Speech Information

Title: Traffic Jam at the Intersection of Technology Innovation and Business Innovation.

Abstract: Driving a successful advanced manufacturing business requires the constant evolution of innovation. The analogy of the profit highway being perpendicular to the technology highway with a stop light at the intersection provides a safe and reliable method of decision making allowing a measured flow. Both needs are met but the opportunity for faster flow is limited because preferential treatment of one usually results in a disadvantage to the other. To succeed in higher growth, business practice must innovate at the same rate as technology. In the same way as technology adapts to changing market conditions or the advent of smaller, faster and cheaper CPU’s, for example, the business practice must adapt to changing dynamics in operating costs or human resource needs. Is it possible to change the game such that the stop light gets replaced with a managed ethernet switch? This would be a more complex decision hierarchy and implementation but significantly faster.

Bio

Quester is the leading designer and manufacturer of electronic systems for passenger rail vehicles in North America. Bill joined Quester’s Marine Division in 1995 and was tasked with bringing the company’s fledgling sonar product line to market. Through the last eight years as COO Bill ran the operations of an advanced manufacturer growing at 15% annually. Prior to this role, Bill spent 15 years in various scientific and operational roles at large international organizations, including the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission and the International Ocean Drilling Program.