Congratulations and
a small pat on our back
Stellar Steam
recently introduced the Polaris gas steamer - a completely connectionless
model that allows you to cook on a golf course, in a field, parking
lot, or mountain slope. The mobile four-pan steamer is mounted on a
stand that holds a gas tank; water is added manually when needed.
The steamer's pilot light produces electricity to
power the control and lights. We designed that
model while we owned Stellar Steam and are very excited that it is a
winner of the Kitchen Innovations award at NRA.
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Many local utilities
provide rebates for replacing equipment with Energy Star rated
appliances. To check out your area
go to Energy Star Rebate Finder:
www.energystar.gov/cfsrebate_locator.
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Smallwares and Tabletop
Supply Chain Issues
An open forum conducted by Robin Ashton, Publisher of FER,
revealed insight to chains' purchasing considerations. When asked if overseas manufacturing is
a concern, several people said that it can be a problem during the
development phase because they want to be able to "go back and forth
quickly", especially if the item is to be used in a large
roll-out. Others noted that they
are happy as long as sufficient inventory is warehoused in the
US. Some chains prefer stock items to
custom. On the other hand, it was noted that there is very little
manufacturing capacity in the US for smallwares, none for flatware and
very little for china.
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Next week we'll be at the Hoteres show in Tokyo and
will report back to you about what we see there in a few weeks.
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NAFEM has
developed a comprehensive Life Cycle cost calculator which can help
buyers compare competitive models and analyze their purchasing decisions.
To access the new tool, log
on at www.nafem.org and click on "NAFEM Lifecycle Tool Download." Review the agreement
statement and enter your name, company and e-mail address to receive an
e-mail link to download the tool. For more information, call Charlie
Souhrada at 312/821-0212.
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Please forward this newsletter to anyone who would be
interested in foodservice equipment design, development and invention.
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IWD
Shameless Plug
Do you have product design challenges? Are you busy keeping
up with your existing product lines - there's no time to be creative
and design something new? Are you running a restaurant chain and can't
find the equipment you really need? Contact us. We can help. Call 877-312-1706, Mike Colburn at
ext.101 or Mary Esther Treat at ext. 102.
info@ideaswelldone.com
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Greetings!
Defining Innovation
Innovation, not
inventiveness, is the source of wealth and business success. Many
inventions and great ideas die for lack of commercialization. So what
is innovation and how do you use it?
Innovation is
creatively bringing something to market and creating value, creating a
competitive advantage that produces wealth. However you want to put the
words together, innovation is making money with something new.
Additional
definitions of innovation are offered by The Economist: "new products, business processes, and
organic changes that create wealth or social welfare" and by
Richard Lyons, the chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs: "fresh
thinking that creates value" (my favorite).
Innovation
starts with recognizing something different that can improve your market
performance. Recognizing
different-ness is a talent. Does your organization practice this and
use the results?
At Ideas Well
Done we have assembled a team unequaled in our industry to design and
develop new equipment, improve existing equipment and to extend your
R&D functions. But, a big BUT, what we are really good at is seeing
and recognizing innovation opportunities for our customers.
I will use
one more quote to make my point. Larry Huston of 4INNO, a consulting
firm, said in Forbes that
"future competitive advantage will depend on 'innovation networks
of individuals and organizations outside a company that can help it
solve problems and find new ideas for creating growth'."
If you want the
engineering, we're here. What we really want to talk to you
about is maximizing your market opportunities through innovation. Let's
talk.
Mike Colburn
877-312-1706
Ext 101
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MUFES 2008
Mike and I attended the
biennial 2008 MUFES conference (sponsored by Foodservice Equipment Reports) in Austin, TX recently and
came away with a lot to share with you. Attended by a balanced mix of
people from chains and manufacturers, the conference provides
insightful and thought-provoking sessions along with good food and many
opportunities to mix and learn.
The articles below give you a
hint of what we heard
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Global Warming - What's in it for You
Gregg Easterbrook of the Brookings Institute kicked off
the conference with "Global Warming: What's in it for you",
adapted from his article in the April 2007 Atlantic Monthly (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200704/global-warming) with a special focus on foodservice. He noted that
foodservice will be increasingly affected by energy costs - energy will
become more expensive and more tightly regulated. He encouraged
attendees to be proactive now before we are hit with proscriptive
regulation.
Agriculture
contributes as much to greenhouse gas as petroleum, therefore prices
are certain to rise. Additionally, beef is a greenhouse problem: an
estimated ten calories of hydrocarbons goes into one calorie of
consumable beef - "beef is a global warming issue."
The US is
"the fountain of innovation in the world" and Easterbrook
believes that as soon as Congress starts regulation of greenhouse gas,
there will be a financial incentive to tackle the problems. He cited
the history of smog: once a profit incentive was created, solutions
were devised and smog is declining in all US cities and beginning to
decrease in the developed world. Acid rain has declined 60% in the last
15 years. What Easterbrook finds
particularly important is that there were no international treaties, no
one was required to do anything; the US invented inexpensive solutions
and other countries decided it was in their own best interests to
adapt.
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Climatologist Sees
Trouble Ahead
Gerald R.
North, Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Texas A&M University, talked about climate change in the US. Modern climate
research began with the satellite era in the mid-1970's giving us the
first views of earth (and weather) from space coupled with the ability
to crunch huge amounts of data with computers.
Dr.
North said that Al Gore's attribution of individual events to global
warming is true for the Arctic and the drought in the Southwest
US, but not hurricanes like Katrina. "Even the intensity of
hurricanes is controversial," he said. Otherwise he felt that Gore was
"pretty faithful to the science".
Dr.
North projected more precipitation in the Northeast
US and less in the Southeast and Southwest;
water will be more costly in most areas, especially in the US
Southwest. Population change is
a big factor in water projections. He also noted that snowpack will melt earlier, leading to dry
conditions later in the year. Fires will be a bigger problem. Texas rivers will dry up before they reach the Gulf
of Mexico in 30-40 years - what happens to the
nuclear power plants using those rivers for cooling water?
Dr. North feels that biofuels cause more greenhouse gases
than expected and that biofuels are not an attractive strategy for
greenhouse gas abatement, but may be good for national security.
Dr. North summary: agricultural consequences - the
Ogallala Aquifer in the TX Panhandle will dry up so that the windmills
now there will generate power instead of pumping water; there will be a
lot of population dislocation; the cost of energy and transportation
will increase leading food prices to go up (he said rail is more
efficient transportation than trucks); in order to make a change we
will need to do things that we don't want to do and Dr. North is
pessimistic about Americans' political will.
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Market Forecast
Robin Ashton, FER Publisher, and John Muldowney, Principal
at Clarity Marketing, updated their 2008 E&S Market Forecast; the
short version: it's down but still positive. Robin said that despite
the "self-induced" current recession there's still money to
be made. While the outlook looks poor, it's not consistent across all
segments of foodservice - full service restaurants are projected to be
off but quick service is expected to grow (people will still dine out,
but move to less expensive options). Most retail, lodging, schools and
colleges are expected to post positive numbers; business & industry
will "plummet" and healthcare and most other noncommercial
segments will slow.
NRA expects slower capital spending by restaurants, but
some chains, notably McDonald's, will increase capital expenditures.
Noncommercial segments, except B&I and military, will have
"robust" E&S spending.
The take-away on volatile materials prices is that
material flexibility will be very important going forward. If only we
could build ovens out of wood!
FER's Equipment & Supplies forecast bottom line is
that plusses outweigh minuses, barely, with a real growth forecast of
0.5% for 2008.
Robin's conclusion (keep in mind this was an hour-long
presentation) noted that it's an election year and politicians will do
their best to keep the economy going. Manufacturers need to help
pressured operators save money and create new sales.
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Energy Star II: The Next
Generation
An update on energy and water saving programs was provided
by Gwen Dobbs of ICF International. WaterSense is a partnership program
with the US EPA that promotes water-efficient products and services
including high efficiency toilets and faucets, and landscape irrigation
services. Under development are weather- or sensor-based irrigation
controls and high-efficiency showerheads.
New additions to the Energy Star rated appliances include
dish machines and ice machines. Energy saving equipment eligible for
rebates in California include combi, convection and rack ovens, glass door
refrigerators, large vat fryers and griddles.
Coming Energy Star categories in 2008 are griddles and
ovens plus revisions to the refrigeration standards. Large vat fryers
are scheduled to be added in 2009. Gwen said that some state regulators
are requiring Energy Star efficiency levels, or exceeding them.
Gwen cited four chains that are committed to reducing
their environmental footprints: Starbucks uses recycled cups and
incorporates efficiency to store design and operation; Carl's Jr. has
an energy operations manager, has reclaimed significant money in
rebates from CA utilities and converted 20% of their vehicles to run on
oil; Pizza Fusion uses hybrid vehicles, renewable wind energy and
recycles pizza boxes and paper; and McDonalds recycles or reduces
materials, builds to LEED standards and is an Energy Star Partner of
the year.
I learned a new word from Gwen: water resources are
"deplenishing". The cost of water and waste water in the US
has risen sharply in recent years, faster than the CPI.
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Design Detail
http://www.halfbakery.com/category/Product_3a_20Cooker
Invention ideas are
discussed; some are slammed, some are goofy. Some are good. Example - printing a bar code
directly on food that will be read by an oven or microwave which will
then cook the product properly and the markings disappear during
cooking. What about ovens that
are modular so you can take a side panel off and put two together? Not bad.
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