The 4 Crucial Areas of Global Innovation

Katalyst Technologies sponsored a panel discussion on global innovation with The Executives’ Club of Chicago, featuring expert guest panelists. Read on to discover the four main areas of global innovation as told by Katalyst and other global companies.

Recently, Katlayst Technologies hosted a panel discussion centered around innovation with the International Business Forum of The Executives’ Club of Chicago, titled “Innovation in a Global Environment: Leveraging People, Processes, and Systems.” Katalyst CEO, Rahul Shah, who is also a Co-Chair for the International Business Forum, was a panelist for the event.

Other notable members on the diverse panel were Howard Dahl, President & CEO, Amity Technology LLC., a global manufacturer of agricultural equipment. Steven Thiry, President & CEO of Fives Machining Systems, Inc., an industrial engineering group that designs and supplies for the world’s largest industrial groups. Dan Swinney of Manufacturing Renaissance, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to build thriving and inclusive communities by connecting them to manufacturing through education, training, and local ownership, and Ray Ziganto of Linara International, a strategic advisory firm with expertise in domestic and international mechanical component manufacturing, were also featured guests on the panel. Ray Bellan, President of Katalyst’s Global Engineering and Manufacturing Practice, was the panel’s moderator.

The panel’s discussion focused on four different avenues of global innovation, human capital and people, automation and its impact, regulatory systems and innovation itself.

On the area of innovation itself, the panelists talked at length about how to manage and inspire innovation across geographically dispersed teams. Rahul Shah shared his belief that the underlying message for organizations was that they should learn to accept failures as they innovate because not every venture will turn out successful. Howard Dahl of Amity Technology, LLC added to Rahul’s belief that to create an innovative culture, one should establish an environment where ideas can be welcomed and cultivated. Another insight shared was the importance of connecting with the customer to achieve innovation and successful design localization. The importance of understanding local cultures and local markets was also brought up during the discussion. Dahl indicated that he visited Russia and Ukraine 90 times to learn its markets.

On the topic of human capital and people, the significant issues discussed pertained to the shortage of people and skills and how it has affected the panelists’ businesses. In addition to the challenges of managing global teams, the struggle of mismatched skills in the labor market were also discussed. Expressed explicitly was the difficulty in filling high-tech manufacturing jobs in the US. In the case of Katalyst, Shah spoke of Katalyst’s global internship program, in which Katalyst sends US interns to its offices in India. When the interns return to the US, they are left with a multicultural experience that prepares them for today’s diverse global marketplace. Steven Thiry of Fives Manufacturing Systems shared his concern with the availability of quality candidates in the future, noting that the average tenure of a Fives employee is 25 years and that a number of those employees are nearing retirement. Additionally, Dahl shared that in order to fill the void caused by the shortage of people and skills, Katalyst could provide an outsourced engineering team.

Panelists also agreed there can be an international risk that comes along with competing globally. At one point during the discussion, the panelists spoke on the impact of US government regulations on US manufacturers who want to sell all around the world. Even when in compliance with the ITAR (International Trade in Arms Regulations) and despite the exported products not being made for military purposes, companies can run into issues with selling internationally due to specific regulations . Fives’ Thiry shared an example of his own. Fives produces automation equipment to make carbon fiber composites that are used to build airplanes and aerospace defense components. However, because Fives cannot export and compete globally, whereas European competitors can, there is an uneven playing field for Fives, who produce their equipment in Wisconsin and Kentucky. As a result, the panelists view regulatory measures of this kind as stifling towards business growth.

That evening, the topic of automation raised questions regarding education. There was a consensus amongst panelists that training below a university degree such as vocational training, commonly available in Europe, was scarcely available in the US. Although workplace automation was mentioned, it is not a significant concern for the panelists as most of them do business in low-volume, high-mix industries where automation is not easily implemented.

Market Continues to Descent; Havells Q2 Result Beats, Maruti Missed Estimates

Nifty gapped lower this morning, following global cues. After finding support near 11,600, Nifty moved 100 points off-lows in the first hour itself. After trading with modest losses, Nifty slipped in the second half and closed 50bps lower. VIX has increased to 24 from a low of 17 at the start of October. Nifty is trading at 1% and 9% above its 50- and 200-DMA, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty IT (+0.3%), all other indices closed in the red. The selling pressure was not just concentrated in one sector. Nifty Auto, Bank, Financial Services, Pharma, Metal, and FMCG closed 50–100bps lower. Of 2,213 stocks traded, 649 advanced, 1,169 declined, and the rest remained unchanged.

Looking forward, we would like Nifty to reclaim its 21-DMA. If it fails to reclaim the 21-DMA, 50-DMA (11,542) can act as strong support. We will continue to monitor general conditions and the behavior of leading stocks, looking for evidence that a real move is commencing. During this time, one should look for stocks with quality fundamentals, RS line trending higher, and breaking out from consolidation areas.

Key News

Laurus Labs (+2.3%): Q2 FY21 revenue increased 60% y/y to Rs 1,139 crore. PAT was up 329% y/y to Rs 242.2 crore, while margin expanded 1,350bps y/y to 32.8%.

Bank Of Baroda (+2.3%) Q2 FY21 results came above estimates. Asset quality also improved. GNPA down 25bps q/q to 9.14% and NNPA down 32bps q/q to 2.51%.

Havell’s India (-0.5%) Q2 FY21 results beat estimates on all fronts. Revenue increased 10.2% y/y to Rs 2,459 crore. PAT was up 82% y/y to Rs 326 crore. Margin expanded 660bps y/y to 17.1%.

Maruti Suzuki India (-1%) Q2 FY21 results missed estimates on all fronts. Revenue increased 10.1% y/y to Rs 18,744 crore. PAT was up 1% y/y to Rs 1,371 crore. Margin expanded 86bps y/y to 10.32%.

Blockchain Technology in Banking and Finance

As we all know that transactions become fast because of blockchain technology. Blockchain is more than bitcoin and it is already transforming payments and if you have noticed many of the banking mainstream services are rely on the blockchain. Blockchain app development company has grown and advanced which is why the banking sector is also taking an interest in this technology.

What is Blockchain?

It is a technology that bound a trust between the traders or partners. If you have heard of bitcoin which is blockchain-based makes the transaction easy and have confidence about the transaction will successfully be completed. Banking and other sectors are using it in many ways with or without bitcoin.

Blockchain is the securest way of transactions or you can say it is a ledger. Below I mentioned some of the benefits that come from it:

Disturbed

Numerous copies of the ledger are available. A public blockchain is published and copied in multiple places, like the Bitcoin blockchain. New transactions are broadcast to a wide network of participants that add to the ledger those transactions. No one manages the ledger, but the system is designed to include similar data in the ledger of everyone.

Immutable

A blockchain should keep an accurate transaction history. Since there are multiple copies of the ledger, payments can hardly be changed or omitted (or added new data that is wrong). To do this, each copy of the ledger in each location would need to be updated. That would entail simultaneous, seemingly impossible, hacking thousands (or more) of computers successfully.

Many Transfers

Sending money to some different countries, banks are using remittances. As we all know that hundreds of billions of dollars are transferring all over the countries every year and this process is expensive.

Bitcoin offered an “alternative” mode of moving money, but traditional banks and service providers also use blockchain technology to improve remittances and reduce cryptocurrency exposure. For example, Ripple has partnered with several major banks to enable cross-border transactions using blockchain technology, and other service providers are busy developing solutions.

Inexpensive Direct Payments

Typically the funds pass via banks, credit card processing networks, and other intermediaries when you send or receive a transaction. Each move adds complexity, and for the role they play in your transaction, each service provider expects to receive a fee.

Financial Inclusion

It can encourage financial inclusion by keeping costs low and allowing start-ups to compete against big banks, blockchain, and other innovations. Blockchain-based solutions will better serve those who resist bank accounts due to high fees, minimum requirements for balance, and lack of access. They need a mobile device instead of needing assets and regular income for banks.

What we don’t know

Blockchain is still relatively new, even though banks and other businesses are already innovating with blockchain technology. At this point, the technology is probably ahead of regulations, and in terms of protection, privacy, potential risks, and dispute resolution, it is not always clear what to expect.