Thinking Strategically - Beam Me Up!

Thinking Strategically - Beam Me UpThinking Strategically - Beam Me UpHeres another (actual) case which calls for strategy analysis. First of all, remember not to make any assumptions. Dont apologize for not watching the show - ask your interviewer (who, if theyve given you this question, is probably a fan) how exactly the transporter works. Effectively, the transporter is a near-instantaneous teleportation device. However, you should make sure you dont assume exactly what the transporter, as invented, can or cant do. (In this case, non-Trekkies may have an advantage)Lets see how this Q&A might proceedYou Um, could you tell me exactly how the transporter works? How much can it transport at one time? Interviewer Lets say the transporter can transport about the mass of Captain Kirk.You That would be about 200 pounds. Can it transport only living things, or inanimate objects as well?Interviewer Any type of object. You Can it transport anywhere at any time?Interviewer Yes.Yo u Does there need to be another transporter at the end to receive the transport?Interviewer No, its pretty much a one-way process.You How common are these devices? Are they going to be readily available to the average consumer? How much do they cost?Interviewer For the time being, the transporters are expensive. They would cost about $100,000 each.You That clearly takes them out of the range of most home users. How much does it cost to use them?Interviewer Assume that the marginal cost of a transport is near zero. The only cost is for the transport-operator time, which is relatively small.You Are they stahlkammer? You said they were just invented.Interviewer Except for the occasional freak accident, yes, they are safe. They are as safe as plane travel.You That makes them very safe indeed. Okay, what Im going to do is analyze how transporters will affect the following transportation industries cars, passenger airlines, cargo shipping and package transport. Interview er Fine. Go ahead.You These transporters dont seem like theyll take the place of cars. They are too expensive for home use. Larger companies could afford them, however. I could see some companies buying transporters in order to transport their employees and clients back from the office. They would need a transporter chief, of course. So there might be some impact on commuter traffic - perhaps 10 to 20 percent. If mass transit systems adopt transporters as well, the impact on traffic may be greater.On the other hand, the transporter is a terrific substitute for plane travel. Its instantaneous and from what you say, as safe as plane travel. The transporter will definitely be a serious competitor to airlines. Conceivably, passengers could be beamed directly to their destination, instead of going to the airport. The only drawback that I can see to the transporter is that any luggage would need to be beamed separately. And anyone weighing over 200 pounds may not be able to b e beamed at all. This means that airplanes wouldnt disappear, but they would be used mostly for cargo transport and other heavier loads. They would probably serve fewer markets, as there would be much-reduced passenger travel to supplement their flights.As far as cargo, I think ships and planes would mucksmuschenstill be used for most cargo transport. Two hundred pounds is too small an amount for mass transport, and Im assuming that you cant separate the contents of a transporter, that you can only beam stuff to one area at once. Interviewer Thats how I understand it, yes. YouThen getting packages sent same day, to anywhere in the world, would be a premium service. You could only ship one package at a time. You might be able to charge double or triple the price of an overnight package. Shipping companies like Federal Express might profit from its introduction.

Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business

Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business Monitor allows a supervisor to silently listen in on an werbers active call. Whisper enables a supervisor to speak directly to the agent on the active call without the other party hearing the comments. Barge lets the supervisor speak to both the agent and the other party, effectively creates a 3-way call which is initiated by the supervisor.Shawn Jones, Vice President of Business Sales said, Our nimble nature allows Broadvoice to quickly meet the changing needs of our customers. We listen to our clients and keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening in our industry. Then, our development team and engineers work diligently to roll the features out, tested and ready to go. But most importantly, we continue to develop cutting edge technology while maintaining competitive pricing.In addition to the Monitor-Whisper-Barge features, Broadvoice offers other p remium features, such as auto attendant and HIPAA-compliant virtual fax that are available on an a la carte basis for a nominal fee. More than 45 other advanced features are provided at no additional charge by Broadvoice for all their business customers.

Safety and Efficiency, Brick by Brick

Safety and Efficiency, Brick by Brick Safety and Efficiency, Brick by Brick Safety and Efficiency, Brick by BrickIn this day and age, with the lightning fast pace of construction that has become the norm, it can often seem as though buildings are created overnight. However, the reality is far different. Long hours of work for construction teams can be grueling, dangerous, and costly.Enter Construction Robotics of Victor, NY. The company has developed a robotic masonry system named SAM100 (Semi-Automated Mason) that has been used to build everything from grocery stores to apartment buildings. Scott Peters, CEO and co-founder of the company, says the system is precise and easy enough to use that masons can be taught how to calibrate it in just five minutes.But efficiency is what sets SAM apart. It literally can lay the amount of bricks in one hour that can take a mason a whole day, Peters says. However, there are limitations to what kind of structure it can create. For a building with longer walls that are straight, its great, he says. But when you have a lot of turns, a lot of changes of direction, thats not what this is presently for.For You Robotic Lifeguard Changes Water RescuesFor many projects that are more straightforward, its truly helping to change the way buildings can be created. Scott Peters, co-founder, Construction Robotics The SAM100 bricklaying robot builds walls six times faster than a human. Image Construction RoboticsSAM100 began with the companys co-founder Nate Podkaminer, who spent more than 50 years in commercial construction, approaching Peters about what he felt welches an inefficiency in the market. He said this industry in some ways is backwards and that masonry, in some ways, was a part of that, he says. We thought Youre taking individual units and repetitively placing them on a wall to put up a veneer. Couldnt robotics do some of this?The key parts of SAM100 include a motorized carriage that travels along a scaffold. It has a mast-climbing work platform, a big bridge suspended on the mast, and it climbs up the mast, with the idea of working on the side of a commercial building, says Peters, who was previously a senior process engineer for General Motors. Its designed to work on a track system bolted to the mast climbers. In that connection there are safety features, but it has a track section and an extension of a deck and SAM is separate on that deck. And it goes back and forth on the track system. A carriage rides with the tracks and we have story poles, which is how the masons set the course.SAM also has a laser system that automatically climbs the pole, with the laser box on the unit automatically searching and finding tabs or markers.It shoots down the wall like a streamline would, he says. SAM itself is a self-contained unit set on the scaffold and on there we have a moving terrace and a generator so its self-powered. And then you have an electrical cabinet for components. We also have morta r mixing and a separating unit. There is also an area where bricks are loaded in bulk and the conveyor puts them with SAM. There are a couple of chutes where we can manually load in bricks and software. The system will say we need a specially covered brick or maybe a specially cut brick and load it into chute one or chute two.A gripper reaches over and grabs each brick, to which it applies mortar. Then it places it on the wall.When its placed, the laser system talks to it and determines its position in space and corrects for that position and places it where its supposed to go, he says.So far the response has been positive with many touting SAMs safety and efficiency. Those corners remain a challenge, however. The system may not deal with many corners, Peters says. But for many projects that are more straightforward, its truly helping to change the way buildings can be created.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.Read MoreMaking the Emotional RobotSolar-Powered DronesGo hauptrich tungHandheld Dronut Brings Drones Indoors