build ranches to corral the data. Some of these companies, like Peoplesoft, Oracle, and SAP were successful in their efforts. Furthermore, not only could they corral the data, but they could send it through pipes from buyers to suppliers. Business-to-Business was born. Things were good in the beginning, but then the data started to mix, and like Fibonacci’s rabbits, it started to multiply out of control! More and more systems were installed to try and manage the data, but all this did was help the data spread like wildfire until, like the tribbles, it had overtaken every nook and cranny of every enterprise. Although this was a boon for BI systems that needed massive amounts of data to justify their existence, it was a bane to overworked IT administrators who couldn’t swap the backup tapes fast enough. It was an even bigger headache for supply chain professionals who couldn’t get a complete picture of what was being supplied by whom, or when it was coming. This deeply impacted their ability to strategically shape the supply chain. This wasn’t too bad in the beginning, when oil was cheap, prices were dropping, and the boom look liked it would never end, but then the globalization backlash reared its ugly head. Oil and commodity prices went through the roof, financial markets started crashing, and quality issues became rampant as contaminated toothpaste, salmonella spinach, and lead-paint toys hit stores nationwide. Was your supplier still around? Would it be around tomorrow? Was its quality control adequate? Was it still the right supplier for you? All of these questions became front and center, and couldn’t be answered without insight into all of the relevant data surrounding the supplier … data that, traditionally, was spread across multiple systems inside and outside the enterprise. Enter SIM. A SIM platform collects all of your data from all of your systems in one place, and lets you view, query, and manage all of your data on a single supplier from a single screen. How much business did you do? What did you buy? Where was it shipped from? Where did it go to? What QA processes were employed? And is the supplier current with their certifications and licenses? All of these questions can quickly and easily be answered with a SIM platform. And more importantly, it can be used as the foundation for supplier improvement and sustainability initiatives, because all of the data needed to launch and track such initiatives is at your fingertips. |
| Yakko | So all your data in one place |
| Wakko | Helps keep the egg off your face |
| Dot | And helps you make a solid plan Of who to keep and who to can |
| Yakko | It’s pretty cool, but I have to say |
| Dot | Their wordiness gets in the way |
| Wakko | From a thought that should be as simple and pure As combining your PB&J spend when you procure! |
| Dot | SIM’s just meta-data management with a flexible UI |
| Yakko | It shouldn’t be that difficult |
| Wakko | or pie in the sky |
| Dot | But you need the right framework baked in at the core |
| Yakko | Otherwise you’ll never realize |
| Wakko | that it’s not just meta-data, it’s more. |
And Aravo was just the first stop on the Sourcing Maniacs’ journey. Stay tuned for more!
Are you an Import Genius?
I recently had the chance to check out Import Genius, which made the top ten list of the most innovative and exciting start-ups on KillerStartups.com, and I must say that it is impressive. Billed as a site that provides timely, detailed shipment data for every ocean container that enters the United States, it appears to live up to its promise. In addition, the search interface is fast and the export to CSV allows search results with up to 40,000 rows to be exported to a CSV, which can be downloaded in an automatically generated zip file for faster transmission.
With an ability to search by product, consignee, consignee address, shipper, shipper address, notify name, US port, foreign port, bill of lading, carrier code, and vessel name for any date range, it’s quite powerful for a new offering. Testing it out, I found that Apple Computer Inc. received 42 shipments between June 1, 2008 and August 18, 2008, 30 from Amtran Electronic Co. Ltd. and 12 from Quanta Computer Inc No. 68. The Amtran Electron Co. Ltd shipments were for “LCD Monitor For PC” and the Quanta Computer Inc No. 68 shipments, all on June 1, were for “GENERAL APPLE ACCOUNT PAYABLE BY”. Take a guess as to what those shipments were for. In addition, 37 were from Shanghai and 5 were from Tokyo, 24 went to Long Beach, and the remaining 18 went to LA. The average number of LCD monitors per shipment was 539 CTNS (containers) while the average number of mystery products per shipment was 501 CTN (cartons). The country of origin varied between the Bahamas, Greece, China, Liberia, Singapore, Japan, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands for the monitors while the mystery product was sole sourced from China. Eight different vessels were used: the Hanjin Praha, Concord Bridge, Xin Yan Tai, CSCL Seattle, Dong Hai Bridge, Clifton Bridge, CSCL Hong Kong, and the Long Beach Bridge. Additional information available for export includes the shipper address, consignee address, party to notify, party to notify address, bill of lading, arrival date, weight, container, and other marks and numbers. If I’d been watching carefully, as Import Genius was between mid-March, 2008 and mid-May, 2008, I’d have noticed that Apple Computer Inc. and its logistics partners imported 188 ocean containers of a product type never before declared on its shipping manifests.
As partially highlighted in this Washington Post article, which calls Import Genius The Disruptive Shipping Database, there are numerous uses for Import Genius’ service, which include:
- Penetrating your competition’s business strategy
Analyze your competitor’s import activity, identify their suppliers, and discover new endeavors before it hits the news. - Keeping your suppliers honest
Watch the inbound shipments of your suppliers, identify threats and opportunities, and catch cheating factories who are counterfeiting your goods or stealing your IP in the act! - Identify new competitors before they emerge
Find out who else your suppliers are supplying to – if they are supplying similar products to companies you don’t know, there may be new competitors on the horizon. - Identify new suppliers
Find out who your competitors are using before their new products hit the stores! - Find out your leverage with your suppliers
You can figure out what percentage of US business you represent by tracking all shipments against what percentage of shipments are yours. - Find new customers.
Find out who your competitors are shipping to. - Identify new customs brokers, importers of records, and similar third party services.
All of this information is available in the import records. - Make your patent infringement suit bullet-proof.
Upon discovering a patent violation, use Import Genius to trace the goods back to their source overseas. - Perform due diligence on privately held companies in emerging markets
By examining detailed records of a company’s US exports, you can reduce the risk for investors in markets where available data is scarce. - Stock Market Predictions
A detailed snapshot of a company’s imports can serve as a leading indicator for new product releases, revenues, and key performance indicators.
So check out the company that, according to Freakonomics blogger Justin Wolfers, offers Amazing New Trade Data that may enable bright economists to fine tune our understanding of the dynamics of international trade. It’s certainly worth a few minutes of your time, especially when enterprise access (which permits up to 300 searches per day across the entire trade database) is less than $5,000 per year!
MFGX.com – Exploding onto the Scene
MFGX.com, the first open global community for manufacturers, which came out of beta three short months ago, is poised to take the manufacturing world by storm. It already has 12 active communities with over 80 discussions, 40 documents, and 30 blog posts — which is quite a lot considering how traditionally silent the manufacturing and procurement communities are with respect to the on-line world.
MFGX.com, which was originally conceived as a companion site to MFG.com, is important because it’s the first offering in the space that’s open to all manufacturers, regardless of the marketplaces they belong to or the products they offer. This allows producers, distributors, and retailers to find the best manufacturer to fill their needs and manufacturers to find the producers, distributors, and retailers that they can have the best relationships with – creating a win-win for everyone.
Furthermore, it’s simple — composed primarily of plain old forums (discussions), wikis (documents), and blogs, it eschews all of the new social networking nonsense that plagues many other sites. Considering that most social networking sites are, at least in the doctor‘s view, a big waste of time, I believe that this is a good thing. The internet is one of the best tools for knowledge sharing that we have, and the best sites are those that promote the sharing of knowledge, not your latest anti-ephiphany. (After all, does it really matter that you think Britney should be boycotting her current fashion line because of sweat-shop utilization? And do you really want the world to know you read BritneyZone daily? [Hat Tip: Google Search] So next time you use Twitter, remember the definition of the word.)
However, the real beauty of the concept, is the fact that it serves as the foundation for Open Source Manufacturing, which, as Jason Busch also points out over on Spend Matters, is quite cool and forward looking. After all, some of the best innovations in IT have come from open source, and some of the best successes in R&D have come from open innovation networks like NineSigma, InnoCentive, and YourEncore, and crowd-sourcing has been used to successfully streamline process. Just think what open source could do for manufacturing. It could improve processes and products. Even more importantly, it could open manufacturing design up so that, if you’re an engineer, inventor, or just a tinkerer, you could build your own products and not have to worry about a manufacturer going out of business if there’s a product you really want to keep using. For example, imagine an open source car that anyone could build parts for and that anyone could maintain. You wouldn’t have to worry about manufacturer bankruptcies, or, better yet, unnecessarily high prices or poor quality. And this could be just the beginning.