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From Uniforms to Shoes, Taiwan Is a Major World Cup Player
The World Cup is not just a soccer tournament, but also a technology competition. Why are the UK team’s jerseys made with looms used to knit socks? The official game balls have surface patterns that look like bug bites, and are embedded with NFC chips. Athletic shoes must be soft and pliable, but soccer cleats must be stiff, not to mention made from custom lasts. And the technology behind all this can be credited to Taiwan.
From Uniforms to Shoes, Taiwan Is a Major World Cup PlayerBy KaiYuan Teng
Every four years, the intense competition at the FIFA Football World Cup is not limited to the athletes on the field from 32 countries. Beyond the pitch, the event is the center of technological competition among the world’s sporting brands, and this is where “Made in Taiwan” plays a key role.
An estimated eight million jerseys will be sold during this year’s World Cup, along with 10 million soccer balls, while the event will attract over 3.2 billion combined views. All of these represent opportunities for Taiwan.
Despite the fact that Taiwan has not even qualified for the World Cup competition on the field, historically many of the jerseys, cleats, and protective gear worn at the World Cup over the years—even the balls—have been made in Taiwan.
This year, the national teams from Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Egypt are all outfitted in uniforms made in Taiwan. Raw material upstream suppliers include Far Eastern New Century and Shinkong Synthetic Fibers, while Fu Hsun Fiber Industries, Men-Chuen Fibre Industry Co., and New Wide Enterprise of Taiwan furnished fabric, dyeing, and finishing.
Many pairs of football cleats also come from Taiwan-based shoe manufacturers Pou Chen and Feng Tay. In southern Taiwan, Tuhuolong designs and makes shoe lasts expressly for football cleats.
Feature #1: Japan and Germany Team Uniforms Can Wick a Liter of Sweat
Each player routinely runs 10 kilometers over the course of a soccer match, producing about a liter of sweat. Unless the sweat is wicked away, the athlete could feel heavier, weighed down more and more as the match progresses. In the effort to make the sweat disappear and allow the players to dash lightly about the pitch, both midstream and downstream textile industry players from Taiwan attacked the problem.
The uniforms worn by the national teams of Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Egypt were produced by Taipei-based textile raw material suppliers Far East New Century and Shinkong Synthetic Fibers, along with to mid- and downstream material, finished good, and dyeing and finishing vendors Fu Hsun Fiber Industries, Men-Chuen Fibre Industry Co., and New Wide Enterprise.
What makes MIT uniforms stand out? First is their sweat-wicking properties. Huang Po-hsiung, director of the Department of Products at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute, relates that each player on the field loses from 500 to 1000 cc. of sweat during a typical match. This sweat is not a slow release, but pours out in rain-like drops right onto the uniform. If not for the sweat-wicking capacity of the uniform materials, for the athletes it would be like playing in a raincoat that gets heavier and heavier as the game progresses.
The structural makeup of soccer uniforms made with MIT fiber is not unlike that of road engineering, boring holes and laying gutters, says Huang , explaining that the structure of the fiber used on a good sweat-wicking garment is like a gutter that rapidly siphons sweat away from the body; the material is further treated during dyeing and finishing to strengthen hydrophobic performance.
Seamless Woven Socks Won’t Bunch Up
The uniforms used in the FIFA World Cup are woven using the latest seamless technology.
In the past, sports garments were woven from different swatches of material, with seams protruding where the material is sewn together. During the rigors of a game, a soccer player’s body constantly rubs against the seams, causing discomfort, abrasions, and even cuts on the skin.
The latest seamless MIT technology borrows from methods used for weaving socks, using conical looms to weave cone-shaped garments. Consequently, it saves multiple steps in the weaving process, reducing friction between the skin and the seams so athletes do not feel constricted by their uniform, negatively impacting their performance.
Image: FIFA official website
Recycled Bottles As World Cup Togs
Taiwan is not only known for the high performance of its functional apparel, but also as the principal place of manufacture for fiber made from recycled materials at the World Cup.
This March, Shinkong Synthetic Fibers announced that it would produce half of the eco-friendly thread employed at this year’s World Cup.
Recycled thread at the World Cup also comes from another supplier of raw materials for textiles, namely Far Eastern New Century, the world’s second-largest producer of recycled thread. Since 2006, FENC’s eco-friendly thread has appeared at four consecutive World Cups.
Far Eastern New Century can also claim the unique distinction of having developed “ocean plastic” made from discarded plastic bottles polluting the world’s marine environment. This material has been used in the uniforms worn by top European League teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Last year, over a thousand tons of marine refuse was recycled via this new technology, contributing to the production of a million pairs of ocean plastic athletic shoes. Just imagine, the athletes competing at the World Cup are wearing gear and apparel produced from discarded plastic bottles that ended up in the world’s oceans.
Image: Parley for the Oceans
Feature #2: Misshapen Foot? The Latest MIT Technology Can Handle It
Is there an MIT connection with soccer cleats worn at the World Cup? To get a better feel for Taiwan’s contribution to the technology in the shoes worn by athletes at the World Cup, we visited the Tuhuolong Shoe Last Company in the Anping Industrial Zone on the outskirts of Tainan. For years, Tuhuolong has supplied athletic shoe lasts for Nike, Feng Tay, and Pou Chen worn by the world’s elite athletes for competition in soccer, basketball, golf, and tennis.
How influential is MIT in the world of athletic shoes? Lai Chi-chien, secretary-general of the Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association, says that when major brands propose new concepts for sneakers, 80 percent of the innovative development of shoe materials, threads, and chemical materials – from entire shoes, to soles, and even lasts – comes from Taiwan.
What is a shoe last? Tu Ta-kung, director of the Tuhuolong Shoe Last Company, relates that the last is the shoe’s foundation. The upper part is fitted and the sole is affixed over a finished last to make a complete shoe. “How good a shoe looks and feels to wear depends on how good the shoe last is,” says Tu.
Tu Ta-kung, director of the Tuhuolong Shoe Last Company, relates that the last is the shoe’s foundation. The upper part is fitted and the sole is affixed over a finished last to make a complete shoe. (Image: Justin Wu)
Tu, who established his business in Tainan, is a fourth-generation entrepreneur from a family that has been making shoe lasts since the Japanese period (1895-1945) in Taiwan.
Shoe lasts were much different back then; n the past, lasts were planed by hand from a block of wood. Today, 3D software guides the machine to precisely sculpt a shoe last exclusively for elite athletes.
Tu holds up a pair of huge plastic feet one and one-half times the size of a normal person’s foot, produced from a scan of a mold made of an NBA player’s foot. Having such a mold enables Tuhuolong to produce shoe lasts expressly for top athletes.
Why must elite athletes’ shoes be made from custom lasts? Tu explains that the first ingredient for making a world-class athlete is interest, which is followed by determination and perseverance. “A lot of people train so hard that it changes the shape of their feet,” says Tu. Accordingly, their shoes must be customized.
Making custom shoe lasts is not easy, and one little slip up could result in a superstar’s complaint.
One NBA star who believed that he was unable to dunk properly because his shoes were 0.5 cm. too small had his agent write a complaint to the shoe manufacturer. That letter eventually found its way to the Tuhuolong shoe plant in Tainan.
Image: Justin Wu
Durability Paramount for High Intensity Soccer
Soccer players have to do a lot of running, which is why their shoes must be light and tough enough to withstand the force of the foot kicking the ball. Meanwhile, the shoe must be form-fitting to facilitate nimble ball handling and kicking.
Image: FIFA official website
According to Lai Chi-chien, most soccer cleats are fashioned from man-made leather, while some top-flight shoes use kangaroo leather to withstand the intensity of soccer competition. “If you tried playing soccer in conventional sneakers, they’d be trashed in two seconds,” says Lai.
However, with the development of weaving techniques and material technology, Nike and adidas are now able to employ sneaker technology on the soccer pitch.
Hsiang Tzu-yuan, distinguished professor in the Department of Athletic Performance at National Taiwan Normal University, relates that the two major sports brands have progressively employed woven shoe uppers from running shoes in high-intensity sports like basketball and soccer.
Feature #3: Chipped Game Balls, Bonding Technology from Xindian
Surface panels and sewing technology are critical to balls’ ability to fly predictably.
A close look at the adidas Telstar 18 game balls used in the World Cup reveals that the surface is not smooth and uniform, but features multiple rectangular raised panels. This is the secret to ensuring stability in flight.
These surface panels are designed to help the ball grip the air as it flies.
Panel design can have a significant impact on the game.
At the World Cup hosted by South Africa eight years ago, the official ball, dubbed the “Jabulani” (which means “to celebrate” in Zulu), came under fire for having a surface that was too smooth. This caused the ball to flutter in flight like a knuckleball pitch in baseball. Having learned this lesson, the latest balls now feature rectangular panels.
Linings Bonded by Robots for True Roundness
The Telstar 18 has no visible seams, because there are none.
In the past, the soccer ball’s surface was sewn together from multiple pieces of material. However, the cloth-based seams absorbed water, increasing the ball’s weight, impacting the players’ feel for the ball, and potentially impacting their performance.
Consequently, Long-Way Enterprise, a company based in New Taipei City’s Xindian District and a major force behind the official game balls used in many editions of the World Cup, uses robots to bond the ball’s outer skin to an inner lining.
Using robots to conduct bonding both saves manpower and ensures that the balls are as true to round as possible.
Chipped Balls Enhance Fan Engagement
Yet another innovation employed in the 2018 World Cup game balls is the formal use of an NFC (Near-Field Communications) chip embedded in the ball for the first time in tournament history.
Chips have been embedded previously in soccer balls to gather such data as flight speed and trajectory. However, in this case the purpose is to enhance the fans’ experience.
Rachel Furst, director of product marketing at Blue Bite, the software company that designed the NFC chip embedded in the soccer balls, relates that fans can connect to the ball using a mobile phone to receive exclusive game videos and the latest game updates.
Translated by David Toman
Edited by HanSheng Huang
♦ Who Puts the Performance in Performance Sportswear?
♦ Does the World Cup Reduce Productivity at Work around the Globe?
♦ Does Hosting a World Cup Make Economic Sense to the Host Country?
♦ 'Made in Taiwan' Scores Olympic Gold


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Vera Bradley has released a brand-new “Harry Potter” collection of bags and accessories. Show your Hogwarts House pride with new back-to-school designer merch.
Sat, Apr 24
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Fred and George drop out of Hogwarts
Wed, Apr 28
Horace Slughorn's birthday
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MuggleNet Academia's anniversary

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Just when you may have been pondering Chinese giant Tencent's next move in games and where the next bank of profits may roll in from, Pony Ma, chief executive and co-founder of Tencent has a plan. For while the business of games has been getting harder for the company thanks to increased competition and Chinese government intrusion, AI is - once again - going to save the day and keep the cash registers ringing.
Speaking at Tencent's annual meeting in a stadium in Shenzhen, China earlier this week, Ma observed that the company has been on the back foot while competitors have stolen its lunch. News of the comments came via leaks to Chinese media outlet Jiemian.
As the world’s biggest gaming company and the owner of China’s biggest social network WeChat, video games account for more than 30% of Tencent’s revenue.
“Gaming is our flagship business...But in the past year, we have faced significant challenges,” Ma said according to Reuters, “We have found ourselves at a loss, as our competitors continue to produce new products, leaving us feeling having achieved nothing.”
Ma's comments come as aging high earners such as Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile have been eclipsed by games from rival companies such as miHoYo's Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, and Eggy Party from NetEase.
And the good news?
But his comments weren't all doom and gloom. With the magic dust of AI giving everything an uplift, Ma was keen to promote Tencent's growth in the area commenting that “We can finally follow the pace of the first-tier companies. We don’t count ourselves as the most leading but at least we are not too behind.
“In the short term, within the next one or two years, I feel like there will not be a massive, AI-native application yet."
Rather than working up it's own outward-facing AI products the company is working to integrate its own Hunyuan AI model into different aspects of its own business in order to boost efficiency.
And as for the ongoing battle between Tencent's own WeChat and ByteDance's Douyin (aka TikTok)? “WeChat is our most robust platform regarding daily user amount and its ecosystem. But it is 12 years of age," observed Ma. "Now how we can find new sprouts from the old tree that is WeChat is the big question for us."


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Photo Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Gisele Bundchen might really have it all. Besides her killer bod, gorgeous face, superstar athlete husband and beautiful baby boy, the supermodel is on track to become a billionaire!
According to Forbes, Bundchen, 30, will most likely be the first billionaire supermodel -- and the first self-made Brazillian female to ever rake in that kind of cash.
So where is all the money coming from? Well, in addition to being the face of designer brands like Versace and Dior, Tom Brady's wife is in the process of "branding herself." Gisele has been putting her name on a slew of products ranging from jewelry to eco-friendly cosmetics and lingerie, which is part of the reason why she's been a staple on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for the last 10 years.
"According to a recent report in Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Bundchen could add as much as ($19 million) per year to her estimated $45 million annual income," Forbes says.


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Fruit and vegetables market
Spain: Mercamadrid tightens controls to prevent purchases outside opening hours
Mercamadrid's fruit and vegetable market will now prevent buyers from purchasing the best pieces at night. Until now, the official opening hours were from 6:00 to 11:00, but buyers could gain access hours earlier. With the new schedule, from 5.00 to 14.00, which came into force on 1 March, Mercamadrid is enforcing stricter controls on access to the warehouses, so that no one can enter outside of that schedule. With this measure, the company aims to avoid the overlap of suppliers' trucks with those of sellers. The retail associations point out that the loss of flexibility in the schedule could be a serious loss for SME's, since they need to make their purchases before the opening time to be able to have the products on time in their stores.
In a statement, the retail associations Adefruta, Cocam and Fecoam point out that it is common practice for traders to access the market at night. Factors such as "the limitations imposed by unloading regulations in cities, regulations of markets, retail centres and street markets, or traffic issues have de facto led to a notable advance in the time at which fruit sales in Mercamadrid take place," explains the document.
Since last Thursday, traders have come across closed doors and stricter security than usual. Retailers claim that the Asomafrut wholesalers association has been able to put pressure on Mercamadrid's general management to tighten access. The spokespersons of Mercamadrid and Asomafrut deny such pressures and argue that the closure of the points of access to the warehouses is due to the security measures imposed, usual for such facilities. With regard to purchases outside the official schedule, Mercamadrid admits that some purchases were made 15 or 20 minutes before the opening, but denies that any type of transaction took place at night.
Alberto Chamarro, representative of the Federation of Travelling Merchants (Fecoam), affirms that this sector is especially affected by the measure. "Mercamadrid is jam-packed in the morning, and many of us have to travel to very distant towns to sell our products," he explains. "It is very difficult to get to our businesses on time being granted access at 5.00." The manager of Adefruta, Alejandro González, points out that the new situation is a serious blow for micro-SME's. "Greengrocers run by three or four people cannot afford to be in Mercamadrid and in the store at the same time," he says.
González highlights that the measure "benefits the sellers," because it encourages quick purchases, since buyers are forced to accept the prices without bargaining, which increases the retail price. Chamarro assures that these restrictions "are just the tip of the iceberg, and that wholesale fruit companies are going to continue pushing small businesses out of the way by imposing impossible schedules."
Publication date: 3/8/2018
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E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, highlights the latest in interactive games.
Surfacing in the run-up to the annual IFA trade show, it appears Sony may push its next-gen flagship out the door a few months early.
As with the original flagship, Samsung is counting on the midrange phone's fingerprint scanner, heart-rate monitor, and extra apps to stand out.
Pricing not available
Sony showed off new trailers and gameplay footage for a wide variety of new games, including Destiny, The Order: 1886, Far Cry 4, Mortal Kombat X, Dead Island 2, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
It's an all-new Prizefight for handheld gaming supremacy. Sony's newest PS Vita Slim takes on Nintendo's 3DS XL. Who will be crowned King of the Ring?
The Sony Xperia Z2 has a great 20.7-megapixel camera. We took it for a spin to see what it's capable of.
With a brilliant screen, great camera and gorgeous design, the Sony Xperia Z2 provides everything you'd expect from a top-end phone. Check out our video review.
Waterproof, a sharp display, and 4G LTE: and now it'll be in the US, with pre-orders starting tomorrow.
Sony also promises that the Android 4.3 update is "right around the corner" for the rest of its Xperia lineup.
Sony's new camera app gives aspiring filmakers and oversharers alike the ability to broadcast live video to YouTube.
The Sony Xperia Z1 is Sony's latest flagship smart phone, packing a Full HD display, Android KitKat software and a camera that shoots video in 4K.


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What: $39B buyout
Scoop: Diversification was the name of the game as Novartis pledged $39 billion for the eye care company Alcon. Novartis bought a 25 percent stake in Alcon and could purchase another 52 percent in 2010. CEO Daniel Vasella said the purchase was a good fit and that the eye care market is growing as the population ages. Additionally, he observed, there's a lack of pricing pressure on eye products. While insurers and the government are twisting drugmakers' arms for discounts, consumers usually pay out of pocket for the kind of eye-care products Alcon sells.


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Sony is considering breaking up its joint venture with Samsung on LCD panels so it can cut its costs, according to a number of reports. Sources familiar with the matter were chatting with Nikkei and Reuters to say that the Japanese firm was hoping to strike a deal by the end of this year to sell its stake, which is nearly half, …
Or it could mean that consumer grade field emissive displays are just around the corner. Sony do have something of a lead in this technology.
Samsung is much better off without any dealings with Sony, so I hope they do break up.
@ Anonymous Coward
Unfortunately Sony's efforts in FED were an early casualty of the credit crunch when 'Field Emission Technologies' (FET), the FED joint venture that Sony was a major shareholder in, was closed down due to an inability to raise capital. Sony sold all it's patents and other FED assets to AU Optronics early last year.
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Nadia Sawalha is never afraid to be honest on Loose Women but now shes gone to a whole new level of revealing…
The presenter has left fans gobsmacked after modelling a seriously daring outfit alongside co-star and close pal Kaye Adams in a hilarious new video on social media.
In the clip Nadia, 53, explains that shes bought Kaye a pair of jeans during a trip to Los Angeles – but is upset that Kaye wont wear them.
“Ive just flown back from LA and given her her present. Really expensive jeans… $122,” the mum-of-two tells the camera.
“Theyre trending all over the world. Everybody wants a pair and madam is saying shes not going to wear them.”
Kaye, 55, then replies: “I just dont think they suit me. Do you think you could get them in a bigger size?”
She then steps out from behind the kitchen counter to reveal that shes wearing the jeans – and theyre so ripped that they completely expose her legs and bum!
“I think youre being ridiculous. Thats exactly what theyre supposed to look like,” Nadia shouts as she films Kaye modelling the racy item.
Nadia then turns the camera back on to herself and reveals that she too is wearing the flesh-flashing jeans, leaving her white pants on show.
The TV star – who completes the, um, interesting look with a pair of red high heels – then struts away.
Nadia and Kayes cheeky video left fans stunned and many praised the duo for their sense of humour – not to mention bravery!
“OMG!!!!!! I laughed out really loud brilliant,” one follower commented, whilst another wrote: “OMG @nadiaandkaye absolute madness I was not expecting that. Hahahaha”
And one added: “Just brilliant! Good sports”
The Extreme Cut-Out jeans are being sold by LA brand Carmar and have caused a lot of confusion online.
Nadia and Kaye have since pointed out that they werent actually wearing the branded pair for their funny video though, having replied to a fan that theyd used an “old pair of jeans we ripped the a*se out of. Literally!”.
The post Loose Womens Nadia Sawalha shocks fans as she bares all in very racy outfit appeared first on Woman Magazine.


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America's credit card debt might hit $1 trillion soon, according to a recent analysis from the American Bankers Association.
According to the latest Credit Card Market Monitor from the association, the number of new credit card accounts soared by 80.3 million compared to 12 months previously, marking an increase of 16.3%.
This suggests that card issuers are relaxing the purse-strings slightly compared to the stringent years of the recession, even to customers with relatively low credit scores, the report suggested. According to data from the first quarter, 10% of new cards went to individuals with credit scores of 583 or less. In fact, the average amount of credit available was at just $626.
Currently, the amount of credit card debt stands at $662 billion, according to the analysts Moody’s and Equifax. When this is added to the $593 billion in outstanding credit card balances, and over $68 billion on retail cards, it nudges the significant $1 trillion figure. And yet, this still puts the credit levels below pre-recession numbers, say economists, meaning that lenders are remaining cautious but slowly becoming more open.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said: “Consumers are borrowing more and lenders are more willing to make loans, but at least so far it has been a prudent increase in debt. It may be something a year from now, but I don't think card debt is currently a significant problem."
For consumers, this suggests creative yet cautious use of credit could be the way forward, with cashback cards offering competitive deals (offering bonuses and money back with each purchase), generous 0% deal offers for those with good credit, and access – if you’re lucky and careful – to a higher line of credit than before.
If you want to settle outstanding debts for less than what you owe, try our debt settlement tool.


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Geely, Daimler names joint venture Weixing Technology
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The joint venture between Geely Technology Group, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, and Daimler Mobility Services GmbH has been established on May 9, according to the business research platform Qixinbao.
The joint venture, dubbed “Weixing Technology Co.,Ltd”, involved registered capital of RMB1.7 billion with Liu Jinliang, Chairman of Geely-backed ride-hailing platform Caocao Zhuanche, as its legal representative. Both two parent companies hold 50% of equity in the joint venture with respective subscribed capital amounting to RMB850 million.
It is noteworthy that the business scope of the joint venture is to cover the car rental service, electricity supply, the installation, maintenance and operation of charging piles, ride-hailing service, cargo transport and passenger ferry.
Geely Technology Group and Daimler Mobility Services claimed as early as last October that they would co-build a 50/50 joint venture headquartered in Hangzhou to provide premium ride-hailing services. Then on March 28 this year, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Daimler AG announced the formation of a 50/50 globally focused joint venture to operate and further develop Smart brand as a leader in premium-electrified vehicles. The Weixing Technology is what the joint venture is dubbed.
In accordance with Geely’s official introduction, Geely Technology Group, previously known as Geely Group Limited, focuses on the strategic investment of clean energy, innovative technology and creative business models in the automobile ecosystem. The Group is aiming to become “the leading investor and operating entity of MaaS (mobility as a service) ecosystem in China”.
Daimler Mobility Services GmbH is the financial holding company for Daimler mobility services – including car2go, moovel and Ride4Hire, said Daimler AG.
Gasgoo not only offers timely news and profound insight about China auto industry, but also help with business connection and expansion for suppliers and purchasers via multiple channels and methods. Buyer service:firstname.lastname@example.org Service:email@example.com


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via Telegraph : Driverless Cars, Hypersonic Tunnels, No More Traffic Lights… Is This The Future of Travel?
Regular visitors to the Goodwood Festival of Speed speak of a certain tang in the air. The annual four-day event sees a fleet of classic race cars and modern supermachines take it in turns to compete up the festival’s ‘Hillclimb’, a 1.16- mile track that winds its way through Lord March’s 11,500-acre estate.
Intoxicating whiffs of throaty exhaust mingle with fresh, South Downs oxygen, creating a potion that’s joyfully inhaled by hundreds of thousands of spectators, who watch while soaking up the early summer sun. However, go down to Goodwood this year and you might be in for a surprise.
In among all the combustion engines, there will be a collection of vehicles that call into question the future of mobility as we know it. Future Lab, an exhibition instigated by Lord March himself, promises to collate the big ideas that are jostling to shape the next generation of human travel, from driverless cars to hypersonic underground travel.
The big players | Driverless cars
The internet giant announced that it was developing driverless cars in 2009 and began testing them on California’s roads in 2012. In February 2016, Google said it bore “some responsibility” after one of its self-driving cars struck a bus in a minor crash. Before that, its vehicles had driven more than one million miles without an incident that was the car’s fault, according to the company.
Google has said it plans to make its cars available to the public in 2020
Believed by many industry experts to be the closest to bringing a fully autonomous car to market. The manufacturer, which owns Mercedes, has spent years developing self-driving features for its high-end models.
“Time and space will become the luxury goods of the future ,” lead engineer Ralf Herrtwich told Robotics & Automation News in April 2016
The American motor giant is keen to show it is at the forefront of developing new car technology and says its cars have equalled Google in reaching “level 4” autonomy. Ford has been rumoured to be in discussions with Google about a tie-up on driverless tech
An icon of the electric car movement, Tesla has also been rapidly adding semi-autonomous technology to its high-end vehicles. This includes autopilot, which allows cars to navigate by themselves in many scenarios, as well as Summon, which allows Tesla owners to order cars to their door via a smartphone. In October 2016, Tesla said self-driving technology would be in all cars
The future of Uber’s ride-hailing app could be cars that get you between points without needing a driver, a scenario that could dramatically bring down prices. The company has hired driverless car experts from Carnegie Mellon University for a special unit, and is now testing cars in Pittsburgh
Volvo is trialling self-driving technology in Sweden and plans to do so in London in 2018, before the technology becomes mainstream in the next decade. It has committed to nobody being killed or seriously injured in any Volvo sold from 2020
Apple is believed to have been secretly developing electric car technology for some time, and to have considered investments in several car companies. Recently, however, its plans appeared to have stalled and it is now working on developing software for other manufacturers
It’s as though the ghosts of automobiles past and present are about to meet the spectre of what’s to come. What will the Goodwood air smell of in the future?
‘Driverless cars alone have the potential to completely change the way we travel,’ says Future Lab’s curator, Lucy Johnston. ‘And they’re closer than we think.
‘In his most recent TED talk, Elon Musk (the entrepreneur who co-founded US carmaker Tesla) said that by the end of this year, an autonomous car will be able to leave a parking space in Los Angeles, navigate all the way across America, and park in a space in New York. If you promise that on the TED stage, you have to be pretty sure it’s going to happen.’
Indeed, driverless technology is a battleground for the world’s wealthiest companies, attracting eye-boggling investment from Silicon Valley and beyond.
Name a big company and they’ve probably got a foot on the pedal: Uber and Volvo arguably lead the field, with a pilot scheme already running in Pittsburgh; Google has completed over two million miles of testing on public roads; Intel just sunk £12.5 billion into an autonomous-car tech company; Amazon is said to be looking at harnessing the cars for deliveries; and that’s before we’ve even mentioned the traditional car manufacturers – the BMWs and Audis, who all want a slice of the pie.
So it’s interesting that rather than use one of these big names to represent the future of driverless cars in her exhibition, Johnston has chosen the Robocar – a madly futuristic, autonomous, electric car that was unveiled earlier this year by a British company of just 50 people.
Robocar looks like a remote-controlled supercar that’s lost its top half: there’s no windscreen, no steering wheel, and nowhere for a human to sit.
It can reach speeds of 200mph and is being tested on racetracks around the world – but spectators would be forgiven for struggling to identify Robocar as a car at all. And that, says Johnston, is part of the point. It forces spectators to appreciate the sheer capability of the technology.
‘When you first see Robocar, it spins you out a bit. You realise the future is now real. We read a lot about driverless cars by companies such as Google, but they still look like cars. There’s a seat for a driver to take control, so your brain doesn’t have trouble joining the dots. With Robocar, your brain really does freak out – in a good way!’
Johnston is confronting a problem that the driverless car industry knows only too well: that the computer technology for these vehicles is far ahead of our readiness to accept them into our lives. Elon Musk may be ready to send a car across America with no driver, but that doesn’t stop the idea sending a shiver down our collective spine.
Which is why stories about driverless crashes, like the one between a Google car and a human-driven bus last year, travel so fast around the internet. We want to see the devil in computer-controlled cars, rather than the detail.
‘Everyone went crazy when the Google car crashed into the bus, but the reality is that it was the first crash after millions of miles of testing,’ says Justin Cooke, chief marketing officer of Kinetik, the company behind Robocar. ‘If any human had driven that many miles, there would have been more accidents.’
To help bridge this trust gap, Kinetik will next year launch Roborace, a competition designed to showcase its car’s capabilities, with teams of programmers striving to devise the most effective software and then running Robocar in front of spectators.
In theory, Roborace will be to the driverless car what F1 is to the manual car: the supreme testing ground for technology that will ultimately trickle down to the consumer. Only in this instance, speed isn’t necessarily of the essence.
‘Roborace isn’t going to be your traditional race,’ explains Cooke. ‘Safety is top of the agenda for this technology, so we’re looking at setting tasks. Maybe the car has to reach 200kmh [125mph], then stop perfectly in a box.’
Other challenges being discussed include a game of chicken, where two Robocars speed towards a central line and have to stop as close to it as possible without hitting one another, and the introduction of robotic dogs on the racetrack – an idea borne from a testing session in February, when a real-life dog ran out on to the track and the Robocar swerved to avoid it.
Roborace promises entertainment, but that’s not to say its real-world application is anything less than extraordinarily serious. With the hardware (the driverless cars themselves) already able to navigate city spaces and improving daily, an algorithm that can safely and efficiently control an entire car network has become the holy grail of autonomous transport.
Find it, and the 97 per cent of accidents on our roads that are caused by human error disappear (Cooke says that, by comparison, a computer’s margin for error is ‘0.000something’).
So too do traffic lights – instead, the computer can sort the most efficient flow of cars at any junction. No more sitting at red lights; no more slowing down as other drivers rubberneck a crash.
The social implications are as startling. While some of us would regain the time we currently spend behind the wheel, others would lose their jobs. Estimates suggest there are around 400,000 HGV drivers in the UK alone; in the US, driving a vehicle is the most common job in 29 of the 50 states. All would face redundancy in the driverless epoch.
We can also expect the face of our towns and cities to change significantly. The average car currently spends 95 per cent of its time parked in a drive or by the side of the road; that gets flipped on its head in a connected, autonomous system, where your next ride can be summoned at the touch of a button (much like Uber now, so you can see why it is keen to invest).


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Busybodies in Brussels are reportedly demanding that British coffee machines automatically switch off shortly after a pot is brewed.
The new rules sent to manufacturers are designed to save energy.
However they could see millions of Britons forced to endure tepid cups of drip coffee.
Under the latest Brussels release, domestic filter coffee machines will have to go into standby mode five minutes after the pot is ready to be drunk.
Only machines with non-insulated jugs will be allowed 40 minutes before the standby kicks in, reports have said.
Alan Murad from the Get Britain Out Campaign blasted the new regulations, adding: "Is there no end to the EU's meddling?"
Is there no end to the EU's meddling?
Mr Murad said almost a quarter of Britons use traditional filter coffee machines.
Recent figures show that the sale of coffee makers, including percolators, espresso and cappuccino and filter machines in Britain increased from £52 million in 2008 to £69 million in 2012.
Espresso makers will also be affected by the sanctions, due to come into effect in January, 2015.
It is the latest in a series of heavily criticised EU strictures, including a bid by the union to impose limits on bendy bananas and excessively curvy cucumbers across Europe.
In 2002, the High Court ruled that an array of EU food quality standards were "unknown to law" and therefore unenforceable in England and Wales.
The EU unveiled unpopular plans last year for strict limits on the power of vacuum cleaners on eco grounds. In rules due to come into effect in September, new vacuums must not exceed 1,600 watts.
Brussels bureaucrats have also drawn anger from British farmers over changes to meat labelling.
However, tough new measures recently announced by the EU, demanding that member states reduce their use of plastic carrier bags by 80 per cent in the next five years, have gained more support.
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A NEW giant has emerged within the Australian fruit and vegetable space and it's got the potential to pack some serious business and political wallop.
Last week saw the launch of the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA), a body made up of representatives of some of horticulture's heavy hitters in the form of growers and suppliers.
A statement from the launch said the aim of the body was to be the "first choice fruit and vegetable industry group for government and retailers to engage with".
It also aims to achieve positive outcomes on major issues involving the growing, supply and sustainability of fresh produce for Australian consumers as well as export markets.
THE AFPA's membership consists of:
- Perfection Fresh
- Costa Group
- Fresh Select
- One Harvest
- LaManna Premier
- Rugby Farms
- Pinata Farms
- Mitolo Group
- 2PH Farms
- Fresh Produce Group
The group is so new it currently doesn't have a website or Facebook page. Its understood initial discussions about its formation began about nine months ago.
The companies are some of the largest fresh produce suppliers in the country, generating a combined annual revenue of more than $4.5 billion per annum, which is 50 per cent of the total value of the Australian fresh produce industry.
The AFPA members provide employment for about 15,000 people and operate across more than 100 regional and rural communities Australia wide.
Inaugural AFPA chairman and chief executive officer of Costa Group, Harry Debney, said the coming together of such significant industry players was recognition by the participants of the need to give fresh produce a prominent and respected voice on the important issues facing the industry.
"The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance will be first and foremost focused on achieving pragmatic solutions to some of the key issues facing the Australian fresh produce industry, including labour and people, packaging, waste, trade access, land use, water security and pollination," Mr Debney said.
"Our aim is to not only represent the key industry players, but to also achieve outcomes on issues relevant to the broader industry."
Rogers takes up CEO role
AFPA CEO, Michael Rogers, comes to the role with an extensive background in the horticulture and food industries, having held senior executive roles at Hort Innovation and the Australian Food and Grocery Council.
"The Australian fresh produce industry is a major contributor to Australia's economic growth and it deserves a prominent seat at the table when it comes to addressing the many economic, environmental and social issues the industry is facing," he said.
"The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance has been established to perform this role and I look forward to working closely with government, retailers and other industry players to ensure our contribution is both meaningful and productive."
Mr Rogers said the formation of the group was borne out of common issues such as packaging, as opposed to frustration with already-established representative groups.
He said he hoped the groups could be complementary.
The key priorities for the AFPA are packaging, people, product integrity, market access, product integrity, pollination and water.
VEGETABLE industry body, Ausveg, welcomed the group's formation saying it looks forward to working with the new association to further the cause of all growers in the industry.
Ausveg chair and Victorian vegetable grower, Bill Bulmer, said there are many issues the two organisations can effectively collaborate on to help secure the future of the fresh produce industry.
"There are many common issues that affect horticulture growers of all sizes across Australia - labour shortages, cost and access to water, increasing input costs, adoption of innovation and technology and ensuring that the public has access to and eats more fresh fruit and vegetables," Mr Bulmer said.
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"Where there are issues pertinent to the larger corporate growers who are members of this new association, the AFPA will ideally be an effective mechanism to lobby government and the supply chain.
"Ausveg will continue to advocate on issues of national importance for all growers across Australia, including those who are contracted or employed to grow for the members of the AFPA.
Ausveg is eager to work with all representative groups, including our State Member organisations, the AFPA, the National Farmers Federation Horticulture Council and others to ensure the industry has effective mechanisms for advocacy on all issues.
"Our remit remains the same - to help all growers in our industry improve their productivity, competitiveness and profitability."
"Ausveg is eager to work with all representative groups, including our State Member organisations, the AFPA, the National Farmers Federation Horticulture Council and others to ensure the industry has effective mechanisms for advocacy on all issues.
"We are all working towards a common goal - advocating on behalf of growers so that they can grow our food and run a profitable business.


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Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has been forced to apologise to a customer who was told he couldn't have black pudding with his full English breakfast because the chef was a Jehovah's Witness.
Alan MacKay had dropped his wife off at work when he popped into the store for a meal at 9am on Wednesday morning.
But he was stunned when he was told he couldn't have any black pudding -which is made of animal fat, blood and oatmeal - because of the female chef's religious views.
Jehovah's Witnesses regard blood as sacrosanct and won't eat an animal if it hasn't been bled to their standards.
Mr McKay was given a refund by the Sainsbury's store in Arnold, Nottingham, and forced to return to his home in nearby Mapperley to eat his breakfast.
The former police officer said: "I know it sounds trivial but it's the principal behind it that's ridiculous.
"If she refuses to cook black pudding because of her religion, what is she doing working in a kitchen that sells it?
"She shouldn't be employed if she won't cook the menu.
"I was really looking forward to my black pudding this morning. You get a good breakfast in there.
"But when I went in there to order my black pudding, like I have done before, I went away hungry. I was really cheesed off.
"I came home and had my breakfast at 11.30am. I had crumpets, a poached egg and beans.
"I didn't buy black pudding because it's quite fatty so I only have it once a week or so.
"Sainsbury's does a wonderful black pudding so that's why I was so disappointed.
"It's one of the few big stores that sells black pudding, Morrison's doesn't."
Sainsbury's has since apologised for the confusion and confirmed the chef is a Jevovah's Witness.
A spokeswoman said there had been a mix-up between the two kitchen staff and another worker had misunderstood the chef who asked them to prepare the black pudding.
They added: "We have apologised to the customer for the misunderstanding."


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Verizon was looking for a discount of $925 million in the Yahoo deal before settling for $350 millionVerizon Communications Inc sought almost triple the price reduction that it ultimately obtained for Yahoo Inc's core assets following two massive cyber attacks at the internet company, according to a Yahoo filing.
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Samsung Mobiles Fest: Flipkart is offering discounts on Samsung devicesFlipkart is organising 'Samsung Mobiles Fest' which is offering discounts on Samsung smartphones in addition to the extra 20 percent off on Samsung Gear Fit 2.
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Intex Aqua E4: 4G VoLTE supporting smartphone launches for Rs 3,333Intex has launched a new smartphone in the market dubbed as Intex Aqua E4 while targeting the first time smartphone users. The new addition to the Aqua series, E4 was listed on Shopclues for the price Rs 3,333.
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Two days before President Obama left office, he passed very important Organic Animal Welfare Standards, which will vastly improve how animals are treated. (Why he waited until the last minute to do this is a whole other story.)
Nevertheless, he pushed them through, and it appears that the Trump administration is looking to reverse course and kill them.
These standards are gravely important because right now, there is not a lot of clarity or specificity around how animals must be treated. As such, a handful of organic certifiers have allowed some operations to resemble factory farms, with birds living in very cramped conditions and not getting enough time outdoors.
To give you some perspective, it has been estimated that if the regulations went into effect today, 75% of organic eggs would disappear from supermarket refrigerators. They would not be in compliance with what has been proposed. That is how bad the situation is.
Not surprisingly, the major organic egg producers have fought back. They want to keep the status quo and maintain their organic certification without having to treat birds more humanely and give them more space to live.
Why the resistance?
It would cost them too much money to be in compliance. As such, they have lobbied the Trump administration and the USDA to kill these standards that Obama approved. Since USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue took office several weeks ago, he has already postponed the implementation date of these standards once and may kill them altogether.
While these Organic Animal Welfare Standards are by no means perfect, they are a significant improvement to what we currently have, and eliminating them would be a massive blow to the entire organic sector, particularly since the industry has worked for many years to get these standards approved.
It is absolutely essential that these Organic Animal Welfare Standards get passed, and the USDA must hear your voice on this before June 9th, when the comment period ends.
WE NEED YOUR HELP
Unfortunately, there is no e-petition to sign or box for you to check. You must actually leave a physical comment on the government’s website, but it will only take a few minutes and will have a much greater impact than signing an e-petition.
Here’s what to do:
1) Craft a statement using the bullet points below and tell the USDA that the Organic Animal Welfare Standards MUST go into effect immediately.
The final Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule:
• Was the product of years of inclusive deliberation on the part of farmers, consumers, retailers and policy makers.
• Evens the playing field for farmers.
• Brings the organic standards in line with consumer expectations.
• Will improve the lives of some 50 million animals each year.
• Will improve the overall organic market and increase trust in the USDA Organic seal.
• Brings lagging producers up to standards already practiced by the majority of the organic industry.
2) Once your statement has been written, click HERE and submit your comment into the docket.
As always, thank you so much for supporting organic food.


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In many ways, order-to-delivery (OTD) delays for the 2021 model-year were a continuation of what was experienced in MY-2020, with the important distinction that there were additional disruptions caused by various supply chain disruptions. In particular, the unprecedent microchip shortage forced many plants to temporarily cease production until their parts inventories were replenished. Just like the 2020 model-year, the OTD averages for MY-2021 need to be divided into two segments: the period from Oct. 1, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021, and, from March 1 to Sept. 30, 2021 when vehicle assembly plants began to temporarily suspend production due to supply chain constraints.
“The 2021 model-year was among the most unprecedented in recent memory given the litany of OEM‐related ordering, production and cancellation challenges. Throughout the model-year there were large shifts in buildout times as well as a number of post‐buildout cancellations of accepted orders,” said Ted Davis, vice president, North American supply chain for ARI. “It is also important to note that this year’s volume dropped significantly as compared to last year. Overall volume is down nearly 17% this year while deliveries of ordered vehicles has dropped by more than 50% as manufacturers continue to navigate a host of supply constraints and other challenges. The lingering effects of the pandemic continue to severely disrupt the entire supply chain.”
While the shortage of microchips increased production variability, there were a number of other shortages that negatively impacted vehicle production in MY-2021.
“In addition to microchip shortages, the industry is experiencing far-reaching impacts from shortages of raw materials, rubber, foam, shipping containers, and drivers,” said Charles Mathew, fleet operations manager for Merchants Fleet. The broad scope of supply chain constraints caused by material shortages and just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing practices were also cited by Eric T. Miller, director – business solutions for Element. Fleet Management.
“The average vehicle has over 25,000 individual parts. Each of those parts is either manufactured by the OEM or sourced from a third-party provider. A delay in just one section of the supply chain can slow down the manufacture and distribution of critical components, resulting in the production line getting shut down,” said Miller.
Another key factor impacting MY-2021 OTD was the ongoing strong demand for trucks in both the fleet and retail markets that shifted forward the buildout deadlines for these units.
“Overall, we saw fairly consistent lead times year-over-year on sedans and SUVs, but there were extended lead times for trucks and vans. In both cases, orders were largely affected by assembly plant closures,” said Tim Cengel, senior procurement manager for Wheels Inc. “For model-year 2021, orders where plant shutdowns were scattered, sometimes unexpected, and came with a level of uncertainty that challenged the OEMs to maintain normal production levels throughout the model-year.”
As in previous model-years, truck and van assembly plants saw the greatest delays due to the more complex logistics of getting vehicles to and from upfitters and back into OEM traffic for shipment by rail.
Another survey partner – Donlen – also reported consistency in OTD that was interrupted by episodes of production variability caused by various supply chain constraints.
“From what I saw, OTD times were holding relatively steady for this timeframe. Although consistently creeping into the long end of OEM estimates (or sometimes a bit longer than that), but for the most part, the inconsistent production volatility had seemed to taper off,” said Matt Miller, vehicle status specialist for Donlen.
While there were a myriad factors that contributed to longer OTD, most of the participating FMCs agreed that chassis availability was the biggest contributing factor resulting in the most delays.
In hindsight, much of the disruptions in OTD for MY-2021 were a continuation of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The industry continued to experience the impacts of COVID-19 and the downstream effects on the supply chain through the 2021 model-year. With plant shutdowns due to the virus, shortening shifts to increase safety protocols, and expanded logistical lead-times, the timeframes between order to delivery were still higher than the pre-pandemic levels,” said Mathew of Merchants Fleet.
These were among some of the many findings that were revealed by Automotive Fleet’s 22nd annual OTD survey, which is based on data and analyses provided by eight fleet management company survey partners that included:
● Element Fleet Management
● Enterprise Fleet Management
● Merchants Fleet
● Mike Albert Fleet Solutions
● Wheels Inc.
The comprehensive OTD survey tracked deliveries of approximately 183,730 new vehicles in the 2021 model-year, representing 120 different models.
Due to the fact that supply chain constraints temporarily caused a suspension in new-vehicle production, fleet orders were tracked in two segments – pre-supply constraint deliveries and fleet deliveries after the various assembly plants were temporarily closed. The study surveyed 119,155 vehicles ordered during the pre-pandemic period of Oct. 1, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021, while another 64,575 fleet vehicles were tracked during the pandemic from March 1, 2021 to Aug. 31, 2020.
The survey methodology calculated OTD times for cars from the day an order was placed with a factory to vehicle delivery to a dealer (not driver pickup).
Truck OTD was calculated from order placement to delivery to an upfitter or, if no upfitting was required to a dealer. The days spent at an upfitter were not included in truck OTD times.
Lengthening of OTD Cycles
All eight of the participating FMC survey partners reported an increase in OTD for MY-2021.
“There was a material increase in OTD cycle times across all vehicle segments from 2020-MY to 2021-MY for vehicles ordered during the period between Oct. 1, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021,” said Miller of Element.
This observation was likewise reinforced by Mike Albert Fleet Solutions. “In many cases, we experienced a 30-plus day difference in the OTD timeframe compared to this time last year,” said Carly Prather, director, purchasing & fleet titles for Mike Albert Fleet Solutions.
Also agreeing with this assessment was Emkay. “As most have experienced in the fleet industry, the OTD times were longer than previous years. In recent months, they have gotten significantly longer due to allocations and shortages,” said Dean Peterson, vice president - vehicle acquisitions for Emkay.
According to Miller of Element, the top two factors that influenced OTD performance in MY-2021 were:
● Increased Production Schedule Variability: “Order windows, estimated build dates and formal production schedules were all negatively impacted due to COVID-19 as OEMs were forced to shutter manufacturing processes for a substantial period while re-engineering their production facilities to implement plans for continuity of operations amidst a global pandemic,” said Miller.
● The Need to Better Align Production with Segment Demand: “OTD cycle times in the SUV/crossover, luxury sedan, ½- and ¾-ton pickup, and cargo van segments materially increased year-over-year aligned with increased product demand,” said Miller of Element.
OEMs had strong demand for their products from both retail and fleet customers but sometimes struggled to keep up with demand. As a result, OEM production/capacity constraints occurred with select vehicle models.
The primary segments susceptible to longer OTD times were light-duty pickup trucks and vans. The key reasons were that truck order volumes across all market segments exceeded plant production capacity, along with delays at upfitters, plant downtime and early order cut-offs. Upfitter delays were created by chassis shortages and inconsistent deliveries due to long chassis lead times.
“I had a suspicion that when GM stopped accepting orders for the 2021-MY ½- and ¾-ton pickups and vans at the end of December 2020 after only about three months of production, there was something big on the horizon. Then Ford announced about two weeks later that 2021-MY Super Duty orders would be cut off soon. In my mind, this confirmed that there was something massive down the line that was going to heavily impact production across the industry,” said Miller of Donlen. “When the OEMs essentially turn off the spigot of the supply for some of their highest volume (and let’s not forget highest profit margin) units, there is a seismic quake happening within the industry.”
Minimal Railcar Constraints
Railroads are the primary long-distance transporter of cars and trucks to upfitters and dealers. In a departure from prior model-years, there were minimal rail-related or car hauler issues that impacted OTD.
“There were intermittent cases of congestion at ramps supposedly due to shortages of drivers because of COVID. In my opinion, there was nothing that I would call particularly out of the ordinary or specifically problematic with rail-related or car hauler issues,” said Miller of Donlen.
One benefit to the temporary production suspensions was a decrease in ramp congestion.
“Plant shutdowns reduced the number of vehicles being moved, which meant assembly plants, ramps and yards were cleaned out. As a result, we have seen a reduction in OEM transportation as fewer vehicles are moved through the system. We expect this trend to continue until production fully normalizes,” said Cengel of Wheels.
Miller of Donlen echoed this assessment. “I was fully expecting for there to be logistics bottlenecks after the plants resumed production in May, but in hindsight, that really didn’t seem to be the case,” said Miller. “I’m not sure if it was a combination of better logistics planning from OEMs in general or reduced volume overall, but in my opinion the logistics channels seemed to perform well. This was a small bit of good news in a year that was consistently fraught with issues all the way around.”
The largest rail-related delay occurred in August 2021 when a train carrying a shipment of F-Series pickup trucks derailed. “For the most part, transports were delayed due to not enough available transporters,” said Peterson of Emkay.
The shortage of drivers with commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) needed to legally drive vehicles larger than Class 3 trucks continues to be an ongoing issue in the car-hauler industry.
“The shortage of CDL truck driver was ubiquitous from the fourth quarter of 2020 to present,” said Miller of Element.
These observations were likewise reinforced by Prather of Mike Albert Fleet Solutions. “We have experienced little to no rail restraints since the OEMs resumed factory operations; however, we are experiencing much more transit damage due to an influx of inexperienced drivers,” sad Prather.
Minimal Impact of Quality Holds
Unlike prior model-years, quality holds had less of an impact on 2021 OTD times. Quality holds played a minimal role in the overall increase in OTD times in MY-2021.
“Vehicle dependability is at an all-time high, and this has been manifested by a high level of quality in the manufacturing process amongst most major OEMs. The automotive sector has a very low tolerance and acceptance of non-conforming products entering production facilities. This is partially due to the aggressive expected daily capacity of OEM production but also is related to cost penalties for non-conformance being assessed to suppliers provisioning inferior materials,” said Miller of Element.
In addition to overall vehicle quality improvements, OEMs are negotiating with their suppliers’ service level agreements (SLA) on the quality of delivered components.
“The evolution of SLAs in supplier contracts with OEMs is directly correlated to a decrease in quality holds observed,” said Miller of Element.
In relation to the volume of new vehicles produced, the number of quality holds with 2021 model-year production was negligible.
“There were a few quality holds, but nothing of significant impact,” said Prather of Mike Albert Fleet Solutions.
Emlay also said its vehicle portfolio was not directly affected by any OEM quality holds. Other supply constraints created quality holds. “Outside of microchip shortages, the lack of paint pigment available for silver paint resulted in quality hold. There were other quality hold impacts due to material shortages (i.e., foam, rubber, etc.) but those holds were short-term and did not have significant impact on OTD,” said Mathew of Merchants.
There were also other miscellaneous quality holds cited by the partner FMCs, but nothing that materially impacted OTD.
“Fortunately, we did not experience any major quality holds during this model-year. The only quality hold of note was on a number of Mercedes‐Benz van brakes, impacting 2020‐MY units that were pending delivery throughout 2020‐2021,” said Davis of ARI.
A gray area emerged during the current supply constraints revolving around a strategy known as “build shy,” in which vehicles are built minus the constrained part. These vehicles were parked until the part became available to install.
“I’m not sure if this can be quantified as a quality hold per se, but many OEMs had units that were impacted by ‘build shy’ or ‘missing part’ holds. These were basically vehicles that had been produced but were currently in storage awaiting critical components once they become available. The missing components would be installed at a later time prior to completion of the final QC process and then released back into shipping channels,” said Miller of Donlen. “We have seen some units that have been in these holds since March/April that still are awaiting to be completed and released. This by far was (and still continues to be) a factor in a good portion of the longer OTD timeframes for units on order.”
Cengel also cited the OEM production strategy to build vehicles minus a part that was unavailable at the time of production.
“There were few quality holds as most MY-2021 vehicles were a roll-over from MY-2020. General Motors and Ford implemented a process to build vehicles and park them while they wait for semiconductors and other components to arrive. This process helps them keep production running but causes confusion for affected fleets in need of vehicles,” said Cengels.
Weather-Related Delays in OTD
Weather-related issues did not have a major impact on OTD as they typically have in earlier years. “We did not experience any significant weather-related delays in MY-2021. The OEMs did put a hold on shipments into Texas due to a winter storm but this event only caused a short delay,” said Cengel of Wheels.
Like last year, there were not many weather‐related delays of note that impacted 2021-MY OTD. “One factor that influenced OTD performance were weather-related events that occurred last February, such as the winter storm in Texas that caused power outages that led to some plant shutdowns and transport issues,” said Angie Lauer, assistant vice president of vehicle acquisition for Enterprise Fleet Management.
Mathew of Merchants also cited plant closures due to winter storms.
“The Texas power outage and storms in the Midwest earlier this year caused OEM plants to shut down for 1-2 weeks and also had an impact on OEM logistics,” said Mathew.
“Winter weather impacted production in January and February 2021, causing GM to idle plants in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas for a period. This same weather pattern disrupted commercial trucking routes in addition to vehicle production,” said Miller of Element. “In addition, there were regional hailstorms in the spring and summer months and a record 14 hurricanes after Sept. 1, 2020, which also contributed to weather-related delays in OTD for 2021-MY vehicles.”
While these storms did impact the industry, it was “not to the scale that has affected our industry in years past,” said Peterson of Emkay.
Record-Low Dealer Inventory
A new factor in fleet OTD is the impact to dealers of the current supply constraints and pent-up buyer demand. This has resulted in record low inventory at dealerships. This impacts fleet by limiting the availability of out-of-stock emergency purchases of fleet vehicles.
Peterson of Emkay cited the low dealer inventory as one of the key issues facing fleets. Others likewise agree.
“While OEM constraints are certainly the most noteworthy factor to influence OTD times this model-year, several other challenges throughout the supply chain contributed to delays as well. At the top of that list are disruptions at the dealership level,” said Davis of ARI.
Another impact on dealers due to the COVID pandemic is reduced staffing and difficulty to find candidates to fill open positions.
“Without question, the pandemic has affected how most dealerships now operate with many still working to navigate local regulation and staffing issues that continue to hamper efficiency,” added Davis of ARI. “Further compounding this issue are lengthy processing times for licensing and compliance work, which is often completed by the delivering deal r or driveaway company. In many cases, the root cause of these delays is attributed to reduced access to state and local regulatory agencies.”
Miller of Element sees this as an evolving situation that will result in the emergence of a leaner dealership model.
“COVID-19 had a substantial impact on dealership operations and the critical role that they play as the ‘end point’ in the OTD process. Many dealerships were forced to close for a period of 2020 while working with their local and state governments and municipalities to understand their respective requirements for continued operations. When coupled with a material decrease in daily driven miles by the general population, the pandemic directly influenced dealerships in moving to a ‘leaner’ resourcing model,” said Miller of Element.


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NEW YORK — The scores of new features in Apple Inc.’s software update for mobile devices can be boiled down to one word: unity.
Many iPhone owners also have iPads and Mac computers, and family members are likely to have Apple devices, too. With the new iOS 8 software for iPhones and iPads, those devices start to act like one. Apps on those devices start to unite, too.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Google’s Android software can’t compete with iOS’ evolving unity because so many different companies manufacture Android devices, and each adds its own variables. Apple knows what goes into the few products it makes and can break down the walls between them.
The free update is available to owners of iPhone and iPad models going back to 2011, though older devices won’t get all the new features. The new software will also come with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which come out Friday.
Here’s a look at those “unity” features — and why iOS 8 is worth installing:


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April 1 marks a worldwide celebration when everyone gets a “valid” reason to make practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks to others: April Fools’ Day.
While everyone does their silly shenanigans and hilarious gags, nothing is funny about being fooled by counterfeit and pirated books, whether you are a bookworm, a booklover, or simply just a casual book reader.
In the first nine months of 2021, the Intellectual Property of the Philippines recorded 134 complaints of counterfeiting and piracy in the country. This is a 56 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, 103 cases of counterfeiting and 31 reports of piracy were filed, and out of the total number of piracy charges, 15.6 percent of these were illegally distributed e-books.
Furthermore, most counterfeiting and piracy transactions were done online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considering the presented data, it is truly alarming that anyone can be a victim of counterfeit and pirated books and e-books.
So, what now? How can we prevent ourselves from entering the trap of purchasing fake books?
Consider these eight general tips from Stop Counterfeit Textbooks, a webpage dedicated to aiding book distributors and others to avoid counterfeit textbooks:
- Know from whom you are buying.
- Know what you are buying.
- “Statements of authenticity” are not a cure-all.
- When buying on the Internet, read the feedback.
- Identify and monitor suspicious patterns in customer activity.
- Ask the publisher.
- Maintain records.
- Don’t enable counterfeit suppliers.
Several bookstores in the country, like us here at BookSpine PH, ensures a trustworthy book-buying, selling, and donating experience by providing a safe and secure platform. Moreover, we strongly prohibit selling of counterfeit (illegally replicated and/or reproduced) and pirated books.
At the end of the day, being responsible and vigilant readers entails us knowing how to spot counterfeit and pirated books. This information can help us prevent further damage that these may cause to the publisher and authors of the material we are reading.
So while April Fools’ Day is a free pass every year for everyone to fool around with, always keep a keen eye on fake books and you might just save someone from falling into one.
By Xander Cipriano – BookSpine PH Intern


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The stigma of buying discounted groceries is dwindling, with almost 60% of shoppers now saying they look for cheap deals, according to a survey.
The poll found six out of 10 consumers buy more of their shopping on promotion, up from 40% in 2008, research firm IGD ShopperVista found.
Younger shoppers and those with children are the most likely to use vouchers, with 75% of 18 to 24-year-olds saving money this way.
This compares with 45% in the over-65s category, 75% of shoppers with children, and 51% without kids.
IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch says: "The stigma once associated with using coupons and vouchers is eroding as shoppers tell us they are using this type of promotion more as they seek to secure the best value."


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The move is to try and simplify Vole’s Byzantine style licensing. According to what Vole is telling resellers, on July 1, 2016 business users who want to go the Enterprise Agreement approach will face a minimum requirement of 500 users or devices, rather than the current 250.
Those who want fewer than 500 devices/users will be steered to the Microsoft Product and Services Agreement (MPSA) and Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) programmes.
The MPSA software/services licence appeared in 2014 and CSP shortly thereafter. Microsoft currently trying to kill off its Select Plus volume license agreement.
Microsoft wants customers to be able to manage their various licensing agreements with the company so that it feels like they only have one.
Vole says that it does not want anyone to have to buy something they don’t need and it wants to have one place where customers could see all their purchases.
Microsoft’s ultimate goal is to get all customers to use MPSA and CSP for their licensing.
Microsoft has seen the composition of its business-customer licensing deals shifting. In fiscal 2015, more than half were for online services only, with no enterprise-wide coverage requirement,
Worldwide Licensing and Pricing. MPSA and CSP are more suited toward addressing these kinds of scenarios, he said.


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Rondeau Leisure is backing the effort to recycle plastic waste that is often dumped in the worlds’ ocean.
The business is supported by its own range of Pacific Ocean outdoor furniture which is produced from recycled plastic cartons that would otherwise find their way back to the seas. The aim of Pacific Ocean furniture is to turn plastic waste into durable garden additions with a lifespan of 10 years and beyond.
The range of chairs, tables, stools, loveseats and benches are made from milk cartons but are moulded into the same grain as wood – without the worry of rotting, splitting, cracking, fading or being burnt by cigarettes.
Rondeau Leisure’s managing director, Stuart Cooke, says: “The plastic waste issue is about more than just water bottles. “Sports, leisure and hospitality providers – even care homes and hospitals - need to get on board by not buying plastic furniture that has to be scrapped after a season or two."


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Results showed children control their emotions after playing this game.
If you are not able to help children who have problems with anger emotions through psychotherapy alone, try video games. But not indiscriminate video game. But RAGE Control, a video [...]
Unfinished news about the iPhone 5S, the latest info is precisely focused on the iPhone 6.
Quoted from BGR, Wednesday (1/5), an analyst mentioned that this smartphone will be released in June 2014.
Analyst named Peter Misek it seems pretty confident [...]
BlackBerry seems very serious enrich the application ecosystem. This is evidenced by the achievement of 100 thousand apps in the app store BlackBerry World.
Quoted from Slashgear, Friday (22/3), this means that BlackBerry has added about 30 thousand [...]
PHENOMENON of Storms Sandy that hit the United States and around to make many people cringe and increasingly wary of the increasingly erratic weather. Natural conditions also makes a number of flooded social networking posts related to storm sandy.
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Already know about Oz the Great and Powerful movie from Disney? If you like it, maybe you should glance at this one game.
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There are four methods to repair damaged DVD discs.
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The presence of the iPhone 5 is certainly making the selling price of the underlying series has decreased slightly. For those of you who want to taste the iPhone but the funds are limited, buy second hand or used iPhone can be an option.
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Apacer Technologi Inc., as one of the manufacturers of SSD products, digital consumer products and memory modules, Thursday (10/04) launches a USB 3.0 flash drive AH450.
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Los Angeles – Technology latest computer with a transparent display that allows users to reach out and touch into digital content introduced recently at the TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design) in Los Angeles.
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iPad Mini shipments would begin on November 2.
After Apple issued invitations to a mysterious event on 23 October, rumors about the iPad Mini seems to have been confirmed.
In a simple invitation that Apple does mention “got a little more to show”. [...]


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Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets had sales of $876.7 million in the quarter ended March 30, up 0.1% from the same period in 2018.
Comparable store sales grew 1.4%, adjusted for the holiday shift — Easter falling in the first quarter last year and the second quarter this year.
In a news release, Weis attributed the increases to a combination of factors:
- the debut of its Low, Low Price program, which reduced prices on 7,000 private-brand items;
- the growth of its Weis 2 Go online ordering service with pickup and delivery options;
- and more winter weather events compared to 2018.
The company’s net income, however, dipped 11.7% to $14.3 million.
Gross profit rates were affected by “declining retails and costs in fuel as well as produce and dairy commodities,” according to the release.
Other retailers have also noted that the first quarter was challenging because of California weather events that limited supplies of many fruits and vegetables.
Shelby Report market share data indicates that Weis has 116 stores in the East Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey area (6.8% share). 58 stores in the Maryland/Washington D.C./North Virginia/Delaware market (3% share) and eight stores in the Upstate New York/Vermont market (1.2% share).


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Google Chromecast hits Amazon UK
Google’s media streamer Chromecast has appeared on Amazon UK’s website, at three times the price that it is being sold for in the US.
The dongle that enables viewers to stream entertainment straight to their TVs, rather than having to watch movies and programs on computers or mobile devices, is being sold for £59.99, while US shoppers can buy it direct from Google for $35 (£21).
The corporation behind the HDMI stick has not yet announced that it is internationally available, months after it was introduced to the US market.
However, the product is currently listed as in stock on the Amazon UK website, after an international shipping option on Amazon.com ended.
Pitted to rival Apple TV, the technology was a surprise announcement at the Google Android 4.3 event over the summer. It offers versatility by allowing content to be pulled down from the cloud on to a HD TV from iOS, Android , Chrome OS Windows and Mac OS X devices. However, it lacks widespread support from third-party developers and the number of native apps offered does not yet contend with Apple’s offering.
Amazon have not yet commented on the product listing on their website.
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March 31, 2014
New figures show biggest driver of the U.S. economy increased last month while the overall economy grew more than estimated a month ago.
February 28, 2014
The estimated level of U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year was revised sharply downward by the Commerce Department on Friday.
January 30, 2014
The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy pace in the final quarter of last year amid a big jump in consumer spending, according to new Commerce Department figures.
December 20, 2013
The American economy expanded more in the third quarter of the year than earlier projections, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
December 5, 2013
The broadest measure of health of the nation’s economy shows it expanded at an annual rate of 3.6% in the third quarter of the year, more than originally reported, according to the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday.
November 7, 2013
A new report shows the American economy expanded in the third quarter of the year at a surprisingly higher rate than expected.
September 26, 2013
Growth for the nation’s economy picked up dramatically in the second quarter of the year with the gross domestic product increasing at an annual rate of 2.5%.
June 26, 2013
The U.S. economy grew less in the first quarter of the year than previously estimated, thanks to lower consumer spending numbers and fewer exports, but the final GDP number is still an improvement over the previous quarter.
May 30, 2013
The U.S. Commerce Department reports the gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 2.4%, down from 2.5% reported last month. The rate is still much higher than the 0.4% rate reported in the final quarter of last year.
April 12, 2013
Retail sales and consumer confidence have taken a downturn, but the reasons for it aren’t clear, while producer prices fell and business inventories have barely moved higher.
February 4, 2013
Factory orders in December offered better economic news than last week's GDP numbers, though not as good as analysts were expecting.
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Amish Acres prepares for a busy Easter Sunday
Easter in Nappanee means business will be “hoppin” at Amish Acres!
"Tomorrow is one of our busiest days, we love Easter on the property cause there's a whole lot of stuff going on,” said Jeremy Littlejohn, Director of Guest Operations.
That includes an Easter egg hunt and a brunch buffet.
While those Easter eggs may magically appear over night, Littlejohn says the food prep doesn’t come as easy.
"We’ve been prepping for this for two or three weeks. We always sell a lot of pies, a lot of breads, we make our own cookies. Two people in the bakery all week baking everything,” said Littlejohn.
The Easter brunch is slated to bring in the around 1200 guests, but Littlejohn says theres still room for more.
“It’s kind of on a first come first serve basis but we don’t turn anybody away so there may be a little bit of a wait in the line but you’ll get in and you’ll get served,” said Littlejohn.
Brunch is 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the Easter egg hunt starts at 1 p.m. But Littlejohn says you may find yourself sticking around Amish Acres long after your last bite of shoofly pie.
“It’s a very exciting time on the farm because we've been closed for a couple of months and its just kind of celebrating spring and its getting back into the grove of things,” said Littlejohn.


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Integra, the CLEC based in Vancouver, Washington, has formed two new business units: one to serve enterprise customers, the other with the goal of meeting midmarket customers’ needs.
The first, Electric Lightwave, will serve not only the biggest customers in enterprise markets, but also the company’s government, education and wholesale carrier customers. It will focus on expanding and using Integra’s fiber assets. The second unit, known as Integra Business, targets the midmarket, focusing on what the company says is “delivering a highly differentiated, end-to-end experience.”
Both Electric Lightwave and Integra Business will maintain their own sales and customer-support organizations, tailored for their specific customer segments. Customers of each will have access to the company’s complete portfolio of products and services, as well as Integra’s long-haul and metro fiber assets throughout the western U.S.
“The market for high-bandwidth communication services is not one-size-fits-all, and with that in mind, we continue to evolve our sales and service models to deliver dedicated and personalized service …” said Robert Guth, interim CEO of Integra. “The creation of these dedicated business units advances our ongoing objective to extend the availability and use of our advanced network infrastructure.”
Further, Guth says that the new business units will help speed up growth of the company’s network of 3,000 fiber-fed, on-net buildings by taking investment decision-making opportunities closer to the customer.
Integra has been going through a significant transition over the past couple of years, focusing less on the SMB market and turning more of its attention toward larger accounts. Notable are a pair of acquisitions in 2014: World Communications Inc. (WCI), a voice, data and colocation aggregator headquartered in Seattle; and phone systems provider ProTel Networks, one of the largest Mitel dealers in the U.S. Both companies sold through channel partners. The company also is building its relationships with VARs to sell its cloud and hosted IT services, something that some of its fellow CLECs have been slow to do.
Despite the growth, Integra says it is redoubling its commitment to local, flexible resources – and the new business segments should help it further that goal.
Earlier this year, the company named Tom Gorey its new channel chief, asking him to continue to get Integra’s partners up to speed on the shift. Dan Stoll, Integra’s former senior vice president of strategy and development, takes the reins as president of Electric Lightwave. The head of Integra Business is expected to be announced soon.
Follow senior online managing editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.


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Renault dealership back-up leads the Trafic to scoop a brand new accolade – news – Brief Article
THE RENAULT’S TRAFIC van as been voted best in its class at the 2003 Fleet News Awards.
Reflecting the increasingly diverse nature of the commercial vehicle market, the Renault Trafic won a new award–best van in the 2.1 to 2.8 tonne category. In a sector in which most manufacturers have an offering, the Renault Trafic won through on payload, internal dimensions, door versatility and clear floorspace.
Added to this, the judges considered driver comfort, vehicle safety and security, cost of ownership and the back-up of the dealer network.
A spokesperson for the judges said: “This was one of the toughest categories for the judges as many of the vans are on shared platforms. The Renault Trafic is clearly related to the Nissan Primastar and Vauxhall Vivaro. But the Renault wins because, in the opinion of the judges, the dealership back-up available from Renault was judged to be the best.”
COPYRIGHT 2003 DMG World Media Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group


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Since myTouch and HTC Hero took Android to the virtual QWERTY/touchscreen side, it would seem like a curious fact to launch an Android handset with a QWERTY keyboard, specially one that isn’t part of the T-Mobile portofolio. One such special case is the freshly leaked Samsung Instinct Q, bearing the Sprint logo.
Rumour has it that Instinct Q will hit the market on October 11th or early November and we have no idea what its specs are, aside from what we see. Thus, we can notice a couple of hardware buttons (Menu, Home, Back, Call, End Call and the D Pad), a very decent touchscreen and tons of Google apps.
Now let’s see how well can text messaging and Android blend in…


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Hospitality empire Rockpool Dining Group has announced it will cease operating its restaurants from Monday March 23. It overseas 85 venues, including Fratelli Fresh, Bavarian, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Spice Temple, El Camino Cantina and Saké, in cities Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. It is also closing its successful burger chain Burger Project.
It shared the news via its social media channels today and follows on from the Australia government's decision to force restaurants, cafes and bars to stop trading, except for take-away, to combat coronavirus.
The only venue to continue trading is Sydney's Fratelli Fresh, which is now offering a "Grocer and Home Chef" service, where you can order ready-made meals and grocery items to be delivered.
The statement was short but ended by saying, "We thank all our guest, suppliers and staff for their support during this difficult time, and send our best wishes for everyone's health and wellbeing."
This comes on the back of the early March news that said Neil Perry would be parting ways with the Urban Purveyor Group, which in 2016 acquired Neil Perry’s hospitality business. The split will take a bit of time, up to two months to take affect, but once it does Perry will take the premium restaurants, including Rockpool Bar & Grill, Spice Temple, Rosetta and R Bar, with his new company to be called Rockpool Group.
The remainder of the business will be run by its existing executive team and renamed Pacific Concepts. That company will retain casual eateries Saké Restaurant & Bar, The Cut, Bar Patrón, Fratelli Fresh, El Camino Cantina, The Bavarian, Munich Brauhaus, Beerhaüs, Winghaus by Bavarian and The Argyle.