Exergetic

I came across the word and concept 'Exergy' the other day. Perhaps I have led a sheltered life but I had never heard of it before. I found it an interesting and useful concept.

As I understand it, the term was coined (in 1956) because the term 'energy' (the potential to do work) has some disadvantages. Those who remember their thermodynamics will remember that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another. So when oil is burnt, the world's supply of energy is the same ... the energy now happens to be in a form that is less useful to us.

Hence the term exergy. When oil is in the ground it has energy (and by definition exergy). When it is burnt, the exergy has gone (but the energy has simply been converted into another form).

Exergy is useful when talking about sustainability and alternative energy forms. we cannot afford to use up the world's exergy resources - otherwise we cannot have that potential to do work back again. Exergy disappears and with it goes our potential well-being.

We say ... or do we?

Air India on Friday clarified that it “was in dialogue with various unions/associations/guild on Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI)reduction.”

Late on Thursday, the airline had issued a statement saying that the Air India board had decided to reduce PLI to employees / flying allowance paid to crew by 50 per cent.

The statement also quoted the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Arvind Jadhav, as thanking the unions / employees for their foresight in “accepting the board’s decision”.

The statement added that the reduction will be there till an alternate formula for governing PLI is put in place within three months.

Mr Jadhav said, “The rationalisation of manpower costs will help in hastening the turnaround process, which has been initiated with the support of the Government.”

However, in Friday’s statement, the spokesperson of Air India said, “Mr Arvind Jadhav met representatives of various unions late last night with union leaders agreeing to revert by early next week after discussing the issue with the office bearers and committee members.”

So ... something may or may not be agreed.

EU helps poor farmers

Poor farmers in the Philippines and four other countries are set to receive a productivity boost through new United Nations-led agricultural projects funded by a 34-million euro donation from the European Union (EU), the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said.

WFP schemes, helping mostly female small-scale farmers grow food more efficiently in Bolivia, Guatemala, Senegal, Nepal and the Philippines, will get additional spending from the EU’s 1-billion euro Food Facility fund to further increase food production.

“The European Union has recognized that one of the best ways to make sure people have access to food is to help small farmers increase production,” said Gemmo Lodesani, director of the WFP liaison office in Brussels. “That way, they can feed their families and increase availability of food in their local markets.”

Stand down ... don't standby

About 2% of the world's electricity is consumed by devices on standby.

So, if we all turned those machines off (completely) and we then had to wait for them to reach full power ... how much productivity would we lose.

I don't know ... but I suspect we would save more than we would lose.

Can anybody suggest how or where we might get an answer that might convince people to change their behaviour?

Never Too old

You are never too old to learn .. but perhaps I might be. I am currently on a course developing my Lean Six Sigma knowledge and skills. At the end of each day my brain hurts. This is either because I am working hard … or perhaps because my brain is getting less able to absorb lots of new stuff.

Still it is useful to go through the experience that I often make students go through. Perhaps more importantly, the actual concepts, methodologies and techniques of Lean Six Sigma chime with existing knowledge … so I am both better-educated and re-assured.

Singapore - should it reduce foreign workers?

2 Singaporean ministers have cautioned against calls to reduce foreign workers as a way to improve the productivity of Singaporean workers. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong suggested it is too simplistic to assume that such a move will automatically lead to higher worker output.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan at a different event said that 'Just zeroing in on foreign workers alone is not the total solution.' But he did concede that 'it is something that needs to be looked at'.

Their comments come a day after labour MP Josephine Teo called on the Government to re-tune foreign worker policies, saying that easy access to foreigners could be one reason productivity is sliding.

In the first quarter of 2009, productivity slipped by 15.4 per cent, compared with the same period last year, continuing a steady decline since the last quarter of 2007.

Canada vs USA - the reasons?

According to recent information, Canada’s lower productivity accounts for the largest component of the income gap between the United States and Canada.

Canada has invested less in machinery and equipment per worker since the 1980s, resulting in less capital intensity (less capital per worker). Canada’s research and development (R&D) as a proportion of GDP is lower than that of the United States and other OECD countries. Usage of information and communications technology (ICT) is also less extensive than the United States.

While Canada ranks favourably against the United States in primary and secondary educational attainment, Canadians fall behind their American counterparts in the attainment of university or advanced degrees and in opportunities for on-the-job training or continuous education.

Finally, industrial organization also plays a part. According to the Conference Board of Canada, Canadian manufacturers are more heavily concentrated in lower productivity growth industries. Smaller enterprises (SME) are generally less productive than larger ones, and SMEs are a greater share of Canadian manufacturing and employment.

So, when you see national productivity figures, you have to do quite a bit of 'unpicking' to understand them.