My last business trip to Portland, Oregon was hard to take. Once a Rosy city (City of Roses) the riots and fires of 2020- 2022 and COVID lock-downs have turned into a bit of Detroit after the riots in 1967. What is happening in Portland now? As of November 2023, [...]
Presentations to the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance and Western Wood Preservers Institute March and June 2023 Debra Mervyn About 10 years ago, one of my clients was having problems with a China supplier quality and delivery. During my tenure at CH2M Hill, I learned of Activity Based Cost Accounting (ABC), developed [...]
Post Pandemic Procurement Article 2: Supplier Qualification and Partnering Presentation- Idaho Manufacturing Alliance- March 2023 Debra Mervyn/ Mervyn Group and Mike Schindele/ Axiom Electronics Introduction This Article (2) is the second in a series (See Article 1 Risk Management) describing the material I presented at the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance Supply [...]
In my previous articles on business role in education, I referenced Larry Martin’s work with the Multiple Engineering Co-op (MECOP) program at Oregon State University. It is still a well-kept secret but shouldn’t be, as K-12 and college education worsens. This article is a brief description of MECOP referencing Larry [...]
The Idaho Manufacturing Alliance hosted a Supply Chain Business Opportunities Conference March 14, 2023, Boise. The conference was well attended with a cross section of large and small businesses and service providers. I was invited to present on “Post Pandemic Procurement” strategies and tactics including risk management, supplier qualification and [...]
Basic Education Lost in K-12 and Colleges and Universities The gaps in K-12 and higher education have become glaringly apparent to parents and families and businesses over the past 10 – 15 years. “At the K-12 level, the elementary and high school level, we have seen completely flat academic outcomes [...]
Frank Lee The New York Times Frank Lee obituary May 28, 1983. “Frank H. Lee, professor emeritus of engineering graphics at Columbia University and the originator of a program for a combined liberal arts and engineering education. He is credited with the creation and successful development in 1951 at Columbia [...]
“An Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot’s ejection seat may have been counterfeit, Air Force Times has learned.” This story reminds us of the importance of quality. What were the lead time and cost drivers that allowed [...]
By Debra Mervyn, The Mervyn Group and Paul Menig BusinessAccelerants.com Survive and Thrive as a Small Electronics Manufacturer in America in 2021 In the wake of 2020, Ascentron, like many Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) companies, is reassessing its business strategy. In the face of changing and fluctuating markets, government regulations, [...]
In February 2020, truckers circled round the capital in protest over governor Kate Brown and the Oregon state legislature’s new taxes: gross receipt’s tax, carbon tax, payroll tax and much more. You name it a tax was levied on it. Oregonians had no idea what was about to befall us in [...]