Month: April 2024

Working at the console that runs the glass coating line at the Guardian Glass manufacturing facility in Geneva, New York, is an intense job. It requires extreme focus and the ability to problem-solve in real time as giant sheets of glass make their way through the football-field-sized coating machine.

“One of the engineers we used to have said it reminded him of what you’d expect in an air traffic control tower,” says console operator Dean Stephany.

He’s worked at the Geneva Guardian plant for more than 20 years. That’s given him a lot of practical knowledge, which he recently used to help improve a part of the coating process and reduce the amount of defective glass produced. This is an example applying the principle of personal knowledge. While it takes an enormous team of talented engineers, operators and office staff working together to allow the plant to produce more than 200,000 tons of float glass a year, Dean’s actions show that personal knowledge can make a huge difference.

Fewer coatings, more debris

A few years ago, the engineers and operators on the coating line recognized there was a recurring quality problem every time the machine transitioned from one specific coating recipe to another.

Coater process engineer Nancy Bassett wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but she had a hypothesis. ClimaGuard® 80/71 is a single silver coating and doesn’t use all the different materials the coater is capable of applying. Nancy believed when they shut off the chambers that contained material that didn’t need to be applied, the chambers would cool down. As they cooled, excess material that had built up on the walls and various other parts inside of the machine would begin to release and flake off onto the passing glass.

“[These flakes] basically form debris voids in the coating,” Nancy says. “This became a big problem after startup. Each time, we would lose a lot of glass to this debris.”

It could take as long as two hours for the debris from the unused parts of the coater to stop flaking off and ruining the glass.

That’s two hours of hearing the near-constant sound of shattering glass as defective pieces would crash and break into bins near the end of the production line.

The issue caused this specific coating to have some of the lowest yield numbers, or the amount of usable glass coming out at the end of the process versus what was put in, of any of the products they made.

Even though they had a pretty good idea of what was happening — unused chambers would cool, causing built-up material to flake off onto the glass — there wasn’t an easy or obvious solution.

Practical knowledge, useful solutions

In his role as a console operator, Dean wanted to find the best way to produce glass. It pushed him to look for ways to reduce the amount of glass wasted due to debris. He had an idea — maybe if they could cool the unused chambers faster, they could reduce the amount of time it took for all the debris to fall off.

Dean wasn’t sure how to do that, though. The whole coating process is done in a near vacuum — no air pressure and very little oxygen — so installing fans would cause several other problems.

Then, Dean recalled another process he’d learned at the plant that might hold the solution. Sometimes, when there’s a mechanical problem or issue, glass has to stop inside of the coater. If it sits in there for too long, heat can build up in it, and the glass will warp. To prevent this, the team flows more argon gas, a basic and crucial part of the coating process already, into the chamber. Dean wondered if that could work here, too.

He took this idea to Nancy and Bryce Corsner, another one of the coating process managers.

“It sounded like a pretty viable idea,” Bryce says. “It’s not going to hurt anything, so let’s go ahead and give it a shot. See what happens and track the results.”

With the engineers on board and the idea approved, it was time to put it to the test.

Dean wasn’t working the shift when the team first tried the new method. He says he expected the first sheets of glass that would come through would have a ton of debris on them, and it would validate his theory. But when he talked to Gabe Baker, the console operator who ran the experiment, he said that wasn’t the case. Dean froze, worrying it might not have worked.

Gabe said even though the first sheets weren’t covered in debris like Dean thought would happen, they ran with a fraction of the amount of loss that they usually saw. The time it took for debris to stop flaking off onto the glass after the transition had been reduced significantly.

Dean got the result he wanted, even if it didn’t happen exactly how he thought it would.

Nancy continued to run analysis and monitor what, if any, yield improvements they were seeing. She found that the amount of loss due to debris decreased by about three-quarters of a percent. That might seem insignificant, but at this scale, even a small improvement can result in major gains.

“Having even a half to 1% yield improvement on it saves us more than 100,000 square feet of glass a year,” she says. “We’ve been doing this for two years, so we’re getting close to a quarter of a million square feet of glass saved by this small process.”

Dean says he’s proud his knowledge and experience contributed to improving the process. He says it’s empowering to know the engineers and supervisors are so open to receiving ideas from people, no matter where they work in the facility.

“From my perspective, not being a chemical engineer, it allowed me to look for a simple solution first because that’s all that was open to me,” he says.

Dean’s background brought different knowledge to the table — a different way of looking at the problem. Exploring the hunches of employees with relevant and practical knowledge can lead to discoveries and better results.

“There’s no harm in trying something,” Bryce says. “Assuming you make sure you’re not endangering the process or doing anything unsafe, then sure, why not? It doesn’t work – OK, fine. I know one more way it doesn’t work.”

Dean’s idea is estimated to save his facility about $65,000 a year. All because he wanted to make a difference, wasn’t afraid to share his ideas and was part of a team that valued his personal knowledge.

The team at Geneva has shared their results and process changes with other Guardian facilities. Now, they say it’s time to move on to the next potential improvement.

“You always want to be continuously improving your process, even if you have to rip it down and start over from scratch,” Nancy says. “OK, we conquered this one. What’s our next biggest problem?”

Latino Leaders magazine has once again named Wesco as one of the best companies for Latinos to work. Latino Leaders made the announcement on March 18, in its January/February edition. Wesco has been named to the list since 2022.

“We are deeply grateful and honored to be recognized as one of the best companies to work for Latinos,” says Darryl Castellano, Vice-President – Global Inclusion, Diversity & Engagement at Wesco. “We’re proud to celebrate the contributions and talents of our Latino employees, whose diverse perspectives enrich our workplace culture every day.”

Each year, Latino Leaders compiles a list of best companies for Latinos, using such criteria as employee diversity, programs to recruit, promote and retain Latinos, ERG programs, and Latino representation in the boardroom and C-Suite level.

Wesco is committed to fostering diversity, inclusion and equitable opportunities within its organization. Wesco celebrates the vast diversity of its team members, suppliers and customers around the world.

You can learn more about Wesco’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion on its website.

As our nation and our company recognize Women’s History Month, I’m drawn to reflect on barriers that exacerbate the gender digital divide. Those barriers have economic and educational impacts, both immediate, and intergenerational.

In 2022, 62% of men around the world regularly used the Internet, while only 57% of women did. In the U.S., those who lack digital skills earn lower incomes — 92% of job postings now require basic digital skills and jobs requiring even one digital skill can earn an average of $8,000 more a year compared to jobs that do not require them. We will not be able to close the gender pay gap unless we acknowledge the need to close the gender digital divide by helping to empower women with the skills and tools necessary to get online.

For many families, a tight budget can be a barrier between them and a reliable home connection. That’s why over a decade ago, Comcast introduced our Internet Essentials program (IE) as a low-cost solution for qualifying households, offering home Internet for as low as $9.99 a month. In D.C., I met Alisha, a single mother of two, who was able to get her family online through IE. With her new home connectivity, she pursued her associate degree to advance her career, and her sons were able to do their homework and apply to college. For her family, their home Internet was what Alisha described as a “game changer,” providing access to education that puts them on a path to success.

Access to a device is another formidable barrier. In Miami, I recently met Fani, an immigrant from Honduras, whose 11-year-old son, Yariel, was unable to do his schoolwork at home because the family did not have a working laptop. Lacking access to a device that can get online is a common barrier to connectivity, but for Fani, the solution was only a partnership away. Over the last four years, through NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprise’s El Poder En Ti initiative and Comcast’s Project UP, we’ve donated a total of 10,000 laptops to Latino-serving organizations — the last 150 were given to Amigos for Kids, a community partner that runs Yariel’s after school program. There, he received a free laptop and he can now complete his schoolwork from the comfort of home. For Yariel, a free laptop opens the door to endless opportunity; for Fani, it’s one less stressor for her to bear.

Another barrier to connectivity is the lack of digital skills. One solution sits with digital navigators—these trusted community members are trained to help get people connected, operate their computer, and navigate the Internet. According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, digital navigators helped increase Internet usage for 85% of the clients they helped get online. Through strategic partnerships, Comcast has supported the deployment of thousands of digital navigators in communities across the country. In Houston, I visited a digital navigator pilot program launched by the city and our local community partner, SER Jobs. There, I met Mary, a retired x-ray technician who enrolled in the digital skills class for seniors. A 29-year breast cancer survivor, Mary is now using her digital skills to help support others in the breast cancer community online.

Connectivity opens new doors to opportunity for everyone. Each new affordable and reliable home connection, each laptop, and each digital navigator are investments in our future. I’m immensely grateful for the partnerships that allow us to address digital equity from every angle, but we can’t do this work alone — we need ongoing collaboration across all sectors.

As we close out Women’s History Month, it is imperative that the public and private sectors continue to work together to ensure access to the knowledge, resources, and technology women need to close the gender digital divide, for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Broderick D. Johnson is Executive Vice President, Public Policy, and Executive Vice President, Digital Equity for Comcast Corporation.

For more than 100 years, IBM’s founding principles have inspired efforts to promote equality, fairness and inclusion in the workplace and society. The company has lived the value of “respect for the individual” by championing employment practices that reward ability over identity and that make work more attainable for all.

In 1935, approximately twenty years after IBM was founded, it began hiring women into professional roles. Three decades before the US Equal Pay Act of 1963, IBM’s CEO, Thomas J. Watson Sr., stated, “Men and women will do the same kind of work for equal pay. They will have the same treatment, the same responsibilities, and the same opportunities for advancement.”

Through the years, many women have held leadership roles at IBM, including former CEO, Ginni Rometty. Women have played key roles in initiatives throughout the organization, including the rise of AI.

“Women are as capable as anybody else to contribute to the technical development of AI, and they also care deeply about the impact of AI on people and society. This combination is exactly what we need now, to design and build a future with purpose, where technology supports human values rather than the opposite. An increased presence of women in AI will also make it fairer and more inclusive. A multi-disciplinary approach to AI education is fundamental to help women understand that this is a great match for their talent and passion.” -Francesca Rossi, IBM Fellow, AI Ethics Global Leader, IBM Research

As IBM continued to research and develop AI, it became clear that along with the positive aspects of the technology, there were also potential issues that needed attention. “AI will have a transformative impact on everyday life, business and more. As with other technologies, there are ethical components that must be followed to build systems based on trust,” says Justina Nixon-Saintil, Chief Impact Officer and AI Ethics Board member at IBM. “In our historical experience at IBM, we know women play a fundamental role in shaping the future. That’s why two women IBMers led the way when we established our AI Ethics Board, and that’s why we are using our technology and expertise to empower more girls and women in ethical AI, among many other areas.”

Since 2019, the AI Ethics Board has been co-chaired by two leaders: Christina Montgomery (Vice President, Chief Privacy and Trust Officer) and Francesca Rossi (IBM Fellow, and AI Ethics Global Leader). Their unique backgrounds and views have helped the Board instill governance and a culture of ethical and responsible technology throughout IBM.

The AI Ethics Board is comprised of leaders from across the company, including many esteemed women leaders. Supporting the work of the AI Ethics Board and its members are its AI Ethics Focal Points. IBM is incredibly fortunate to have many women in leadership at this level as well.

Along with establishing policies and practices around AI ethics, the AI Ethics Board sponsors workstreams, which bring together experts from across the business to address key business challenges, questions and opportunities. These workstreams often include women as executive sponsors.

A team of female leaders from the AI Ethics Board and IBM’s AI Ethics Project Office drew on experts from across IBM to publish this point of view on foundation models. They also collaborated with IBM Research and watsonx.governance™, led by Heather Gentile, Director of watsonx.governance Product Management and AI Ethics Focal Point. Together, they developed the AI risk atlas, which helps readers better understand the risks of working with generative AI, foundation models and machine learning models.

“In this unprecedented new era of global AI innovation, women are leading the charge towards acknowledging that the importance of innovation is as much about its impact as it is about invention. This crucial work in confronting and mitigating the immediate and long-term risks that AI poses to our society is setting the standards for how we, as a global community, approach the integration of AI into our lives.” -Christina Montgomery, IBM Chief Privacy & Trust Officer

For six years in a row, IBM has been listed as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere. This recognition reflects IBM’s commitment to a strong governance structure and a culture of ethics, embodied in its AI Ethics Board and AI Ethics Focal Points. It also honors the strong women leading IBM forward.

Learn more about AI Ethics at IBM

Read more about women in technology at IBM

Read the IBV study on women forging the future of AI

Learn more about IBM creating an inclusive culture

In the wake of Covid-19’s unprecedented impact on global supply chains, Mondelēz International faced a daunting challenge: how to continue supplying snack foods to the Caribbean amidst shipping bans and a worldwide container shortage. The crisis, spurred by national lockdowns and halted manufacturing, left industries scrambling as 75% of the world’s supply-chain companies encountered transportation woes. The Caribbean, relying heavily on imports, saw grocery shelves and café offerings dwindle, threatening both local livelihoods and community well-being.

To overcome these challenges, Mondelēz pivoted to a nearshoring model dubbed “Project Near,” which enabled the company to source products directly from Mexico, Peru, and the U.K. to the Dominican Republic—a hub unaffected by shipping restrictions. DP World played a crucial role in helping the company navigate these challenges by facilitating a strategic partnership that enabled the nearshoring model.

As a global logistics giant, DP World provided an integrated ecosystem of services, infrastructure, and technologies specifically designed to facilitate global trade and logistics. This ecosystem was instrumental in creating a new distribution pathway for Mondelēz, enabling the company to maintain supply chain integrity and business continuity despite the broader disruptions caused by the pandemic. This strategic shift not only stabilized distribution, but also marked a significant turn towards more resilient and efficient supply chain practices.

With the support of DP World, the transition to nearshoring took a mere six and a half months from concept to execution. DP World’s integrated ecosystem provided a seamless network of services, ensuring Mondelēz could maintain supply-chain integrity despite the global disruptions. The choice of the Dominican Republic as a central hub was no coincidence; its strategic location and robust trade infrastructure made it an ideal conduit for Mondelēz’s distribution across the Caribbean.

This narrative isn’t just about overcoming a temporary crisis; it’s a testament to the broader advantages of nearshoring. The model has not only enhanced Mondelēz’s distribution efficiency but also opened avenues for expansion into new markets. Remarkably, it has also led to a reduction in CO2 emissions by as much as 120,000 kilograms annually, showcasing the potential for nearshoring to contribute to more sustainable trade practices.

But is nearshoring the future of international trade, especially in a world seeking to balance economic resilience with sustainability? While it offers a promising avenue, its viability and predominance will depend on a confluence of factors: the continuing emphasis on sustainability, advancements in logistics technology, and the economic dynamics of potential nearshore destinations.

To dive deeper into how Mondelēz International navigated the complexities of supply chain disruptions and embraced nearshoring as a pathway to resilience and sustainability, read the full article in the Wall Street Journal. It offers valuable insights into the strategic decisions that are shaping the future of global trade, emphasizing the importance of agility, sustainability, and collaboration in today’s interconnected world.

Learn more: RECONNECTING THE FOOD CHAIN IN THE CARIBBEAN

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