Nicholas Books

This book is an outstanding reference for the primary care pediatrician in office practice. It is much better oriented to day-to-day pediatrics than Nelson's and its imitators. The CD-ROM is very useful and easy to navigate. As a bonus, the CD-ROM contains all of the excellent illustrations for Zitelli & Davis' superb Atlas of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis.

This book is an outstanding reference for the primary care pediatrician in office practice. It is much better oriented to day-to-day pediatrics than Nelson's and its imitators. The CD-ROM is very useful and easy to navigate. As a bonus, the CD-ROM contains all of the excellent illustrations for Zitelli & Davis' superb Atlas of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis.

This book was a great reference in residency and now in practice

Ao ler esse livro pude perceber que existe variadas técnicas que auxiliam na interpretação dos espectros de massas. A obra descreve os métodos de ionização e a formação dos íons moleculares e quasi-moleculares em cada um desses métodos. O livro tras a interpretação da distribuição de isótopos nas amostras, a identificação dos "parent ions", "base piks" e a distribuição das cargas durante a interpretação dos espectros. A interpretação de sequências de aminoácidos durante a análise de peptídios é rica em dicas, tabelas e exercícios resolvidos. De forma clara é possível entender a lógica por tras da formação das séries de íons A, B, C, X, Y e Z tão importantes durante a identificação da estrutura primária dos peptídeos. Se você pretende trabalhar com a identidficação de compostos de origem protéica utilizando espectrometria de massas, esse deverá ser seu livro de cabeceira!

I'm not a bench chemist, but I needed a quick survey of how mass spectroscopy is used in handling proteins and other big biomolecules. This book was it.

Although brief, it is thorough and well-organized. The first two chapters are mostly an introduction. Chapter 1 states the problem being solved. The next chapter briefly introduces older technologies, including chemical techiques and 60s-80s mass spec technique. The next two chapters summarize modern mass spec hardware, then start to show how proteins behave in the environment inside the instrument. That gives the fundamentals of protein sequencing: how the molecules break down, and how the fragments help recreate the molecule. The authors go through a few examples in detail, starting from a mass spectrogram and moving forward to sequence. I was especially impressed by the examples that fail. Mass spec analysis is not a magic wand for producing sequences, it is a deductive process, and can not complete an analysis when clues are missing or ambiguous.

The next three chapters are not about mass spec directly. Instead, they discuss how samples are prepared for analysis. This includes the clearest, most informative description of gel electrophoresis that I've seen, along with features of gel chemistry that do or do not interfere with mass spec measurements. This includes a discussion of protein digests, enzymatically produced fragments, and their place in analysis. I would have liked a little more discussion about combining information from digests produced by different enzymes, but no book can cover everything.

The last three chapters extend the discussion of analysis, working upwards from fragments to complete protein sequences. The three chapters respectively address three topics: using standard internet databases for recognizing fragments of known proteins, using combinations of strategies to analyze novel proteins, and using mass spec to identify post-translational modifications. That last one suffers from brevity; perhaps it was only meant to define a problem that deserves a whole book of its own.

Despite its throughness, the authors resist the urge for boggling detail. They present detail up to the point needed for understanding the mechanism and meaning of their topics, then stop. Lots of other writing would benefit from that kind of restraint.

I came away from this book well-informed, and ready to address specific topics in greater detail. That was exactly what I wanted. I recommend this book very highly.

//wiredweird

Michael Kinter has presented the topic in a scientific yet enjoyable format. I found the information to be extremely interesting and beneficial in my laboratory. Lets face it folks this isn't the easiest nor most interesting topic to write about. Job well done DR. Kinter. I only have one criticism, there should have been more photos and illustrations. Get your copies quick this will no doubt be on the NewYork times best seller list before long.

The Purple Storm written by Nicholas Tu is a darkly wonderful biography of a Vietnamese man's quest for freedom. If you every thought you knew the definition of freedom, think again and read this book. Nick's life story gives a very personal account of the Vietnam War, life in a communist country and the struggle to fulfill a dream.

The book is written in rather broken English that actually adds to the flavor and character of the story. The author's description of places, foods, feelings, puts the reader right at the scene.

Your interest is captured from the very first page. It is truly a fantastic story in the unimagineable sense. Only when you take a breath between chapters and say to yourself, "these things really happened to a human being" do you begin to realize just how strong is the will to survive. You find yourself wondering if you could survive such huge and horrible challenges.

This should be a "must read" for all people who have always enjoyed the freedom of the U.S. In fact Nick's life story will never be "out of date" as long as there is oppression in the world.

It has been a long time that I've not read a story like this, especially it is a true story. even though the writing style is so straightforward, and simple, but the story that is touchy has been overcome the simplicity of this remarkable novel.
I read, learn, and feel good that no matter who I am, what I have been through. I am still luckier than Nicholas Tu.
I realize that my knowledge about these boat people is nothing. I start to notice the freedom that I have is more meaningful.

Everyone should read this one.

There aren't many books that have touched me so deeply as The Purple Storm; I'll never be the same person I was before reading it. I have been shown things that I had no idea of and reminded of how very lucky I am to have been born in America.

This is the story of Nicholas Tu and his life in Vietnam after the Americans left. I say life but it should be: existence. His father was taken to "re-education" camp for ten years, leaving Nicholas' mother to fend for the family. Nicholas tried to help, and his childhood vanished. He thinks that he was a bad son, but I see only a soul trying desperately to survive in hell on earth.

Over the years the family struggled to live under communist regime. Simply feeding the family took illegal activity, such as smuggling rice. Nicholas took his turn in the trench digging for the "common farm fields" and almost died in the process. He was later sent to a hard labor camp but escaped...only to become homeless for the next six years, just blocks from his own home. To be found now would mean prison, to avoid capture meant living on the street and finding means for food. Refusing to beg or steal the leftover food on restaurant tables, Nicholas made himself opportunities. He cleaned the restaurant for a meal and later he found work at a molding factory. He lived in the factory under the grace of its owner and soon he found love. Thuy's parents weren't all too pleased with her choice, as her beloved was not seen as able to care for her as they'd hoped. He was not even able to attend his own wedding supper, for fear that the police would discover him and take him to prison.

Times were extremely difficult and the goal of most Vietnamese was to find a way out through illegal border crossings. Nicholas heard the details of one and tried to go along. The busload of people was discovered and while Nick and one other made it away from the group, they were later captured and held in a prison of torture box facility.

Eventually, Thuy's family was able to send her to America and this reinforced Nick's ultimate goal to reach his dreamland and live with her there. He had to go through so much more illegal and dangerous struggle before it would be possible, but my telling the details is nothing compared to the book.I can not do it justice. Nicholas' English is not the best, but he does a very good job in portraying the events that took place. His writing is deep and emotional and the story is gripping, adventurous and tragic.

As I mentioned, this book opened my eyes. As his story was taking place, I was growing up in suburbia. I was never put to bed hungry, and medical care was always available to me. I have always slept on a bed, while Nicholas was experiencing his first mattress, rescued from the ocean, aboard a ship on his way to a refugee camp. I cherished my childhood, while Nick lost his.

Every American should read this book; it should become required reading in college, and for every politician in office. And if that success does not show Nicholas Tu that he is a worthy man, I do not know what will. I hope that his life's mission will change to becoming an influence in the world by opening the eyes of every free person who reads this book, as he has done for me.

I've collected reading and book quotes for years in a spiral notebook. This one has all my favorites and then some. I plan to buy extra copies of this jewel for all my biblioholic friends!

Books about Books always get my attention. I have a lot of them in my library and have written reviews on several.This little tome packs a lot between its covers. While it is only
5" X 7",it has 241 pages. It is a really good introduction to the subject,especially if it is your first to read about book quotes. It is also interesting to someone who has read several.
The difference with this book is that it gives quotes from various areas of books.
First,we get a Forward by Nicholas A Basbanes,one of the premier writers about books. Then 10 Chapters as follows;
1 In Praise of Books
2 On Writing
3 Autobiography and Biography
4 Reading
5 Libraries
6 Literacy
7 Censorship and Destruction of Books
8 Publishing and Publishers
9 Literature
10 Collecting Books
So,you see it gives quotes on every aspect of books.
Personally,I found some chapters better than others. Surprisingly, I found that the quotes by writers did not impress me as much as I expected. I enjoyed the chapter on Collecting books the most;and that did not surprise me as Nicholas Basbanes was involved with it;and he is one of the best.
To someone new to Books about Books;you will be given the names of many other books on this subject.I kept waiting for some mention of one of my favorites,"The Anatomy of Bibliomania" by Holbrook Jackson. I had just about given up hope when it appeared on the last page.
All in all, a great little book and sure to delight any book lover.

These two have something very special here. I love reading quotations and I love books, so I guess it's obvious why I like this. Yet, as Winston Churchill once said, "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." Thank you for the entertainment and enlightenment.

My best friend gave me this for my birthday and it truly is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. I've always loved biology because of its almost mystical qualities. I struggle with the complex jargon and dry language, however. This book is so satisfying for someone who loves science, but doesn't necessarily understand it in a linear way. Harberd explains the science behind plant biology in attainable language and captures all of the beauty and awe that a living thing possesses. What a satisfying, soul-nurturing book!

Completing a research project and polishing off a journal paper left Nicholas Harberd at loose ends. While casting about for a new project, he struck out on a new course. It is good for us that he did. His quest led him to reflect on Nature's mysterious ways in terms that turned him away from his laboratory work to seek fresh insights. Many years of study of the thale-cress, a humble-looking but informative little plant, had provided much detailed information. Harberd, finding a thale-cress atop a grave in a church cemetery, began considering the plant in a fresh view. He developed a broader vision by studying it in Nature instead of his laboratory.

As the notes progress, Harberd describes the processes involved in the plant's growth and development. He explains how the leaves bud, then expand, each new leaf set 137 degrees away from its neighbour. The angle is a mystery, but many plants make rosettes of leaves, each with their own separation formula. The core of plant is the meristem, and there are two of these in each plant - one for roots and one for the shoot. There are genetic triggers launching the growth process. Harberd explains how these work and, as far as is known, how they interact. The plant, all plants apparently, start with a set of proteins, the DELLAs, that actually inhibit the growth process. He develops the scene with other genes and their proteins that "restrict restraint" allowing the plant to flourish - if the conditions are right.

This book is a reflection of his thoughts, dreams, research problems and other facets of his life and work. Harberd describes the conditions of each day of his note-taking, the weather, the other plants, the soil conditions. The notes are expressive of his reaction to the environment around him, the meanderings of his thoughts as they jump from the pressure of his work to the progress of the little thale-cress. There are setbacks, of course. A slug finds the cress. So does a rabbit, which nearly terminates his study. His reactions in each case are mixed - should he relocate the slug elsewhere? What to do about the rabbit? What happens if caretakers clean up the grave site? Underlying it all are the questions about the next project and what kind of contributions might his group now undertake? What new views of Nature and plant life might result from their work?

Non-scientists don't understand researchers or what they do, claiming scientists lack feeling, notes Harberd. Yet, "wonder is what drives us" says this scientist. The feeling of wonder at how things work is the basis of all research. Nature isn't driven by divine mandate, yet Harberd insists that all research results in a sense of awe. As the notes progress over the days and months, the words "wonder", "exciting" and even "breathtaking" appear with increasing frequency. He rediscovers that himself during an Autumn review of his jottings.

It's impossible not to be caught up in his enthusiasm as he depicts the experiments he and his team perform in developing new ideas or confirming older ones. One experiment, half a century old, proposed an idea for one plant type. Harberd and his group refined the test and tried it on the thale-cress. It confirmed the earlier findings and expanded on it. This kind of work demonstrates the uniformity of cellular processes across many plant species, from scrawny cress to towering redwood. "Wondrous", indeed! [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

You know about writer's block, the frightening state of an author who just cannot come up with another idea about which to write. Nicholas Harberd had researcher's block. He had done plenty of work as a laboratory scientist, working out the biochemical mechanisms of some very basic capabilities of growth in plants. Having gotten some answers, there turned out to be more and deeper questions (the familiar pattern that will keep science going forever), but he was not inspired into a next project. What to do? Part of the charm of his book, _Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants_ (Bloomsbury) is that he lets us know how he as a working scientist came to solve that problem. He lets us in on some biological secrets, as he opens up some of the mechanisms that are at the core of what roots and shoots do. Best of all, he gives himself, and imparts to us, a higher appreciation for the natural world, invoking a mystic unity inspired by science, and an appreciation for all the paradoxes that this entails.

The specific subject of Harberd's research and his book is _Arabidopsis thaliana_, the thale-cress, a humble weed which has gained stardom as the first plant to have its DNA entirely sequenced. To dismantle the block that has left him uninspired to start up any new project, Harberd started a journal for 2004 to record the history of one thale-cress plant; this book is his journal. His selected plant isn't one of the thousands of plants in his lab, but one in the wild, for which he (and the reader) come to have interest and affection. In watching the plant, he describes for himself and for us the intricate dance between DNA, RNA, and the proteins for which they code. By experimentation, and there is a good deal described in these pages, the exquisitely fine-tuned molecular symphony takes place; even in the humble root of this humble plant there are regulators, and regulators to regulate the regulators, and so on in dizzying iterations.

It is fair to ask what use all this detailed knowledge is. Even his daughter, when being told about proteins that restrain the growth of plants, wants Harberd to use them on a neighbor's sycamore that increasingly is shading their garden. The real goal, Harberd says, is not utility (although it is certainly possible that plants are going to be improved the better we know the details of their molecular workings). And for him, the real goal is also not simply a better understanding of how the molecules do their jobs. "I'm more motivated by the sense that understanding brings me closer to Nature. That there's a link between understanding and reverence." It is a pleasure to read Harberd's musings on how nature may be perceived as a unity in different ways, how his plant is so connected with the air and soil around it that distinctions between those entities seem artificial, or how, if one considers the sun as the nucleus of a globe defined by the spread of its light, then the plants which respond to the light, their germinated seeds, and those of us who live on plants, are all parts of the sun. Harberd has done a wonderful job of telling what a scientist goes through, how decisions get made about what sort of work should be done next, and even about the difficulties of getting published. These are not reflections strictly confined to plant biology, and while _Seed to Seed_ has within it a great deal of explanation about molecular complexity, it is best in its vivid musings on how science can reflect nature and bring us closer to it.

What a breath of fresh air! Skimmin' Stones is light, adventurous and fun. It has a lilting quality that gives you the sense that you are there, in Ireland, laughing and exploring with these three boys. Three days of their lives was a tantilizing invitation to the style of the writer and his imaginative creativity. Definately a book to enjoy!

A wonderful glimpse into another life. Murrays style throws the reader into his world - one emerges from this story stirred not shaken. More please, Mr Murray.

I approached this book as somewhat of a requirement since the author is a close personal freind. I was hoping that Nick would do himself credit as he is a person of extreme wit. He has the ability to mesmerize those who listen to his truly outrageous stories. I was not at all dissapointed by his first book. Skimmin Stones is a multilayered book that at times shocks, saddens, envigorates and definately entertains. My only regret that Nick only covered only 3 days of his childhood. Knowing that these events really happened I only wish we could here more. Perhaps we could at some point revisit the lives of these three intresting boys. I wish the author the best of luck on his next project.

There are many books with information on theories, models, and philosophies of treatment. This book tells practitioners exactly what to do when dealing with challenging addicted clients. Very practical, helpful information counselors can put to work right away.

Rather than argue about whose approach to treatment is best, the author develops the very best ideas from many different models. The result is a user-friendly collection that makes it much easier to connect with your most difficult clients.

I am Clinical Director at an outpatient drug clinic. After reading my copy of this book, I ordered 23 more--one for each of our counselors. A really great resource that makes a difference with challenging clients.

"I recommend this book to film students and anyone else who is interested in the art of mixing film sound; it contains absorbing insights into the creative process from some of the best sound designers in the industry. By engaging film sound artists in a series of revealing dialogs, Pasquariello highlights some of the practical problems and ingenious solutions to making films sound good." Ioan Allen, senior vice president, Dolby Laboratories

From May/June, 1997 issue of the Editors Guild (IATSE Local 776) Newsletter, Hollywood, California BOOK REVIEW: "SOUNDS OF MOVIES - Interviews with the Creators of Feature Sound Tracks" by Nicholas Pasquariello 240 pages, softcover - Port Bridge Books Reviewed by Dave Whittaker Nicholas Pasquariello has been writing about the technical side of filmmaking for a variety of periodicals for about twenty years, and he now has published a valuable book that collects together interviews with thirteen individuals who are all prominent in the world of film sound. The interviews span the last thirteen years, published originally in Mix magazine and others, and the interviews included here seem to have been chosen for their timelessness, a wise choice. While this book seems aimed largely at the academic film community, there's sufficient depth in the contents so as to be of value to "working professionals" in the film industry. The book is divided into two main sections about production and post-production. The production interviews are with prominent production mixers; the section on post is with re-recording mixers, sound editors, and "sound designers" who wear both hats. The balance is devoted to absorbing interviews on director/composer collaboration, the archival restorations of 'Othello' and 'Lawrence of Arabia', and the perils of translating and dubbing foreign-language versions abroad. In the production section the interviews are with Chris Newman on 'A Chorus Line' and 'Mosquito Coast', Drew Kunin on the rigors of getting usable sound on racing yachts for Carrol Ballard's 'Wind', Ivan Sharrock on 'The Last Emperor', Simon Kaye on 'Platoon', Tod Maitland on 'The Doors', and Nelson Stoll on the marriage of documentary and feature techniques and the politics of the job. It's an interesting and highly varied group of films, with an equally interesting and varied group of mixers talking. If you've never worked in production, or if you've ever complained about the production mixing on a show you're working on, these interviews can be most enlightening. You'll gain some appreciation for the difficult position these folks are in. Trying to reconcile the goal of good sound quality with the conflicting demands of preoccupied directors, camera and lighting needs, difficult locations, and budget realities, all the while "looking good in dailies", is clearly revealed to be a most elusive objective. In the post-production section are interviews with Mark Berger on re-recording 'Amadeus' and 'Mosquito Coast', Richard Beggs on sound design for 'Cotton Club' and 'Tucker', Leslie Shatz on sound design for 'Mishima', Mark Mangini on sound effects for 'Star Trek IV', and Mike Minkler on re-recording 'Explorers'. Like the production mixing section, the group of films here is quite varied and the personalities of the interviewees are often quite engaging. The post section devotes most of its length to the interviews with Bay Area professionals. As a Hollywood sound editor, I was taken aback by this at first, but then realized that this proves to be a bit of a virtue, because the multiple-hat wearing of Richard Beggs and Leslie Shatz allows the interviews to roam over the entire sound-post process, presenting a cohesive picture of what really goes on beyond the picture editing room. Perhaps this Bay Area weighting is a reflection of the tendency for many filmmakers who appreciate the value of collaboration to be attracted to the less-compartmentalized working methods there. It proves useful to read about the difficult location sound recording on 'Mosquito Coast', and then read later about the ramifications of those early decisions when Alan Splet and Mark Berger were trying to edit and mix the tracks. Where this book could be improved would be if there more of these linkages of interviews. Also, when techniques with a long history are discussed in the interviews (such as dance foley for 'Chorus Line') an internal author's reference about that history would be enlightening (as in: "Fred Astaire and others were doing this in 1934"). But these are minor quibbles, somewhat made up for by the presence of fascinating 'bonus' interviews with Vittorio Storaro and Dean Tavoularis on the cinematography and production design for 'Tucker'. There's precious little published material on the working and creative processes of film sound, and this book helps to fill the void. Check it out.

"I recommend this book to film students and anyone else who is interested in the art of mixing film sound; it contains absorbing insights into the creative process from some of the best sound designers in the industry. By engaging film sound artists in a series of revealing dialogs, Pasquariello highlights some of the practical problems and ingenious solutions to making films sound good." Ioen Allen Senior Vice President Dolby Laboratories

Collaborative written by Mark Nicholas and Jane Christine, Space Academy: Stargate Search is the second volume of the "Kirsten Chronicles" series. Cadet Kirsten and her feline-alien companion work to help a researcher unlock the mystery of stargates and how to create them; yet it may be that someone in the Academy wants their project to fail at any cost! An engaging and memorable science fiction saga, Space Academy: Stargate Search is especially recommended for teen and young adult science fiction fans!

Science fiction the way it's meant to be! This book is delightful for all ages. Believable characters and dialog. I hope volume 3 is "in the works." If you like Harry Potter, or Nancy Drew, or the Hardy Boys, you'll LOVE Kirsten and the Space Academy series. Don't miss this one!

How nice it was to finally find a sequel--in this instance volume 2--that is better than the original. Nicholas and Christine have done the unthinkable: surpassed the excellence and literary quality they exhibited in Space Acacemy: Volume 1 of the Kirsten Chronicles. Stargate Search's narrative wends through a myriad plot twists and locale changes that lead to a surprise ending sure to enthrall readers of all ages from six to one hundred and six. I hope volume 3 is soon to follow!

Connections are flat out required to get anything done in this day and age. "Start Pulling Your Chain: Leading Responsive Supply Chain Transformation" will show you how to operate a functioning supply chain for businesses and examining the paradigm shift of the information age. Insight and information on how to create wonderful relationships with your customers and a how to guide to make the transformation from your old business model effectively round out this essential book alongside an index. "Start Pulling Your Chain: Leading Responsive Supply Chain Transformation" is a must for any business library collection.

As supply chains have evolved from static, United States-centric, technology-aided push processes to dynamic, global, information-driven pull systems, those that get it have developed a sustainable competitive advantage. Those that don't risk extinction. The authors make this complex and vital business competency easy to understand, and they reinforce the need to START PULLING YOUR CHAIN.
...William D. Zollars, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, YRCW Worldwide

If you are not in the process of transforming your supply chain to meet the demands of today's market dynamics and the realities of a world that is now flat, your company is going to be in serious competitive jeopardy.

That, in a nutshell, is the message of Start Pulling Your Chain - Leading Responsive Supply Chain Transformation, an outstanding new book by two of the most well-known names in supply chain management: Nick LaHowchic, former supply chain executive at Becton Dickinson and The Limited Brands, and Michigan State University's Dr. Don Bowersox.

LaHowchic and Bowersox argue persuasively that traditional approaches to supply chain processes, organization, and information flow are simply not suited to this new supply chain era.

I liked this quote from Ralph Drayer, former chief logistics officer at Procter & Gamble, in the book's introduction: "Successful companies in the 21st century will be those that exploit web-based information technology and drive the use of collaboration to more strategically transform their supply chains."

LaHowchic and Bowersox say it this way: "We believe that traditional business organization models and leadership behavior can and must radically change to survive and prosper in this new order of global affairs." I am glad we all agree it is "a new order" of some kind.

In reality, many "supply chain transformations" come when a company has its back to the wall - deteriorating financial performance, major customer dissatisfaction or defections, etc. The powerful message of this book is that consumers, customers (e.g., channels), and supply chain networks are evolving so rapidly, across a global tableau, that even companies that today have what might appear to be well functioning supply chains need to begin a new process of transformation right now to position themselves for success in this shifting landscape.

How? In this limited space I can hardly do justice to the full scope of ideas and models LaHowchic and Bowersox present, but here are some of those that seemed most important to me:

-- It's not a new idea that we're much better off with a "pull"-oriented approach to supply chain than the traditional "push" models, but LaHowchic and Bowersox say that changing technology (e.g., the web, visibility) and a greater understanding of how to build a more responsive supply chain organization can finally make a true pull-based model a reality.

-- Companies must therefore build their own versions of a "Responsive Supply Chain Model" - one that in most respects simply wasn't possible without the flow of information now available. For LaHowchic and Bowersox, a Responsive Supply Chain is built on six pillars: consumer connectivity; operational excellence; integrative management; real-time responsiveness; leveraging the network effect; and collaboration.

-- The reality is few companies and even senior supply chain leaders know well how to apply these principles to achieve a new type of supply chain organization and performance. That's understandable - the changes in technology, virtualization, and global competition have come rapidly, and traditional vertical/functional views of supply chain management are very hard to unwind. The world is simply changing faster than most of us can keep up with.

-- Whatever your business or industry, it is critical to deeply understand end consumer consumption. To get there means significant investments in connectivity.

-- I loved the chapter on Operational Excellence. LaHowchic and Bowersox make the great point that one key to developing true operational excellence is to "de-average" most of our traditional supply chain metrics - which often hide significant performance issues. Most supply chain executives "would be shocked to find that firms across a variety of traditional industries completely serve fewer than 50 percent of all orders. Reality gets lost in averages and statistics related to channel complexity or in a supply chain journey half traveled."

-- In the consumer packaged goods-to-retail supply chain, is there any better indication of the progress we still need to make than to know that the highest level of shelf-level stocks outs in grocery stores is during the peak shopping period of Sunday afternoon - in other words, when the revenue penalty is greatest for manufacturers and retailers. But the problem persists.

-- The pervasive belief that there exists an ironclad trade-off between operating costs and customer service levels is in reality often a mirage, masked by metrics that fail to capture the real costs of service failure.

-- One of the biggest challenges to transforming into a Responsive Supply Chain is developing an understanding of how to process information coming from multiple levels on both the buy and sell side about what is happening right now. This is radically different from the hierarchical, linear flow of information most of us grew up with, and represents a real challenge - but may be less of a paradigm shift for the new generation of supply chain managers at the center of today's connected world in their personal lives.

Several years ago, I came to the conclusion that in the end, the only sustainable competitive advantage almost any company can have is the ability to consistently react to market opportunities faster than the competition. A company's products, engineering, proprietary manufacturing processes/technologies or even a powerful brand simply no longer confer long term, sustainable advantage.

But those who can build superior Responsive Supply Chains have a real chance.

Whether you are a corporate executive seeking to understand how supply chain excellence can help drive the bottom line of your company, a supply chain executive trying to take your organization to the next level of performance, or a middle manager aspiring to supply chain management leadership, I cannot think of a better investment in money or time than the modest requirements of both to absorb the insights of these two supply chain leaders.

Dan Gilmore
Editor
Supply Chain Digest