Honeywell has been manufacturing personal protective equipment and scaling back its aerospace operations because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it hasn't diverted from its quantum computing project, says CEO Darius Adamczyk. The company has increased sick leave and created a fund to help employees affected by the pandemic.
Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford addresses multiple topics in this interview including the record demand for butter, how a lack of broadband access is hurting rural America and the company's response to the events following George Floyd's death in police custody. "It's one thing to say we have a diverse management team or diverse population, it's another thing to say they feel inclusion, that they feel connected, that they feel listened to," said Ford.
Security processes for industrial control systems take on greater importance when integrating with the industrial internet of things because the traditional separation of environments no longer applies, writes Kristen Gloss. Understanding the many forms of attack and having multiple layers of defense are just two steps companies should be taking.
Supply chains must be on alert for fake and counterfeit products and counter such bad actors through transparent communicating, regular monitoring and industry collaboration, writes Andrew Stevens of Gartner's supply chain practice. "If you sell a product that is likely to be faked, it also makes sense to create a multidisciplinary team that continuously monitors and interprets threats posed by counterfeits," he writes.
The coronavirus "will leave an indelible mark" on the trucking industry, which has weathered demand fluctuations corresponding with lockdown orders, writes Seth Clevenger. The financial strain caused some fleet owners to enact furloughs, while others stayed afloat by securing small-business loans or handling essential supply freight management.
Manufacturers need to use the ongoing disruption to create transformation instead of hoping things return to normal, says Coveo CEO Louis Tetu. He names commerce intelligence, experience intelligence and smart self-service channels as three options any manufacturer can embrace.
Private mobile networks can offer reliable and less expensive wireless connectivity for manufacturing facilities, especially for edge computing, writes Mehmet Yavuz. "A private mobile network is an LTE or 5G network that is owned and operated by a single organization and geographically bound by that company's property (like a smart factory)," Yavuz writes.