Author: Peggy Smedley
Where are utilities headed? Peggy and Andy Zetlan, director, center of excellence, Hitachi Energy, discuss. He says the three things utilities worry about all the time are the reliability of their service, the cost of their service, and resiliency, meaning how well they can adapt to problems and resolve them quickly. They also talk about: New technologies that aren’t going to look like the old power plants of the past. Grid-edge and how we are changing our centralized, big power plant generation capabilities. The need to be carbon free and how nuclear power is of great interest again. hitachienergy.com (9/13/22…
For years, we have been talking about stolen tools, lost equipment, and the long-term costs associated with not being able to effectively manage assets on a jobsite. Now, we are experiencing this firsthand—and I have some thoughts for contractors and builders to consider. For those of you who might have forgotten, I am still on a journey with my husband Dave to build a Living Lab – one where we have partnered with several industry players to encourage energy-efficient and green living for all. The intention is to demonstrate advanced energy-efficient connected products and systems from some leading manufacturers and…
Homes are getting smarter and connected devices are proliferating the home at a rapid pace. So, what’s next? One new report identifies the evolution of the smart home and what tech is currently coming out on top. Plume provides a glimpse into today’s smart home—literally. With more than 41 million homes and more than 1.8 billion connected devices managed on its global network, it has realtime data about what devices are actually humming in homes today. The information in its recent Smart Home Market Report, released in August, samples data from a cross-section of 200,000 homes out of the 41…
If we want smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 to be successful, we need to involve everyone in the ecosystem: large and small manufacturers, technology providers, academia, and more. As the saying goes, we are only as strong as our weakest player, and we need to raise the tide, so all boats float higher together. Perhaps one of the biggest implications of the Third Industrial Revolution—which spanned from 1970 to 2010—for small and medium-sized manufacturers was the cost and complexity of automation and digitization. Perhaps this is the reason many digital transformation initiatives are not successful—some suggest this statistic is between…
Peggy talks all about clean energy and new programs and projects that can reduce carbon emissions. She says if we do it right, it will likely create jobs, cut energy costs, and improve the environment all at the same time. She also discusses: What is currently happening with clean energy planning and deployment. A new announcement from the U.S. Dept. of Energy. How technology will come into play on these energy projects. peggysmedleyshow.com (9/6/22 – 787) IoT, Internet of Things, Peggy Smedley, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, digital transformation, cybersecurity, blockchain, 5G, cloud, sustainability, future of work, podcast This…
Peggy Smedley and John Helveston, assistant professor, George Washington University, talk about what needs to happen to reach decarbonization goals by 2030. He says how do you eat an elephant—one bite at a time. Decarbonization is a giant elephant, and we have to find ways to reduce it. They also discuss: Three things that will help in the near-term future. Changes that are happening that will address some of the hurdles we face with decarbonization such as supply chain, cost, and infrastructure. EVs (electric vehicles) and the impact they have on decarbonization. jhelvy.com (9/6/22 – 787) IoT, Internet of Things,…
Peggy Smedley and Peter Martin, industrial performance consultant, talk about how to progress with industrial automation going forward. He says if you look at the history of the industry, the answer lies there. Manufacturers understood that the best way to make their facilities run better was to measure them better and then control what you are measuring. They also discuss: Control theory and if it has gone as far as it can go or not. Safety and how it impacts reliability, cost, business efficiency, and environmental factors. Generational differences and the importance of changing thinking and mindsets. peggysmedleyshow.com (9/6/22 -…
Are we headed for a recession? Are contractors still experiencing labor shortages and material delays? What is the overall outlook for the market? I have recently done a deep dive into the state of the residential construction market. Today let’s take a closer look at the heavy civil construction market and unpack where we are headed amid a changing economic market and following the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Pointing to some specific data, the FMI 2022 Heavy Civil Construction Index, Third Quarter Report, gives us a peek into the current state of the market and what is to…
You have likely heard the expression: reduce, reuse, recycle. But now, the zero-waste approach takes this a step further, adding two more Rs to the framework: refuse—which is all about eliminating waste from the start and saying “no” to free stuff—and rot, which in its simplest form is composting. If we want to reach zero waste by 2030, we need to take everything into consideration. Every year, more than 11 billion tons of waste are produced worldwide, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. This is simply a byproduct of the way we live our lives. Enter zero waste initiatives.…
Education is evolving. The way organizations and individuals learn about digital transformation amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution looks very different from years past. One very specific example is how we are teaching and learning about datacenters. As we all know, the cloud enables many activities that we do in both life and business, and it hosts large amounts of information that feed all these applications. The way I see it, to build a secure cloud environment, we need datacenters—and we need workers to help. Enter the Microsoft Datacenter Academy, which helps individuals acquire skills and certifications for employment in the…