Author Archives: AccountMate

The Rise of Industrial Robots

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February 13, 2015

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baxter robotRobots will replace a growing number of jobs in industries including automotive and electronics in the next few years, particularly in east Asia, according to The Financial Times (Feb.10, 2015). Worldwide sales of industrial robots rose 23% last year and are on course to double (to 400,000) by 2018, driving radical change in many manufacturing sectors. Although robots have been used in industry for decades, recent advances in technology have cut their costs and increased their capabilities, as a new generation of reprogrammable, multipurpose machines comes into service. Continue reading →

Airlines and the Winter Storms

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February 7, 2015

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Workers at Boston's Logan Airport faced a mountain of snow last week

Airlines have made rapid improvement in storm recovery. Using new tricks, techniques and conservative strategies to position airplanes and employees before storms hit, flights can resume quickly as soon as runways clear. The change is a reaction to stiffer regulations, including stronger rules on pilot rest, and customer outrage on tarmac delays.

New software in use at several big airlines reschedules crews in minutes, sparing dispatchers hours of manual puzzle-solving, reports The Wall Street Journal (Feb.5, 2015). Last week, United got planes back into its Newark, N.J., hub and other Northeast airports on Tuesday night and was back at full strength by Wednesday afternoon, using only 11 reserve pilots. In past storms, that number would have been in the hundreds. The airline keeps 15-18% of its 10,000 pilots on reserve duty to fill in when pilots get sick or delays throw off schedules. United, like other airlines, sometimes ran out of reserve pilots and flights would have to be canceled days later in sunny weather. Continue reading →

The Uberization of Trucking

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December 6, 2014

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roseanneOur Guest post today comes from Roseanne Stanzione, who is CEO of LaneHoney, the Marketplace for Trucks On Demand

Uber’s taxi service is cool, right? Moving dots on a map tell you the location of the nearest taxi. Hop in and off you go, without handling cash.  And now venture investors have placed bets that the $60 billion truck brokerage industry of agents and phones can be disrupted with applications like Uber.

So what is the Uber magic anyway? Three things: 1) set up, 2) transact, 3) done. Uber is first and foremost a logistics application, one that eliminates transaction friction and makes better use of assets. The current truck shortage is the biggest real-time asset problem in America needing a smart, uncluttered answer. The current state of industry technology? Unfilterable bulletin boards, incomprehensible transportation management software that requires training to use, no price information and everyone drowning in paper.  It is no wonder 30% of backhauls go empty. Continue reading →