URGENT ITEM: CO2 2 B Regulated
Submitted by advisor on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 11:25am.
The story most likely to drive your product development, consumer purchases, your thoughts, your dreams, the balance of your career, and which, in the end, will decide the fate of your company in the years ahead:
New York Times reports February 18:
"The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to act for the first time to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists blame for the warming of the planet, according to top Obama administration officials."
Full NY Times Story: E.P.A. Expected to Regulate Carbon Dioxide
Big deal? So what?
The direct and indirect effects of CO2 regulation will shake and remake our industry.
Regulations will likely include:
- multi-phase, multi-year ever tightening carbon taxes on the "carbon supply" side (energy and energy production)
- as well as incentives for utilities to invest in new power generation plants
- as well as multi-phase, multi-year ever tightening efficiency requirements on the "carbon demand" side. (appliance production)
- as well as incentives for consumers to upgrade appliances to reduce demand
Amending the ever popular carot and stick approach with carot and stick and stick and carot.
Depending upon how regional power is generated and regulations are phased in, could there be short term or long term incentives to drive the conversion of electric markets to gas and/or gas markets to electric?
Regions with the cheapest electric power are those with the highest use of coal in power generation, and will experience the greatest delta in electricity costs.
How will appliance manufacturers keep up with the regulations while positioning their products as exclusive or luxurious? How will they add features without tripping over their carbon budgets? Regulations like these can be expected to shake out smaller players unable to make the investments required. Product development meetings may very well look like the scene from Apollo 13, as engineers whittled away their power needs to restart the Command Module.
If you just stand back and think about the challenges ahead, don't tell us it doesn't sound like fun. If you're not smiling at the prospect of CO2 regulation, you are not an engineer. Just ask yourself how many knobs you have designed for your brand or program or marketing managers? "No! that knob just won't do....it doesn't communicate the brand's positioning". How many hundreds of grates have you designed, how many die cast parts have you prototyped in hope of matching a stainless steel look? How much of your career has been spent on the pointless, on the inane, at the beck and call of gerbil brained marketers who's eyes glass-over whenever the conversation gets any more complex than product color.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (feel free to add your own scream to ours).
Finally engineering has the ball. Run with it.
Sales & Marketing
Hey Stallion,Before you crucify all of the Sales & Marketing professionals, let me remind you that appliances today are better than ever before in part beause S&M managers pushed the engineers to do the impossible. Consumer focus groups, run by S&M managers were the genesis of many of the product features that we take for granted today that were deemed impossible just a few years ago. In the companies I worked for, Sales & Marketing and engineering worked together as a team, creating quieter dishwashers, better convection ovens, and improved simmer cooktops. All of these product improvements came with improved product quality and without unnecessary cost increases. Teamwork got it done. Neither sales & marketing nor engineering could have accomplished much in a vaccum and would not have accomplished anything if consummed by the blame game.
Cohiba Grande
Cohiba. The process of marketing awareness usually comes from some very solid and well practiced marketing disciplines. Those are not the people I am talking about.I am talking about the hackers that for the sake of numbers will step clearly out of the box and do ask for the impossible. From your response you probably have some sort of institutionalized training from some good people.I have seen the results of that. I have also seen the results of some very irresponsible actions usually driven by greed.The blame if you will is with top management , not the people.I will however speak frankly on this subject. Some teams do go to Abilene. If you know what I mean.This usually comes from disingenuous team leaders from whatever discipline you may call it. That is not the blame game but is what the reality speaks to. I do agree that most product ideas are fostered out of some sort of marketing strategies with focus groups.Tied together with a good internal team would make that a winning combination.
Wow !!!!
A man after my own heart. The worst kind of people are the marketing people who in very many cases ask for the impossible and when someone explains the complexity they ask why is it so tough ? Let's be the first to try it. They want products they can brag about that do this or do that. Engineers are then pressed into "trying" to make something impossible work as they are told "we know you can do it " When it fails they are held accountable. How many of you have seen that ? We will re-engineer it in the field. A bunch of crap.I think sometimes engineers can be their own worst enemy but I have seen too many owners and marketing people who think they know better. That is a bigger problem than most people know.I have seen many engineers burnt out over this stupidity. Simple sometimes works better folks. Learn to sell what you have instead of saying " I could sell a ton of these if I had a flying dishwasher " Remember a ton is 2,000 lbs.
I see, the customer is
I see, the customer is always wrong. Why compete, inavate and offer features people ask for when we can force feed bland products. Hmmm . .anyone elese thinking this sounds like F & P . ."we are right, we are right . .its YOUR fault for not buying what WE have!" Please.I wonder how many more jobs will be lost in the face of this nonsence.
Semper Gumby
I am not sure what you are smoking . Is it a Cohiba by chance ? Usually customers will purchase what is offered and it is the innovation and marketing skills that get the product interest moving. As I stated before and perhaps need to slow down for you is : A properly schemed marketing and development program that does not attempt to field test new innovation will work quite well. That means do it right. That means be responsible with new technology, that means treat the customer with respect.That all means do not take the customers for granted.