Editorials
Editorials
selected works
The Vintage Seeker
Fresh takes on secondhand stuff. Editorials in Opinion and Newsletters.
It's Evolution, Baby
“Some would say that over the last 30 years, technology has made creative smarter. With great power comes great competition, so it’s had to be. Others may disagree. And to them I’ll concede that for all of technology’s merits, there have been pitfalls, too.”
Advanced manufacturing key to Canada’s post-COVID future
“It was welcome news at the end of March when French-owned pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced plans to construct a $925-million influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Toronto—though not only for the new jobs it would bring, or the economic boost it would inject into a challenged economy coming out of COVID-19. It also wasn’t only about Canada having domestic vaccine production in the event of another pandemic—though that is very welcome news indeed.”
Collaboration integral to future of N.S. forestry
“Paper Excellence purchased Northern Pulp in 2011, and with it, inherited the distrust of a community that has been fighting for decades with the mill’s various owners to stop the flow of untreated effluent into Boat Harbour’s settling ponds. With this next phase, the company will need to do more than add statistics to a government-ordered report. Paper Excellence has the opportunity to start from the ground up and build a new, stronger—and transparent—relationship with the Indigenous community, and with other local stakeholders.”
Leading the change in manufacturing
“The industry has been talking about ways to solve the skills shortage for years, such as hiring and training people from underrepresented groups including women. But still that number hovers at 29 per cent, stymied by things like outdated perceptions of manufacturing, traditional hiring practices, inflexible job schedules and workplace cultures that can be challenging for women to navigate.”
Softwood standoff continues
“The doubling-down is not set in stone until the department produces a final review in the fall, but if it feels like déjà vu, that’s because it is. The DOC reviews its anti-subsidy (countervailing) and anti-dumping duties annually, and it was only in November of 2020 that they established the current rate. The battles tend to drag on.”
Biden’s win: A springboard for Canadian manufacturing innovation?
“U.S. protectionism provides many challenges for Canadian manufacturers under current trade conditions, and protectionism itself has been criticized as a long-term innovation killer that ultimately decreases competitiveness. But what if we take a little bit of inspiration from our neighbours to the south and capitalize on the opportunity to look more after our own?”
Cybersecurity: turning awareness into action
“Traditionally, OT has been relatively insulated from cyberattack compared to IT—but as more PLCs and machines get connected to the Internet, vulnerability grows. It presents a bit of a paradox: the concept of Industry 4.0 hinges on the access to and computation of data to drive operational efficiency, but the very systems that make manufacturers more agile and responsive also put them at increased risk.”
Winning a Consumer's Heart (and Wallet)
“These days, a brand relationship can be severed in the time it takes a consumer to tap a few characters onto their social feed. And how a brand chooses to respond to that interaction can mean the difference between a short-term split and a permanent breakup.”
Maybe They're Born With It
“When a kid is faced with a problem, the permutations of how to solve it are seemingly infinite. Faced with the same problem, an adult will usually fixate on one solution—the most obvious—and be done with it. On to the next. With intelligence and age comes more awareness—of time, of the extent of our own abilities, of outside factors that could get in the way.”
Is your workforce vulnerable to automation?
“Artificial intelligence, robotics and other advanced technologies are shifting the way manufacturers design, produce and deliver goods for the better. There's a growing number of roles required to develop those technologies, facilitate and maintain their operation, and action on the insights gained therein. But this is only half of the conversation. The workers for these new roles aren't going to just materialize.”
#ChooseToChallenge adds momentum to supporting women in forestry
“Having good intentions to promote diversity of thinking and to recruit more people from underrepresented groups is different than developing and maintaining the supports needed to retain and advance those hires. Increasingly, leaders are recognizing that the recruitment practices of the past might not cut it anymore.”
Net-zero: Building new processes, optimizing old ones
“The sector will need to explore new processes, such as fuel switching and carbon capture and storage systems, and reimagine old ones to reduce energy—for example, by drying paper with chemical additives to reduce heat consumption, or by recycling recovered paper. With those solutions, though, new issues arise.”
Gig a Little, Gig a Lot
“There’s no punch clock for creativity (okay, so you need to keep track of a project’s billable hours, but we’re talking the cerebral stuff here). Ideas aren’t quantifiable. They don’t necessarily arrive between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. In fact, they’re kind of inconvenient that way.”
Starting a Revolution
“While propaganda is usually specific to politics, I can’t help but think its very existence is one of the many reasons why people outside this industry seem to have such distaste for advertising in general. That, and the moment in Fight Club when the main character says, ‘Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.’ It’s a clever line, but what a narrow view.”
Charting a new course for investments
“The results of the election south of the border will chart a whole new course for company investment across North America, and it will be time to prepare for how the outcome will affect operations in 2021. Businesses may not have been ready for the pandemic, but they do know that political winds change every four years. And, as ever, they adapt.”