For the past couple of months I have been volunteering with the Cleantech Open (CTO – www.cleantechopen.com) here in Northern California. The CTO is a business plan competition held in 3 regions in the Western U.S. The groups are provided with opportunities to learn about business planning, get feedback, practice their presentations, and be mentored to what they hope will be a winning business plan – for both the competition and to get funding from a VC…

Most of my time has been spent helping with the CTO’s first Operations Industry Clinic which was held last Thursday evening at the offices of a very interesting company, D2M (Design to Manufacturing – www.d2m-inc.com), in Mountain View – but more about them later.

There were 2 presenters who gave both valuable information and examples which the CTO contestants could use in developing their specific prototypes and operations / mfg / supply chain processes and business plans. The evening was a very good primer on all aspects of manufacturing and operations with particular info on how to decide whether to contract out or start your own. The biggest take-away for me was that either way a company needs to maintain visibility and control over their suppliers, service providers, and quality processes. It also underscored how operations decisions have the potential to make or break a new or existing company.

Paul Tasner from Method Products (www.methodhome.com) was the second presenter and he walked the group through the issues and challenges he had encountered when he joined Method to run their supply chain operations. He talked about the distribution changes he had implemented, the challenge of being a small fish in a large pond but still working out sustainable solutions with his service providers, and to never underestimate what you can accomplish.

Two people from D2M’s management team also participated in the interactive presentations by giving the group the benefit of their experience, particularly around prototypes and contract manufacturing (they have worked with many existing companies and start-ups). After the official clinic discussions were over we broke into 2 groups and got a quick tour around the D2M facility.

Tim Billing, COO, led the group that I was in. D2M is moving toward more project based work groups and open cube seating. They are finding that it makes for more innovative and collaborative results. Tim described a number of the projects they are involved in – some cleantech related (eg a better toilet) and some humanitarian related (easier ways to transport water for women in Africa).

The entire evening was very successful, good food (provided by D2M), good information, and some real-world examples of people helping people and the planet. Very much aligned with the reason people get involved with cleantech in the first place!

Susan Rosin
President, Reclipse Group

“The sexy new discussion in policy circles around the world, thanks to the recession, is whether a significant shift of power from men to women is underway — or whether it should be. Accounting giant Ernst & Young pulled out charts and graphs at a recent power lunch in Washington with female lawmakers to argue a provocative bottom line: Companies with more women in senior management roles make more money.”

This is from an article in the Washington Post (http://tinyurl.com/washpost) talking about a number of studies which have shown a direct connection between company profitability and increased senior management diversity at those companies. This is not going to be a surprise to the many women professionals who have spent their careers trying to break through the “glass ceiling” (the one that we’re told was shattered years ago – when? I must have missed it).

Large numbers of women keep leaving the corporate world to start their own businesses or join smaller entities where they have more control over their work and can lead a more balanced life (don’t say women aren’t risk takers). The current economic and social mess in this country has been caused by the greed and mis-management endemic to the masculine model of competition in business. Co-operation will get you alot further down the road to profitability and success, just look at the results from these studies – “Pepperdine found that the Fortune 500 firms with the best records of putting women at the top were 18 to 69 percent more profitable than the median companies in their industries.”

Susan Rosin
President, Reclipse Group

“It’s the end of the world as we know it,” and we at Reclipse feel fine because we get it, we are proven agents of change. Today, companies are holistic business chains and entities; Economics 101 and Demand and Supply Management fluency are still the key measures of success; and after living through the boom and breakage of the dot com era we know that the world and business, as we operate now in the 21st Century, has changed and times are tough again. We are in an age of Alternative Energies, On-Line Communities, Health and Design of Living changes – that to survive and thrive people and companies must change and adapt to the new economy and the new world ahead of us. Companies need to be proactive and positive not reactive and behind.

To us at Reclipse, the Supply Chain as we know it is gone and has morphed into a true Holistic “Business Chain” as we describe it. We cannot think or act like the old school, we need to help the old school adapt and the new school inherit the best DNA/Genetic code of business know-how possible. Trailblazing companies are well beyond Lean, Six Sigma, ERP, outsourcing just because, etc. We are in an era where business is complex enough, so lets simplify it and take a leaf or two out of the way an Apple thinks and acts to continually improve ease of use and build innovative and profound services and products (iTunes, iPhone and iLife for example). REI has high prices and sells high quality goods to the adventurer and explorer- a mountain bike, gear to climb a mountain or just a great pair of hiking boots. Thousands of SKU’s, great retail and on-line shopping environments, REI makes money and pleases customers and if you are not happy with it just return it.

Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin plus the Zoominfo worlds are with us and helping change the “face” of what we do and how we do it. Developing our “own space and and clients and growing into it. You truly need GPS and a Garmin to help you navigate the business terrain and be the new world class because it is indeed the end of the world as we knew it (and we do feel fine).

So what is the same and what is different. Some thoughts:

• Cost is still important but lowest total cost, best value and quickly, freaky fast as Toms ….the sandwich chain says and does. Not the cheapest but so fast and good.
• On-demand mass personalization delivered to your door or acquired in your store
• Community and holistic communities. I always liked the “portfolio” word and you always look to having a strong portfolio
• Invest in USA! Buy in USA! Homesourcing becomes the trend. Awaysourcing is secondary. What a waste of fuel and time when we can make the complex simple and Homesource!