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A quick update from the Krewe on Season 7 & its release schedule! We're moving our regular release day from Friday to Tuesday mornings, with the next four episodes temporarily moving to a bi-weekly schedule to give us a little more breathing room (starting September 15). We appreciate everyone's continued support & look forward to bringing you the rest of Season 7!------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

Nach Hinweisen haben die Aargauer Behörden eine Hausdurchsuchung im Fall Untersiggenthal durchgeführt. Auf dort gefundenen Datenträgern befinde sich weiteres belastendes Material gegen den Ex-Grossrat, teilt die Staatsanwaltschaft mit. Sie hat eine weitere Strafuntersuchung eröffnet. Weiter in der Sendung: · Nach der Absage von Hitachi an Wettingen: Der Aargauer Regierungsrat will das vorgesehene Gebiet Tägerhardächer als wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungsschwerpunkt von kantonaler Bedeutung festlegen.

Howard Penrose of MotorDoc joins to discuss the circulating currents killing main bearings and drivetrain checks without a climb. Reach out at info@motordoc.com or on LinkedIn. The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech, creators of the StrikeTape Ultra LPS retrofit. Subscribe to Uptime’s Substack newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” Youtube channel. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining light on wind energy’s brightest innovators. This is the progress powering tomorrow. Allen Hall: Howard, welcome back to the program.  Howard Penrose: Hey, thanks for having me.  Allen Hall: It’s about time everybody realizes what motorDoc can do. There’s so much technology, and I’ve been watching- Yeah … your Chaos and Caffeine podcast on Saturday morning, which are full of really, really good information about the motorDoc as a company, all the things you’re doing out in the field, and how you’re solving real-world problems, not imaginary ones- Yeah real-world problems. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and  Howard Penrose: whatever annoys me that week. Exactly. And, and whatever great coffee I’m trying out. Yes. Except for a few. We’ve had the ReliaSquatch down our- Yes … um, a couple of times. Uh, yeah, no, I, I enjoy it, and we gotta get you on there sometime. I don’t do- I, it- … a lot of interviews other than an AI character we put in. Allen Hall: It’s a very interesting show because you’re [00:01:00] getting a little bit of comedy and humor and s- Yeah … and a, and a coffee review, which is very helpful because I’ve tried some of the coffees that you have reviewed, that you’ve given the thumbs up to. But if you’re operating wind turbines and you’re trying to understand what’s happening on the drivetrain side, on the generator, everything out to the blades even, main bearings, gearboxes- Yeah all those rotating heavy, expensive parts, there’s a lot of ways to diagnose them-  Howard Penrose: Yes …  Allen Hall: that are sort of like we can look at a gear, we can look at a joint, we can look at roller bearings, whatever, but motorDoc has a way to quickly diagnose all of that chain in about- Yeah … 15 seconds.  Howard Penrose: Well, a little longer than 15 sec- more like a minute. A minute, okay. It feels like paint drying. But- Uh, in any case, yeah. Uh, uh, and, and what’s kind of funny is, um, back in the ’90s, uh, EPRI actually accidentally steered the technology away from its [00:02:00] core purpose, which was in 1985, um, NAVSEA, the US Navy, had done research on using current signature analysis for looking at pumps, fans, and compressors, the bearings, the belts, the components, all the rotating components using the motor as the sensor. Not too much different than we are now. I mean, mind you, we got better resolution now, we’ve got, uh, more powerful– I mean, I look at my data from the ’90s, and now it’s completely different. Um, and then Oak Ridge National Lab, same thing, bearings and gears in motor-operated valves. So in 2003, we were the first ones to apply electrical and current signature analysis to some wind turbines in the Mojave Desert. Wow. Yeah. So, um, nobody had tried it before. Everybody said it couldn’t be done. And, uh, that was a bad thing to say to me because- … it meant I was gonna get it [00:03:00] done. Right. At that time, um, we were looking at bearing issues and some blatant conditions with the, um, with the, uh, generator using a technology called Altest, ’cause I was with Altest at the time. And, uh, I had taken an EMPath software and blended it with a, a power analyzer, and they still have that tool to this day. I was using that technology all the way through 2015. 2016, I should say. And then- And then switched over to the pure EMPath, which was more of an engineering tool. And then more recently, in 2022, uh, made the decision to ha- to take all the work we’d done on over 6,000 turbines, uh, looking at how we were looking at the data and what we were doing on the industrial side, and took a, uh, created a current signature analyzer that would do one phase of current to analyze the entire powertrain. Allen Hall: So when you tell [00:04:00] operators you can do this magic, I think a lotta times they gotta go, “ Howard Penrose: What?” Oh, yeah, yeah. They don’t understand it because they’re used to vibration- Right … which is a point analysis system. Right.  Allen Hall: Vibration at this- Yeah … particular location. Yeah. One spot- Even if it’s- … or a couple  Howard Penrose: spots triax, they’re reading through material, up through a transducer. Hopefully, they put it above the bearing and not in the middle of the machine like everybody is now, because everybody’s trying to sell a sensor. Right. True. They’re not selling a- they’re not selling accuracy. They’re just selling sensors. Right. So, um- Yeah … you know, uh, I, I’ll, I’ll even talk about one of the companies here. We’ve got Onyx here, and they do it right. I mean, they’ve been doing it right pretty well because we’ve been doing some of the same towers they’re on, and we can match the data they’re getting. Oh, good. Right? Yeah. Uh, so but they get it in multiple spots, and there’s areas they can’t quite reach, so we’ll detect those areas as well. So it’s a good melding of two technologies.  Allen Hall: Oh, sure. Sure,  Howard Penrose: sure. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when you have electrical signature and you have vibration, but in [00:05:00] cases if you don’t have vibration, we’re a direct replacement.  Allen Hall: Because the generator- I  Howard Penrose: dare say that.  Allen Hall: Yeah. Whichever–  Howard Penrose: I dare say that, um, with- Well, the  Allen Hall: generator is acting as the sensor. Howard Penrose: The air gap. The air gap in the generator s- specifically, yes. Yeah. Generator, motor, transformer. Right.  Allen Hall: Yeah. So any of those- Mm-hmm … you can clamp onto, look at the current that’s on there. Everything that’s happening on the drivetrain, in the gearbox, out on the rotor- Yep … main bearings, all of that creates vibration. Creates a torque. T- a, a torque. Yeah. Yes, more exactly a torque. Yeah. And that’s seen in the generator, in the current coming out of the generator. Yes. So those signals, although minute, are still there. Yes. So if you clamp onto that current coming out of the generator, you’ll see the typical AC sine wave sitting there. But on top of that- Is all the information about how that drivetrain is doing  Howard Penrose: Absolutely, and everything else. Anything electrical comes through [00:06:00] that. So what you do is just like vibration, you do a spectral analysis. So every component has a frequency associated with it, just like vibration. It’s, as a matter of fact, I, I keep having to try to explain to people electrical and current signature analysis is no different than vibration analysis. It’s the same concept. We use the same tools. The signature looks just a little different. It’s a little noisier, um, but you need that noise in order to see everything. But we have a time waveform, and instead of, um, inches per second or millimeters per second, whatever, you know, uh, velocity, acceleration, and displacement, uh, what we end up with is decibels is the optimal method. You can look at straight voltage signatures at those points or, or current signatures, but the values are so small that you have to look at it from a logarithmic standpoint. Right. There are some benefits to it versus vibration, and there’s some things that aren’t as good as vibration. [00:07:00] So, you know, we, we do… You have to… Any technology is gonna have their strengths and weaknesses. Sure. So we will see everything all at once. Load doesn’t matter. Right. Speed doesn’t matter. It’s… Only reason speed matters is the location of the frequencies. Uh, so the higher the resolution, meaning the longer you take data, the less chance you have on a lightly lo- loaded machine of blending the peaks together. Right. Um, on the flip side, if I have two bearings turning at the exact same speed, I couldn’t tell you which one it is. Because they’re the same. Right.  Allen Hall: And the mechanical features of that bearing is w- what creates the signal that you’re measuring. Exactly. So if a bearing has five rollers versus 10, just imaginary thing. Yeah, yeah. Five rollers versus 10 has a different electrical signature, so you can determine, like, that bearing, that 10 roller bearing- Yes … has the problem, the five is fine. Yes. Yeah. That’s the magic, and I think people don’t translate the mechanical world into the electrical world. That that’s what’s [00:08:00]happening. They,  Howard Penrose: they don’t because, because what’s happening is they named it wrong.  Allen Hall: Yes.  Howard Penrose: A majority of our users are mechanical folks. Sure. Our vibration analysts and stuff like, ’cause they know how to look at the signatures. Right. Everybody tries to force it on their electrical people, and electrical people go, “We don’t know what this is.” Yeah. And it’s, it’s, it’s a matter of that training and, and, you know, in the electrical world, you’re not taught to look at that. Right. Yeah. It doesn’t matter. Mechanical world, you’re taught to look at that. So our intern, we were trying to bring in electrical engineering interns and found out that just wasn’t working. So last year, I brought in my first, uh, intern that’s, you know, he’s been with us now since I brought him in. Okay. Uh, and, uh, Amar, and, uh, you know, he’s helped us develop our vi- uh, vibration software to go along with it. Guess what? It’s the same thing. It’s the exact same sy- system Um, but we just take in a vibration signal instead. But he picked up on it immediately as a [00:09:00] third-year college student. I can take somebody with a decade as an electrical engineer with a PhD and they can’t figure it out.  Allen Hall: Well, because you’re, you’re taking real- Because it’s different. Yeah. It’s r- well, it’s real-world components-  Howard Penrose: Yeah …  Allen Hall: creating electrical signals. That’s hard- Well, you have- … to process for a lot of people. Yeah,  Howard Penrose: yeah. It’s  Allen Hall: just not  Howard Penrose: something that we do every day. But that’s… If they, i- if we sa- i- i- if you’re looking at vibration and you start looking at the sensor, it gets complicated too, ’cause guess what? It’s an electrical signal. Right. It’s, it is technically electrical signature now. It’s converting a  Allen Hall: mechanical signal- Right … into an electrical signal, which is what’s happening in the generator anyway. Yeah.  Howard Penrose: Whether it’s a piezoelectric cell that’s generating a small signal- Yeah … on top of a small waveform that you then take out, you demodulate, uh, or it’s, uh… So you take that carrier frequency out, or it’s a MEMS sensor, which is the same thing. You know, the, it just sees some slower s- It, it does more of a digital output. So you, you, you know, you have those, or you [00:10:00] have this, which just basically uses a component of the machine to, to, as its own sensor. There is one other difference between them, too, and, uh, I find this very useful when I’m going out troubleshooting something that other people can’t figure out, uh, ’cause we use all the technologies. So in this case, it would be, uh, the structural movement. Okay? So, so say I have a generator and there’s something wrong with the structure, and the whole machine is vibrating. So y- well, if I put a transducer on it, they might think that’s vibration or something else. We don’t see it. Right. We only see directly exactly what’s happening with the machine. Sure. So a lot of times when we go in to troubleshoot something that people have done vibration on and everything else, it’s been pro- a, a problem for them for years. We walk in, and all of a sudden we’re identifying whether it’s the machine or it’s something else right off the bat. Then we can take a look at the vibration data and [00:11:00] say, “Okay, it wasn’t the bearing or the bearing, um, structure. It was, you know, the mounting.” Right. It wasn’t  Allen Hall: fastened  Howard Penrose: down properly. Yeah,  Allen Hall: yeah. Right.  Howard Penrose: Go tighten that bolt. Right, exactly.  Allen Hall: Well, I mean, that’s the cheap answer. Yeah. I’d rather tighten a bolt than rip apart a motor or a generator- And, and- … every day …  Howard Penrose: and that’s the whole point. Now, there are other strengths that go with it. So for instance, on the powertrain of a wind turbine, I can tell you if you’ve lubricated the bearings correctly. Wow. Because part of what we do is we do take those electrical signatures, and we convert those over to watts. Watts is an energy conversion. Sure. So you see that as heat or some type of loss. So whatever, whatever’s being lost there is not being sent to the customer. To the outside. Right. Making money. So, um, if I’m taking a look at, say, a main bearing, I might see watts or kilowatts of losses. So you’re gonna have some ’cause you have friction, right? But when we see it increase on, say, a roller, [00:12:00] or the rollers, or, or the cage, that’s usually an indicator that I have a lubrication issue. Or if we only see it on the outer race, that means that they didn’t clear out all the old grease when they were lubricating it, ’cause the rollers then have to ride across it- Right … ’cause it dries up.  Allen Hall: Sure.  Howard Penrose: Uh, and will carry contaminants. So if you see that, you go up, clean it up, you’ll extend the life of the bearing. Absolutely you will. Without having to do a lot of work. So, uh, we, we look at our technology as more so early in the, in the stage of a condition. I don’t wanna call it failure, ’cause it’s not a failure. It’s something that’s mitigable. And I made that word up. You can mitigate it. Meaning you can go up and correct it and extend the life of that component. Sure. Uh, in gearboxes we’ll see problems with, um… Well, the, the one we’re talking about here a fair amount is all the circulating currents going on uptower. We did that research. The current signature analyzer we have is a direct result of doing wind turbine [00:13:00] research just on circulating currents uptower, ’cause we conferred everything over to, to sound at 48 kilohertz. And so that gives me a 24-kilohertz signal. That high-frequency stuff, which we’re researching in CGRE, and IEEE, and IEC, is called supra harmonics, which I– we talked about that before. Yes, we have. Yeah. And, uh, so when you start seeing that in the, in, in the current that’s circulating uptower because the ground that goes from the top of the tower down is for- DC lightning protection. And lightning protection, yeah. It’s not meant for, um- Not for  Allen Hall: high frequency- Yeah …  Howard Penrose: currents. Yeah. Uh, we, when we measured it, when we mapped out dozens of towers of all different manufacturers, we found that the impedance about halfway down the tower is where it ends. Sure. The, the resistance. And then the increased, uh, the high-frequency noise turns any of your shaft brushes into resistors. And at about 15 kilohertz, no current is [00:14:00]passing through them. It’s all passing the bearing, which becomes more conductive the higher the frequency. So with 60% of main bearings failing due to electrical currents, it’s actually currents that are circulating uptower. It’s not static. There is some static up there, but it’s not static. It’s coming from the controls, the, the generator, and everything else. Inverters,  Allen Hall: converters.  Howard Penrose: And we’ve seen up to 150 amps passing through a, through a bearing.  Allen Hall: So I– We run across a lot of operators who have been replacing main bearings, and they don’t know the reason why. Yeah. And I always say, “Well, call Howard at MotorDoc because I would almost bet you you have the f- high frequency running around uptower in the nacelle- And the next main bearing you put in there is gonna go the same way as the- Yeah … first one you put in there. Until you cut off that circulating current and then the cell, you’re just gonna continue with the problem. Then you haven’t eliminated the problem, you’re just fixing the result of that problem. Yes. But it takes- Yeah, you’re, you’re- How, [00:15:00] how, well, how long- You’re replacing  Howard Penrose: a fuse.  Allen Hall: Right, you’re replacing a fuse. Yeah. How long does it take you to s- to determine- An expensive fuse. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, ’cause you’re taking the rotor down. Yeah. Well, how, how fast can you determine if you have harmonics uptower that are gonna be causing you problems? 120 seconds.  Howard Penrose: Okay.  Allen Hall: So that’s the thing. I think a lot of- I mean,  Howard Penrose: that’s of the actual data collection time. So you clamp on uptower, uh, and then you can… Well, the way we have it set up now, you just tell it you wanna collect data every five s- uh, five minutes, and then you go downtower, let it collect its data, go back up, grab it. Um, it’s like… It’s huge. It’s this size. So, um, and then you connect- It plugs into a laptop. Yeah. Plug it into a laptop or any type of tablet. Um, it, it’s Windows now. I’m trying to get away from Windows. We’re gonna have Linux systems, uh, as well. Uh, and then you use that to, um, just collect that data, and then you press another button. Now it pops up, and it tells you if you’re in danger or not, [00:16:00] the amount of current passing through the bearing, and the frequencies all the way out.  Allen Hall: So the ideal is you’re gonna have this kit with you in the truck. Yeah. And as you see these problems pop up, you’re gonna clamp on uptower. Yep. You’re gonna measure these circulating currents, and you’re gonna know immediately if you have another mechanical issue, a, a lubrication issue- Oh, yeah. It’ll look at- … some kind of alignment issue, or- You’ll get all  Howard Penrose: of this information at once. So you- Right … if you go on the power side. So certain turbines, like anything that has the transformer downtower, you don’t have to climb. Right. GE. I mean, I don’t climb. So, uh, uh, you know, th- and that was part of the, the concept behind when we started down this path because I’ve been in the wind industry since 1997. So one of the things I always saw was, and, and we talked about even, you know, here when it was called AWEA, and we were talking always on the health and safety side about wearing out the technicians. Um, so we discovered that, you know, what was it? Almost 60% of the [00:17:00] turbines you didn’t have to climb. Right. Oh, yeah. And even the ones you do, you go up, you set it up, and it’ll tell you where you need to focus. The other thing in the powertrain, let alone the generator, when we do a sweep of a site– Now, if we do a straight electrical signature analysis, I’d term that one as a technician’s tool. Sure. That’s more of an engineer’s tool. Uh, a lot more data, a lot harder to set up. But even though I’m saying harder to set up, it’s still pretty easy. It’s still minutes. Right. Yeah. Most technicians will collect data with, like, a couple hours worth of training. Yeah. You g- You basically gather that data, and if you’re getting a site, so we’ll go out– I love going out in the field. So we’ll go out in the field, especially if it’s a tower we don’t have to climb I’ll knock out, uh, well, let’s just say I’ll, I’ll, I’ll name one. Say a GE 1.6. I’ll knock out one of those every eight to 11 minutes, depending on how you get to the tower.  Allen Hall: So that’s a full diagnosis of drivetrain- Yeah … plus anything odd happening- Yep with circulating currents and all that [00:18:00] can- Oh, no, no. Circulating- Or just- … current, that’s a- That’s a separate thing at tower … separate study that- Okay … you have to do that uptower. But anything, anything drivetrain-wise, you can be in and out- Yeah … in a couple of minutes. Yep. Okay. So there’s a lot of operators that have end-of-warranties coming up, right? Yes. There’s been a lot of developments, so they’re kind of running into the end-of-warranty, and they don’t know the health status of their drivetrain. Same thing for a lot of operators that are in- Yep … full service agreements, and they’re questioning whether they’re getting their money’s worth or not. Yes. I always say, “Call Howard at Motordoc. You guys can have a whole site survey done maybe in a couple of days, and you will know all the problems that are on site for the lowest price ever”. Yeah. It’s crazy how fast you can do it and how accurate it is. I talk to operators that use your system, so I hear you. Yeah. Your podcast, listen to your podcast, I’m calling your customers to find out what they say, and they love it. Oh, yeah. They can’t believe how accurate it is. Yeah. Well, the thing about that is we as an industry need to make sure that our turbines are operating at [00:19:00] maximum efficiency. Yep. And if a simple tool like the Motordoc EMPath system exists, we need to get customers, operators in line to start doing it worldwide. Australia- Oh … Europe-  Howard Penrose: Yeah. We- … Canada. Australia, we’re trying to get into, but right now we even have OEMs using it through North- That’s good … and South America, Asia. Good. Uh, Middle East, um, and, uh, and some of Europe. Good. So it’s, it’s, it’s really taking off. Uh, I’d say probably our biggest market right now is Brazil. Sure. They’re going crazy. Well, the, the turbines are- They’re having a lot of problems. Yeah.  Allen Hall: Right. And the, well, those turbines have a h- high usage, right? So because- Oh, yeah … the winds are so good, they’re operating at, like, capacity factor is above 50%. Yes. It’s insane. Yeah. So there’s a lot of wear and tear. There’s no downtime for those turbines.  Howard Penrose: Yeah. Well, and, and people think it’s all the starting and stopping. It’s not. No. It’s a grid-related issue. So we have- Sure … we have a low frequency. And you know some of the stuff I volun- I, I’m, I’ve been volunteered for- [00:20:00] Yeah … uh, including the CIGRE thing. Um, so I get to sit in the grid code committees for IEEE and put my, and our input into that, uh, and kind of watch the back of the IBR industry, right? Mm-hmm. ‘Cause there’s a definitely bias against our industry. Um, and I also, uh, get to hear what’s going on in the grid side of things from CIGRE worldwide, and it’s all very similar, and it has to do with low-frequency oscillating currents- Yes … called subsynchronous currents- Yes … which are low enough not to damage large synchronous machines. And they thought, and there’s books written on this, by the way, multiple books written on wind turbine impact- Uh, and they’re seeing now, um… Well, we detected it first, along with Timken. Hank, uh, and, and I went out to a site, and we detected for the first time, because of how they wanna do the testing and where the site was located, we saw the oscillating torque [00:21:00] in the air gap, ’cause that’s one of the things the technology does. It actually measures the torque, air gap torque. Sure. So we were watching the oscillating torque as a tower started up. And so we did, we went through the rest of that site looking at the same stuff in the same way. It increased our time and data collection, and time on site. But then we started looking for it at other sites, and going to pass data because I don’t have to go back and retake data. Right. And we’re like, “Oh my God. It’s everywhere.” 16 hertz, 21 hertz, and 50 hertz. And we found a paper that specifically identified that as the sub synchronous frequencies for 60 hertz. So we know what they are also for 50 hertz. Once we identified that and we saw how much the torsi- torque was oscillating, we worked with Shermco, who got us some information on Y-rings that were failing. Yeah. And they were all failing… When the metallurgy was done, they were all failing from fatigue. And you’re like, fatigue how? What’s fatiguing these connections? [00:22:00] Well, the fatigue is that air gap torque- Exactly … because you’re basically causing the, the, everything to oscillate a little bit, and that causes the windings to move slightly. It’s a living,  Allen Hall: breathing machine-  Howard Penrose: Exactly … this generator  Allen Hall: is.  Howard Penrose: Yeah.  Allen Hall: It’s not  Howard Penrose: static. It’s definitely not sta- no electric machine is static. No. Even a transformer’s not static. Right.  Allen Hall: So- There’s a little  Howard Penrose: bit of wiggle going on there all the time All the time. And it’s minute, so it takes a long time. Right. And what, uh, uh, everybody… Well, first people thought it was a particular manufacturer, which it wasn’t. Turned out every defig’s failing the same way. Sure. You’re fatiguing it. Yeah. Every bearing is failing the same way, even in the gearbox, main bearings, and everything else. Right. All of these conditions are happening across all the OEMs, but they’re not allowed to talk. Well, this is, this is the thing that  Allen Hall: I like watching your podcast.  Howard Penrose: Yeah.  Allen Hall: The Chaos and Caffeine. It comes out Saturday mornings. It’s on YouTube. If you haven’t- Yeah … clicked into it, you should click into it  Howard Penrose: because a lot of these issues are discussed there. It’s definitely, um… [00:23:00] Let’s just say I’ll speak Navy quite a bit. Allen Hall: It’s a great podcast, and I think what you’re doing with the EMPath system- Yes … at motor dock is really a game changer. Yeah. I’m talking to everybody, all the operators I know. I keep telling them to call you and to try the system out because it’s so inexpensive and it does the work quickly and efficiently, and it’s been proven. There’s no messing- Oh, yeah … around when you’re talking to MotorDoc. I…  Howard Penrose: Somebody dared tell me that there’s no standard for it. There’s ISO standards for it. Yes. There’s IEEE 1415- Yes … which I chair. Uh, and there’s other standards coming out- This is- … associated with it. And there’s a document that I also chair for Sea Gray- Called A178, which is the practical application of the technology. So it’s well-documented. There are traceable standards for it. I need more  Allen Hall: operators to call you- Yeah … and to talk to you and get systems in the back of the trucks that they can use to check out the health of their gear boxes and their drive trains and their generators. How [00:24:00] do they do that? Where do they go? Where, where’s, what’s- Well- … the first place they should look for?  Howard Penrose: Uh, info@motordoc.com. Okay. I get all, I get all of those as well, so do my people. Um, or, uh, LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s really good.  Allen Hall: Look up anything. Yeah.  Howard Penrose: Yeah, yeah. So, so either the company at Motordoc, or, uh, I’m, I sh- I’ll show up either searching for my name or, uh, linkedin.com/in/motordoc. Come straight to me ’cause I’ve been in, on LinkedIn forever, so- Right, just- … I got to do that … look up  Allen Hall: Howard Penrose, P-E-N-R-O-S-E. Yep. Or go to motordoc.com is- Yep, motordoc.com … the website address.  Howard Penrose: Yep. There’s a lot of great information there. And we have partners, and we have people. We’re growing the company. You know, talk to me. I, I’ll- Yes … I like answering the phone and talking. It’s, it’s a thing. My people go, “Can we answer the phone one?” No. Um, but, but yeah, we, we, y- when you call us, you’re not just dealing with a single person. Right. The Motordoc is far more expansive. Right now, we [00:25:00] just got our partnership with, uh, Hitachi and, and Juliet- Yeah, that’s great and stuff like that. Uh, we’re helping them with certain things. Uh, we’re partnered with some of the big OEMs, almost all of them, um, you know, helping identify the issues, you know. And, and when users contact us, often they’ll tell us what’s going on, and we’ll, we can, uh, sometimes say, “Yeah, it’s this, and here’s how we prove it.” Allen Hall: Yeah. That’s the, that’s the beauty- Yeah … of calling Motordoc. So I need my operators that, that watch the show- Yeah … worldwide, go online, go on LinkedIn, get ahold of Howard, get ahold of Motordoc, and get started. Yep. Howard, thank you- And- … so much for being on the podcast. Yeah. This is fantastic. I love talking to you because- it’s, it’s like talking to, you know… Uh, no, really, it’s talking like someone who’s a real good industry expert, who’s been there a long time, and understands- Yeah … how this  [00:26:00] works.

This episode we continue with the reign of Uno no Sarara, aka Jito Tenno, and look at records of the various foreigners and immigrants who came to the archipelago. This includes immigrants from the Korean peninsula as well as those foreigners with whom Yamato shared the Central Land of the Reed Plains--like the Hayato and the Emishi. We also take a look at the Yamato court's widening relationship with and use of Buddhism. Along the way we take a look at a few different incidents and reports, including omens, hunting and fishing restrictions, and a story of sweet wine that reportedly cured the worst of diseases. For more check out the podcast website: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-155 (blogpost goes live 1 Sep 2026) Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 155: Immigrants, Priests, and Sweet Wine The three priests and their companions could see the distinctive pagoda from a distance away.   It stood several stories tall, and the bells at the eave ends glinted in the morning light. To their right, a tall, conical peak stood out from the other mountains, much like a miniature Mt. Fuji.  From there, the mountains swept down to the flat plain, which then ended at the edge of the giant body of water known as Lake Biwa.  The pagoda rose up between the two, its uppermost spire jutting upwards towards the sky.  Around it, much of the flat area had been carved into rectangular rice paddies, with paths and thatched roof buildings around—most of them low to the ground, distinctive of the muro style still prominent amongst most of the common people.  As such, though it didn't come anywhere near the grandeur of the temples in the capital, even a provincial temple stood out with its tiled roof and the brightly colored, red, white, and green walls and windows.  As they approached, the group saw a crowd of people by the gates.  Many of them seemed ill and infirm.  They had come to be healed by the waters of the temple—the same healing waters that had brought these priests all the way from the capital to investigate. We are covering a bunch of different things from the reign of Uno no Sarara, from 686 to 697.  This episode we take a journey through a few different topics.  Mostly we are talking about foreigners—both those from overseas and the ones that Yamato shared the archipelago with—and with Buddhism and how the court used this continental religion that had already become a key organ of the Yamato State. To start with, let's talk about immigrants.  Immigration to the archipelago by this point isn't anything new—and I'm not just talking about the groups that came over and kickstarted the Yayoi culture and the eventual mounded tomb period that we know as the Kofun era.  There were numerous ethno-linguistic groups that fell under Yamato's hegemony, and evidence of active migration. Of the various groups on the archipelago, there appear to be several categories.  For instance, we have groups that are clearly external immigrants, from outside of the archipelago  and then we have those groups that appear to be considered indigenous, at least by Yamato's thinking.. Some of this can be seen in how they are treated, discussed, and even assimilated.  Those external, while often presented as being in a tribute status, are still treated differently from those on the archipelago, where the land borders of Yamato would abut against the territories of local ethnic groups.  This probably also had something to do with the claim that the Heavenly Grandchild and their descendants, the current Tennou, were presumably given sovereignty over the entire Land of the Central Reed Plains, aka the Japanese archipelago. External immigrants included people from Silla, and, even though the kingdoms themselves had fallen and been absorbed by Silla, Gogureyo and Baekje.  This last one might be a bit surprising if we think about it in modern terms where we tend to think in terms of citizenship and nationality first and foremost.  So we think of someone as being American, French, or Japanese based on the country they came from.  But that American might be Dine—aka Navaho—or they could identify as Cajun or their parents might have been immigrants from somewhere else and they are the first generation born in the US.  That doesn't mean they aren't American, but "American" is only part of their identity.  Likewise that Japanese person could be Ainu, Ryukyuan, or even one of the Bonin islanders.  That is to say they may be from an ethno-linguistic group other than the majority ethnic group in that nation. In the same vein, while it's true that Baekje had been conquered by Silla, that doesn't mean that the Baekje people were suddenly erased and that the people suddenly changed their lifestyles or language overnight.  And so, while they may have been subjects of the Silla kingdom, there were still Baekje people both in Silla and in the archipelago.  And as late as 690, decades after it was conquered, we see that Baekje immigrants were arriving in Japan. Similarly, we see Goguryeo immigrants who came over in 687, three years earlier, even though that kingdom no longer existed.  They were settled in Hitachi, where they were given lands, received an allowance of grain to help tide them over, and then allowed to grow their community and work, as long as they did so peacefully, under the care of the local Yamato officials. And it isn't difficult to see why people of Baekje and Goguryeo might come to the archipelago.  Their other options were to head to the Great Tang, which had been the other conquering force, or possibly to go find refuge with various Tungusic ethnic groups around the Amur river area, outside of Tang control. What actually strikes me as a bit more surprising, to be honest, is the immigration of people from Silla.  After all, Silla was ascendant, was it not?  They had just unified the peninsula and this seems like it would have been a great time to be team Silla, and yet we see people leaving to come to Yamato. For instance, in 687 we see 14 immigrants from Silla settled in Shimotsuke.  22 more were presented by the Dazai-Sochi and settled in the land of Musashi.  In 689 and then in 690 we see more Silla immigrants settled in both places.  We also had 50 people come over with Buddhist priests, though we don't know where they ended up settling.  So both Musashi and Shimotsuke were being settled with immigrants from Silla.  Musashi, if you didn't already know, is the name for the area that would largely become the Tokyo metropolis in modern times.  Shimotsuke was the land adjoining it to the northeast.  In all likelihood, all of these people were probably being located to areas near each other, even though they are mentioned as being in different provinces.  That may have been more of an administrative distinction.  That also seems to indicate that they were likely being relocated to border areas where there weren't already large populations, probably because that is where there was open land that wasn't already claimed.  We see something similar with the court sending the people from Goguryeo all the way to Hitachi. It does make me wonder what must have happened for someone to choose to come to the Japanese archipelago from Silla to be sent all the way to the far end of Yamato to work the land.  In previous centuries I would have assumed that these were captives brought back from raids against the mainland, but by all accounts—and the fact that we continue to have relatively cordial diplomatic relations between Yamato and Silla—it appears that Yamato wasn't sending raids and that these individuals were likely coming willingly.  Perhaps they were getting crowded out somewhere in Silla, and had heard of new opportunities.  Or perhaps they had done something to make them persona-non-grata, as they say, back in their home country.   Whatever the reason, there were a number of people coming over, who would have also brought their cultural and technological knowledge along with them.  And many of them were being settled in the far eastern end of Honshu—though that may be something for another time. The indigenous category includes not only the Wa people of Yamato, but also the Hayato and the Emishi.  Of these we don't have a lot of information about who they were or what languages they spoke. For the Hayato we only have a few possible words of their language, and various other things that we know from Yamato's court records.  We know that the Yamato officials needed interpreters to speak with the Hayato.  There are those that theorize that the Hayato language had evolved from one of the languages spoken during the Jomon era—which doesn't give us much to go on other than the idea that it may not have been a Japonic language.  Attempts have been made to connect the Hayato with the unique burial features and other material artifacts of southern Kyushu, and then to the previous ethnic group, known as the Kumaso—or possibly the Kuma and So—but so far there are theories but no hard and fast connections. For example, we know that the Hayato were said to be from Ata and Ohosumi, according to the records of the court, but they also only show up in the late 7th century.  Prior to that we have stories of the Kumaso, and even people called Tsuchigumo.  Were those previous names for the ancestors of the Hayato?  Or were the Hayato encountered later, as Yamato's borders expanded, having perhaps encompassed the lands of the Kumaso and now running into the Hayato?  The fact that they show up so late in the narrative is particularly interesting, as they really only get mentioned in the reign of Ohoama and then Uno no Sarara—though they would be particularly active in the years to come, when the Nihon Shoki was being compiled.  For example, we know that the Hayato were brought into the court system, and also that they resisted, with numerous rebellions in the 8th century, though at this early point, things seemed to be going well. So Hayato were coming to the court, likely seeing some benefit in their association with Yamato.  They are shown coming in fairly significant numbers as well. Meanwhile, we have the ongoing assimilation of the Emishi.  Unlike the Hayato, the Emishi have shown up in the narrative since the legendary period.  We've talked about them quite a bit in various episodes.  Even within the Emishi, the Emishi of Koshi are differentiated from the Emishi further north in Tohoku.  Linguistically, a lot of place names in Tohoku and eastern Honshu have been compared to the Ainu language, with suspicions that a related language was in use in eastern and northeastern Japan for some time.  Tohoku is also the area that most resisted Yayoi culture, based on archaeological finds.  We know that wet rice paddy agriculture also made early in-roads into Tohoku, but then retreated much farther south, perhaps because it wasn't as suitable for the colder climate at that time.  Northern material culture continued to exhibit signs of evolution from the previous Jomon era, with Hokkaido continuing a tradition that we know as the Epi-Jomon, which we first talked about back in episode 50, and several times since then as well..  There were some mounded tombs—even some keyhole shaped tombs around Sendai and Osaki, in modern Miyagi prefecture—but nothing comparable to the large numbers of tombs found in areas further to the south. The Yamato people had had regular encounters with people called "Emishi" since at least the time of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tenno.  During the time that Takara Hime was on the throne a second time, there were massive military operations, first against the Emishi, and then supporting them against the Mishihase people in what appears to have been Hokkaido.  The Emishi were further brought under the Yamato court and into the court rank system, and we see rank handed out to various members of the group.  Then, in the reign of Uno no Sarara, we start to see further cultural assimilation in the form of the spread of Buddhism. In 689, we are told of Shiriko, an "Emishi of Kikafu, in Ukitamu district, in Michinoku".   This possibly refers to Okitama no Kori, a district in modern Yamagata Prefecture.  Shiriko had two sons, Maro and Kanawori, who requested permission to shave their hair and become Buddhist priests.  Perhaps related to this, about twenty days before, about 231 Emishi men and women had attended a banquet under the tsuki tree by Asukadera, where they were given gifts and rank.  Did that inspire them to want to learn more about this "Buddhism" thing? Either way, Uno no Sarara agreed.  In the edict she commented that Maro and his brother were both refined and modest, despite their youth, and that they were eating vegetarian dishes and keeping the Buddhist precepts.  So presumably this wasn't a last minute decision on their part, though we should probably take the wording in the edict with at least a grain of salt, given their purpose. Only six days later we see that the court is presenting a load of gifts to an Emishi monk named Doushin.  Doushin is said to have been a Koshi Emishi, rather than the Kitafu Emishi of Michinoku.  The court granted him a Buddhist statue, a purification flag, a wine cup, a begging bowl, five-colored silk cloth, thirteen pounds of flossed silk, 10 bolts of regular cloth, ten hoes, and a saddle. Six months later there is another priest:  Jitoku, an Emishi of Michinoku, who is granted a gold-copper image of Yakushi Buddha and a gold-copper image of Kanzeon—or Kannon—Boddhisatva, as well as a bell, a begging bowl, a precious curtain, an incense burner, and a banner. What this looks like, to me, is the court promoting Buddhism among the Emishi.  This feels similar to the way that priests also spread the worship of Mt. Miwa or other kami.  While Buddhism was technically universal, the Court had ensured that they had a hand on the center of Buddhist teaching, at least early on.  Indeed, at the same time that Uno no Sarara was building up the Jingikan and bolstering the worship of Amaterasu at Ise Grand Shrine, she and the court were also leveraging Buddhism and Buddhist concepts in a variety of ways.  She put it in an edict to the ministers in 691.  She noted that they had erected Buddhist Halls and Sutra repositories, and they practiced the six monthly fasts.  The sovereigns would occasionally send Ohotoneri to inquire after the welfare of priests.  As such, they should continue to uphold the Buddhsit Faith with zealous hearts. Upholding the faith wasn't just about words.  There were actual financial contributions.  Besides the national temples, there were gifts made, such as those to the Emishi priests, mentioned earlier.  In 692, Kwansei was presented silk and cloth and commended for making white lead, which was a popular ingredient for cosmetics.  Later that year, Yamada no Mikata was granted rank, and the fact that he had gone to Silla to study as a priest is mentioned in conjunction with that, though apparently he either didn't take orders or had gone back to being a lay person.   And in 693 they gave the priest, Hokyo, 3 chou worth or rice-land.  And in 696 there were 30 houses granted as a sustenance-fief to Bendou, a priest of Daikandaiji. And that tells us the kinds of resources the State was putting towards it, but what were they using Buddhism for?  What purpose did it serve the State, or was it purely altruistic?  A big part of it, as we have discussed in the past, was through the concept of karma and merit.  The court seems to have been making a variety of decisions that look to be efforts to increase the State's merit.  This is a continuation of things we saw in Ohoama's reign, along with some new moves.  For instance, we have previously mentioned in passing how the court was giving alms to the elderly and infirm, at least in the capital, and we see a lot more amnesties—though often qualified amnesties, with various crimes excluded. Then there were things like the edict of 689, in which Hunting and Fishing were prohibited in the Sea of Muko in the province of Settsu for a distance of 1000 paces, and for 20,000 shiro on the plain of Nagino in the district of Ate in the province of Kii, and for 20,000 shiro on the plains of Mino in the district and province of Iga.  The edict also attached keepers to these places in the same way as the Sea of Takashi in the district of Ohotori in the province of Kawachi.  Right off the bat we know a few things.  First off, this is the first time we've seen an edict like this, and yet the Chronicles say that this is similar to the way that "Keepers" were attached to the Sea of Takashi in Ohotori district.  The term used for "Keepers" appears to be "shugo", which would later be used for military governors in the Kamakura period, which would eventually become the shugo daimyo and then the Sengoku daimyo—our namesake.  But in this case it appears that "shugo" is just a literal translation of a "protector".  In front of that is the word "oku", meaning to keep or preserve.  Hence Aston's translation of these people as "keepers".  What is not clear to me is whether this is a reference to something that happened earlier, and just didn't get recorded, or if the Chroniclers are talking about a later practice which the audience for the Nihon Shoki would have been familiar with.  The Takashi sea would refer to the Seto Inland Sea just off the coast of Takashi, which was in Kawachi, south of modern Osaka.    The other places we see named are the Sea of Muko, in Settsu, which would have been north and west from modern Osaka, as well as Nagino in Kii and Mino in Iga. Nagino's location is not quite certain.  Ate is likely Arida, and Nagino may be what was eventually Nago, now thought to be near or including the Hirogawa region of Wakayama.  Later there were be prohibitions on fishining in the areas of Yuasa, Hiro, and Hirogawa, so perhaps there was also a prohibition on hunting on the plains.  This is all on the west side of the Kii peninsula, south of modern Osaka, so still facing the Seto Inland Sea. Iga, however, was on the other side of the peninsula.  Given that it was in Iga district of the land of Iga, this prohibition would definitely be about hunting, and not fishing.  It is also interesting to take a look at the measurements involved.  The one clear prohibition on fishing, in the Sea of Muko, is measured in paces while the other two are mentioned as being on the "plains"—though technically it should probably be "Nagi Plain" and "Mi Plain"—and they are measured differently, in something called "shiro".  By the way, I tried to find how big a "shiro" was and I couldn't quite do it. I wonder if the difference there, though, is area versus length:  For the sea of Muko it probably meant the waters directly out from the shore of Muko, and so I imagine that the paces were measure out from a certain point, walking along the shoreline, and then you couldn't go out into the sea in those areas to fish.  For the plains you could have more definitive markers indicating a particular area that was under the prohibition. For another clue to protected areas and distances, we see later that "long-life places" were established throughout the various provinces, each one being 1000 paces.  Aston notes that "long life places" indicated areas where animals couldn't be harmed, and given that they talk about it in terms of "paces" I would assume that means these were probably more prohibitions on fishing. That language also suggests to me that there was some kind of Buddhist reasoning behind it—mercy for the creatures of the land.  It isn't clear how long these prohibitions remained in effect, either.  This may also explain an order just a few days later that a white swallow that was caught in Mike, in the land of Sanuki, should be set free.  Unusually white or albino animals were often caught and presented to the throne as auspicious omens, not always in a live state.  However, Buddhism often teaches that there is merit in releasing animals, and so this feels like it was a way of demonstrating mercy and building merit, while also acknowledging the auspicious omen that accompanied its appearance. Also in this edict is who it is directed to:  Tanaka no Ason no Norimaro, who is named as the "soryo" of Iyo.  We've mentioned this before, in passing; this was a position similar to the Dazai no Sochi.  Effectively, the government official in charge of Iyo was in charge of the entire island of Shikoku.  Unlike the Dazai no Sochi, this position does not seem to have remained for long; instead, Shikoku was divided up into separate provinces and then each province had its own governor. By the way, we've talked about Norimaro before, as well.  He was previously in charge of the mission to Silla, when they went to announce Ohoama's demise, but then ran into a bunch of diplomatic etiquette issues such that they weren't able to deliver the news—or perhaps more appropriately they decided they couldn't deliver the news.  So from representing the court on missions, Norimaro went on to become the government official in Iyo overseeing all of Shikoku.  A couple of years later he would show up again, this time sending gold and silver that had apparently been found at Mt. Mima in Uwa district—modern Uwajima.  Unfortunately, after that he disappears from the narrative, and the position seems to end with him. Speaking of animals—the presentation of auspicious plants animals continued, and was often wrapped up with amnesties and similar such things.  The year 692 seems to have been of particular significance.  There we see the Governor of Sagami presenting a pair of fledgling red crows that had been caught in Miura.  Later we see that the governor, the vice governor, and the individual who had caught the crows—Kashima no Omi no Kusu—were gifted with rank and presents, while Miura district had its taxes and forced labor remitted for a period of three years. Later that same year, the Governor of Ise presented auspicious stalks of rice while the Governor of Echizen, that is to say the western part of Koshi closest to the capital, presented a white moth.  The stalks of rice don't seem to have warranted much, but the white moth, which presumably was not just a moth that is naturally white, was apparently considered something noteworthy.  We are told that it was caught on the shore at Uragami, in the district of Tsuruga.  As such, the Fief of the Kebi no Kami—the kami of Kebi, or at least his shrine—was increased by 20 houses.  Unfortunately, we have a lacuna or gap in the text so we don't get everything else.  This is a good reminder that sometimes we don't have anything because it wasn't written down, and sometimes because accidents happen.  Either something doesn't get transcribed properly or something gets damaged early on and there aren't enough copies for it to propagate from another source. Our next omens come in 694—the same year that the Fujiwara Palace was occupied.  We are told that a white copper-pheasant was presented by Sarara in Kawachi.  So the Governor and Vice-Governor of the district received promotions, as did the many who had caught it, Osakabe no Miyatsuko no Karakuni.  Four months later, a white bat was found by a man in Araki, in Hida province.  His name was Ohokunibe no Otohi, and he didn't receive a promotion in court rank, but he did get material presents in terms of silk cloth and floss, and, perhaps more importantly, he was exempted from all forced labor for the rest of his life.  Not a bad deal, if you ask me. Now omens were good and all, but omens were hardly active expressions by the government.  When things were happening—like damaging rains—or perhaps not happening—like droughts—people wanted the government to do something.  I know it may be hard for people to believe in this day and age, but many people believed that the government was responsible for all sorts of things that it had little control over.  In this case, that was the weather, and the state could at least prepare by collecting taxes in rice and then providing relief via those same resources.  But that still only did so much.  So when months went by with no rain falling, the state would turn towards ritual.  In some cases that ritual was directed at the kami and the new Jingikan, but in other cases, it fell on Buddhist priests. So, for example, in 688 we are told that there was a drought and the court initiated prayers for rain.  Those prayers were carried out by the priest Douzou.  Douzou was of Baekje extraction, but that didn't concern the court—they just wanted to know that he was effective.  Sure enough, after praying for rain, the clouds opened up and before morning the rain had fallen.  We are told it fell "across the realm", which I'm pretty sure is hyperbole.  It probably fell all across the Nara plains and surrounding areas, which was enough for the court. In 691, they were struck with the opposite problem, which we know because the court issued an edict dated to the 19th day of the 6th month of that year.  Apparently rain had fallen for two straight months.  And while the fifth month rains—the Satsuki-ame—are well-known, this apparently had started back in the 4th month of that year, and now there was a worry that it would start to injure the crops, reducing the annual yield.  The conclusion appears to have been that the country did not have enough merit.  Therefore the ministers and officials were prohibited from the use of strong drink or meat—Aston translates it directly as "animal food".  They were also ordered to compose their hearts and repent of any sins they may have committed.  At the same time, the priests in the temples of the capital and Home provinces were told to recite sutras for five straight days.  We also know that a day later they announced an amnesty for various criminals, as well.  Another act of mercy and hopefully for making merit. And it seems to have worked.  Or one could just say that the natural monsoon rains finally stopped after a particularly heavy season.  Who's to say? In the 5th intercalary month of 692, the rains were again pretty bad.  This time it isn't that they were long, but that it was heavy rain—what Japanese meteorology reports would likely call "Oyu", or Great Rain—which brought with it floods. Unfortunately, while they could pray for rain to start or stop, floods are another matter.  By the time you know the flood has happened it is too late.  And so this is where the government's preparedness came into focus.  Commissioners were sent to visit the districts and provinces.  There they found people affected by the flooding and they were empowered to make loans to provide relief.  Furthermore, they allowed people to access resources that might otherwise have been restricted, allowing them to fish and cut wood in the hills, forests, ponds, and marshes, even if that was normally a prohibited activity, so that they could sustain themselves until they were able to get back on their feet.  At the same time, the Sutra of Golden Light, the Konkwoumyou Sutra, one of the sutras for protecting the state, was to be read aloud in the capital and the Home Provinces.  The Sutra of Golden Light is the one which not only talks about the Shitennou, the four heavenly kings, but also emphasizes that if rulers support and honor the recitation of the sutra, then their kingdoms would be prosperous and peaceful, so what better time to read it than during or just after a disaster? There were other recitations and congregations that were not quite so obviously connected.  In 690, there were discourses in the inner precinct of the palace during the "Vassa", known in Japanese as "Ango" or "Dwelling in Peace".  This comes from the tradition in Buddhism where it is said that the Buddha and his disciples, though normally traveling around the countryside, would come together during the rainy season.  During this time they would talk and share.  It is still practiced in many Theravada schools, where monks will gather in temples during the rainy season.  Of course, as we've discussed, the 5th month was right in the middle of Japan's rainy season, so it seems like they may have been attempting to emulate that tradition. Three years later, we are told that they held a great-congregation of monks on that same date—the 15th day of the 5th month.  This is not referred to as an Ango, however, possibly noting a change in the way they were organizing or conducting it—or possibly just because it was referred to differently in the record the Chroniclers used.  That said, a great-congregation was simply a Buddhist gathering, where various priests would provide sermons or sutra readings, and not necessarily tied to a particular time.  Another one was called in the 9th month of 693 on behalf of the late sovereign, Ohoama and all prisoners were released, which was no doubt merit seen as accruing to the late sovereign. A month after that, the Benevolent King Sutra, or Ninnou-kyou, was expounded in the provinces for four days.  This is another one of the sutras considered important for the well-being of the state. In 694 we have 100 copies of the Konkwoumyou sutra—the Sutra of Golden Light—being sent out to the provinces, with the intent that they should be read together, at a certain time, when the moon of the first month was in the first quarter.  Any fees or resources needed by the temples to carry this out were to be defrayed from the public revenues of the provinces.  As Aston points out, "revenues" in this case would not necessarily be cash money.  Not that they didn't have coins—they had the Fuhonsen coins from Ohoama's time; see Episode 146 for more information.  We are even told that in 694 the court appointed three officials—Ohoyake no Maro, Utena no Yashima, and Kibumi no Honjitsu—to be governors for the mint, although Aston notes a Shoku Nihongi account from 708 that claimed that was the "first time" the title was given out.  Either way, even though they were minting coins, these wouldn't have been in common circulation.  The government may have used them to pay for things, but taxes coming in, especially in the provinces would have been in-kind taxes, meaning that the revenue to the temples were likely paid in rice, cloth, or similar. We similarly see another edict to read the Golden Light sutra on the first day of the twelfth month of 696.  This time it wasn't just a one time reading, though: they were setting a precedent.  The edict was to expound the Sutra of Golden Light and then, every year hence, they would schedule ten people of pure life who should be inducted as monks on the eve of the New Year.  I have to wonder about how they had people take orders—and whether it was a lifelong commitment or, as in some cultures, today, a temporary position.  After all, Ohoama took orders but didn't exactly remain "retired" for all that long. The same thing had happened back in 694, when one hundred and four people were made to enter religion for the sake of Royal Princess Asuka.  So how long did they remain Buddhist priests? There is a reference, in 693, of a priest being stripped of his monkhood.  It was done by royal order for a Goguryeo priest Fukuka, and it isn't made clear why.  Was it something that the priest wanted?  Maybe they wanted to stop being a monk for some reason?  Or was it done as a punishment?  There was apparently a great-congregation only about two weeks prior.  Maybe there was some drama?  We'll probably never know. In 697, there was an uptick in merit-making.  In the third month, a great-congregation was being held in the Eastern Palace.  The Eastern Palace was the home of the Crown Prince, so this may have something to do with the planned succession, but then in the 6th month we see a bunch of things happening.  There was a royal order for sutras to be read in temples in the Home Provinces, and then, nine days later, an order that people of 5th rank and lower were to go spend time cleaning out the temples in the capital.  On the 26th, 11 days after that, we get a record the seems to bring this into focus, as the Ministers and public functionaries started making votive images of the Buddha for the sake of Uno no Sarara's illness.  It seems that she was feeling unwell, which probably kicked off a lot of this activity, and may even be why she finally decided to abdicate.  There was one more seemingly related note.  On the 29th day of the 7th month the Ministers and public functionaries prepared a festival for the installation of Buddhist images in the temple of Yakushiji.  This was the temple Ohoama had originally commissioned for Uno no Sarara during his reign when she was sick back then.  She had recovered, then, and she would recover again—but her faith in the healing power of the Buddha may have been limited.  She would abdicate a few days later, leaving the throne to Prince Karu—the future Monmu Tennou. One last thing, somewhat tangential, it seems.  In the 11th month of 693, three priests, Houin, Zen'ou, and Shingi, set out, along with others, to the Yasu district in Afumi to taste the sweet wine of the local springs.  This is likely the area around the Yasu river, where it flows northwest from the mountains into Lake Biwa.  Today it is Yasu city on one side of the river and Moriyama city on the other. They apparently came back in the third month of the following year, as that is when we get a royal edict concerning said springs.  Based on that, we are told that the spring of quote-unquote "sweet wine" or "sweet sake" bubbled up at Mt. Tsuga in the Yasu district of Afumi.  Mt. Tsuga, or Tsugayama, may be related to "Moriyama", and Moriyama city is still known for the spring water that comes out of the nearby mountains. In the edict they mention that people who were afflicted with various disease would stay at Yasudera, where they presumably drank the water from the springs, and many of them found themselves healed.  For this miraculous occurrence, the temple itself was awarded four chou of rice-land, and an amount of cloth.  In addition, the district of Yasu was exempted from taxes and forced labor, as well as from any other kinds of corvees that might be levied, for at least one year.  Local authorities were promoted a grade in rank, and gifts were made out to those who were credited with first discovering the springs and their miraculous properties—Kadono no Hatsuki and the daughter of Kudara no Tsurara. A couple of extra notes, based on what we see here.  First off, it is unfortunately too often the case that we see women described like this—the daughter of so-and-so—without providing an actual name.  It is interesting that she is the daughter of someone with the name "Kudara", meaning "Baekje".  During the reign of Naka no Ohoe, aka Tenji Tennou, a number of Baekje people were settled in the areas around Lake Biwa and the Echi River, the next major river to the northeast. The temple mentioned, Yasudera, would have been the local temple, probably run by the local elites.  That likely means the Yasu no Atai family.  The temple itself is no more, and we aren't sure exactly where it was, but there is a strong case to be made that archaeological remains at Yoshimi-chou, in modern Moriyama city, might be that temple.  Still, there is no conclusive evidence. As for springs having healing properties—this is nothing new.  Minerals could have given the water a sweet taste, or perhaps there was something that clouded it, like nigori-zake—unfiltered rice wine.  Whether or not there were any natural healing properties I leave up to your own imagining.  Did people actually benefit from the waters?  Or maybe just because they believed?  Was the fact that a Buddhist temple was involved part of it, or is this just the same thing we see with people going to various springs and imparting to them some healing properties? Either way, it seems that at some point the spring no longer produced the "sweet wine" that had made it famous in its day, and people moved on to a different location. For now, I think we can stop here.  We have probably one more episode talking about specific items from this reign, but we are starting to get more and more sources, including the poetry of the Man'yoshu, which I hope to dig into here in a bit.  Plus a few other things in the works. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

The Fulbright Program offers another unique path to experience Japan through academic and professional exchange. Dr. Rose Honegger joins the Krewe to share her Fulbright experience in Japan, what she gained from the program, and how it influenced her work in higher education. The conversation also explores who Fulbright is for, what makes a strong candidate, and tips for those considering applying. ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Links for the Fulbright Program ------ Fulbright Program Website ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

As content marketing has grown, so has the volume of content being produced. Consumers are overwhelmed with content across platforms from all the brands that are vying for their attention. The question now is how do you stand out? How do brands actually reach their customers? Tim Bradley, Co-Founder and Executive Producer at Pennant, gives us the low down on why video is the answer. Video has a way of articulating a point in a way that no other medium can but it has to be done right. Pennant's video marketing trifecta of differentiation, demonstration, and validation is exactly how they establish a level of trust between brands and consumers that pulls them into the brand, leaving them with a desire for more. You might think that telling every story and reaching every audience in that 60 second video is the way to go but the worst brand color is beige for a reason: it's safe and it conveys no message. Grab a paint brush with some bright colors and let's start painting the path towards real connection with customers in this episode of The Longer Game.What they coverThe consumer's journey starts with awareness, then consideration, and finally conversion. With so many people in the buying committee these days at businesses, it takes time, months and sometimes years, to close the deal.There's no silver bullet when it comes to content marketing. Talk with your customers and identify sentiments and themes in those conversations. Then learn from them and apply them to your content._________________________________________________________________________The Longer Game explores the future of retail across Amazon, ecommerce, and brick-and-mortar.The goal is simple: help brands grow by understanding how all channels work together.Retail is evolving. The brands that win are the ones willing to adapt.Subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Learn more: https://thelongergame.com_________________________________________________________________________About the Guest: Tim Bradley is the Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Pennant Video, a B2B video marketing agency that pioneered the Video Marketing Trifecta, a framework that helps technology companies build stronger mid-funnel strategies. With nearly two decades of experience, Tim has partnered with brands including Cisco, Hitachi, and Philips.Connect with Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-bradley-pennant/ Website: https://pennant.video/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennant.video_________________________________________________________________________About the Host:Michael Maher is Chief Idea Officer of Cartology, an Amazon-focused agency helping brands grow revenue and profitability.Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/immichaelmaher Email: michael@thinkcartology.com_________________________________________________________________________Sponsored by Cartology https://thinkcartology.com

MEET EMA - YOUR AI EMPLOYEE FOR HR, IT & FINANCE (LIVE DEMO)   We're back with another founder chat and live demo, this time with Surojit Chatterjee, CEO of Ema. Former CPO of Coinbase and Senior Exec at Google and Flipkart, Surojit is a vastly experienced tech executive. I'm delighted to be share some time with him to learn about his vision and why the future of human-AI collaboration is going to look lot like Ema.   Live demo folks so make sure you register   We're on Tues 18th August at 6pm BST / 10am PST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep398 is supported by our friends at Ema   Ema builds AI employees for the enterprise - purpose-built to automate complex workflows across HR, IT, and Finance, from hire to retire.   Ema's AI employees work end-to-end across the full employee lifecycle: sourcing and screening candidates, onboarding new hires, resolving IT and HR queries, managing benefits, and processing finance requests - delivering speed, precision, and security at enterprise scale.   Trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide, Ema is backed by leading investors and partners like Accel, Workday, ADP, and Hitachi. With a library of pre-built agents and dedicated deployment teams, Ema delivers fast time-to-value, taking enterprises from proof-of-concept to secure, large-scale production.   Learn more about Ema today here

Die Pläne für neue Abbaufelder für Salz werden immer konkreter. Ab dem 18. August liegt die Nutzungsplanung für das Nordfeld in den Gemeinden Wallbach und Zeinignen auf. Aus 62 Bohrlöchern sollen in den nächsten Jahren Millionen Tonnen von Salz gefördert werden. Weiter in der Sendung: · Wettingen: Die Gemeinde soll nun doch dem Verein für regionale Wirtschaftsförderung beitreten. Diesen Antrag stellt der Gemeinderat dem Einwohnerrat. Der Beitritt war zurückgestellt worden, als man noch über die Ansiedlung von Hitachi diskutierte. Aber Hitachi kommt nicht nach Wettingen, deshalb soll das Parlament nun grünes Licht geben für den Beitritt. · Zuchwil: Der Neubau der Kehrichtverwertungsanlage Kenova wird am Wochenende offiziell eröffnet. Ein Rundgang zeigt: Die Anlage ist gigantisch gross und verbrennt nicht nur Güsel, sondern liefert auch Fernwärme und Strom.

Japan has a reputation for being incredibly safe, but what does “safe” actually mean? The Krewe is joined by Jordan Green, aka AfroInJapan from YouTube & Instagram, to explore safety in Japan beyond just crime, including natural disasters, wildlife, xenophobia, & the considerations travelers & foreign residents should keep in mind. Does Japan live up to it's rep? You be the judge! ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Links for Jordan Green/AfroInJapan ------ AfroInJapan on YouTube AfroInJapan on Instagram AfroInJapan's "The Myth of Crime in Japan" ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

"Auch wenn man gar nicht so viel aktiv an der Börse ist, kann man trotzdem gute Renditen erwirtschaften. Aktiv bedeutet nicht: Ständig hin und her." Sebastian Steyers wikifolio "Qualitätsaktien aktiv" ( https://go.brn-ag.de/242 ) funktioniert über Diversifikation und Korrelation. So ist zum Beispiel Nvidia deutlich höher gewichtet als Rheinmetall. 46 Aktien stecken derzeit im Depot, darunter Cash Cows wie Amazon, Alphabet oder Apple. "Seit Jahresbeginn sind wir bei 11,7 % Rendite. Unter den großen Gewinnern: Applied Materials, Roche, Taiwan Semiconductor, Equinor, United Utilities." Unter den Kauf- und Aufstockungskandidaten befinden sich Hitachi, Aurubis, Siemens und NXP Semiconductors. "Mich reizt das Thema Robotik. Aurubis ist ein deutscher Top Player in der Kupferindustrie. Bei Siemens mache ich mir überhaupt keine Sorgen. NXP ist ein Philips-Spin-Off sowie eine Top-Aktie mit relativ moderater Bewertung." LS9MXG wikifolio Qualitätsaktien aktiv DE000LS9MXG9

Solo travel or group travel: is one really better for seeing Japan? The Krewe welcomes Ryotaro Sakurai back to the podcast to break down the pros and cons of both, from flexibility and independence to planning, convenience, and shared experiences. Plus, Ryotaro gives us a look at Umami Travel, the group tour company he's building and why he thinks there's room for a different kind of Japan travel experience. ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Links for Ryotaro & Umami Travel ------ Ryotaro's Japan YouTube Channel Ryotaro on IG Umami Travel Website Kessennuma Knitting INEtoAGAVE (Craft Sake) ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

What do you do when a global financial crisis derails your carefully planned legal career before it even begins? Rather than hold out for the law firm role she wanted, Nancy Miyaji threw herself into the deep end and built her career anyway. With a superpower of bridging perspectives, Nancy's story is one of resilience, clarity of purpose that shows another successful pathway in law, whatever is happening around you. If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we'd love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we'd love it if you would leave us a message here!In this episode you'll hear:How arriving in Japan at age 11 without a word of Japanese forged a resilience that still her todayChoosing a startup role during the global financial crisis when no law firm jobs were availableThe valuable lessons she learned in the deep end working on an IPO and M&A at a start up companyThe reframe she would give her younger self: stop asking "why me?" and start asking this insteadHer favourite beverage and other fun facts About NancyNancy Miyaji is a corporate lawyer whose work focuses on cross-border transactions, compliance, and corporate matters in Japan and internationally.She is a Foreign Lawyer at Iwata Godo and a member of the New York Bar. Her experience spans both private practice and global companies, including Simmons & Simmons and Hitachi, where she has worked on cross-border transactions, compliance, and corporate matters.Rather than following a conventional legal career path, Nancy has built a career across private practice and in-house environments, developing her own perspective on professional growth and success.She holds an LL.B. from Kyushu University and an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and works in Japanese, English, and Chinese.Outside of work, Nancy enjoys pushing her limits. She played competitive table tennis in her youth and later led her high school mountaineering club. She has since climbed Mount Fuji and completed the Saitama Marathon. She is also passionate about volunteer work supporting foreign women in Japan to achieve success on their own terms.Connect with NancyWebsite: https://www.iwatagodo.com/english/lawyers/miyaji_nancy.html LinksSeattle's Best Coffee: https://www.jrff.co.jp/seabest/ Connect with Catherine LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/oconnellcatherine/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawyeronair

In this episode, we speak with Julian Lighton, who reflects on a career driven by curiosity, from law and consulting to leadership, entrepreneurship and executive coaching. Drawing on his book Navigating Your Next, he shares how major career transitions shaped his perspective on decision-making, identity and success, why clarity starts with knowing what you truly want, and how leaders can cut through complexity. Julian discusses the importance of developing people-centric leadership through learning and failure, before sharing the advice he would give his younger self.Julian Lighton is a Silicon Valley-based executive coach, strategist and author. Over a career spanning law, consulting and senior leadership, he held strategy and executive roles at McKinsey, Cisco and Hitachi before becoming an executive coach. He is the author of Navigating Your Next, a practical guide to helping professionals navigate career transitions, define success on their own terms, make better career decisions and approach what's next with greater clarity.Links from the episode: Julian's websiteJulian's book on Amazon.ukJulian's book Navigating Your Next on WaterstonesJulian's LinkedIn ProfileThanks for listening!Visit our homepage at https://disrupt-your-career.comIf you like the podcast, please take a moment to rate it and leave a review in Apple Podcast

A consortium mainly comprising Japan's Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. on Thursday held a ceremony to mark the first shipment of a new high-speed train to Taiwan.

Most acquisitions look strong on paper. The real challenge begins after the deal closes.In this episode of The Authority Company Podcast, Joe Pardavila sits down with J. Michael Coffey, author of G.A.L.E. Force: Navigating Strategy, Culture, and Value Creation in Modern M&A, to explore why so many mergers and acquisitions fail to meet expectations, and why culture often becomes the biggest obstacle after closing.Michael shares lessons from helping H.E. Parts acquire 14 companies, expand into seven countries, and eventually become part of Hitachi. He explains the principle behind his G.A.L.E. Force framework: global aim, local execution.Joe and Michael discuss the evolution of private equity, the rise of growth through acquisition, the hidden complexity of post-merger integration, and why financial projections often miss the human realities that determine whether a deal succeeds.Michael also shares stories from Chile, global mining operations, competing against industry giants like Caterpillar and Komatsu, and what it feels like to move from acquirer to acquiree.If you're a CEO, founder, investor, private equity leader, operator, or executive involved in M&A, this conversation offers a practical look at how companies can create lasting value after the deal is done.Chapters00:00 Intro00:43 Buffalo Bills vs. Jets01:00 How private equity changed M&A02:55 Why the book opens in Chile03:10 Building H.E. Parts as a David vs. Goliath story04:13 Why mining operations never stop05:10 Why global customers needed H.E. Parts in multiple markets06:21 Expanding into Australia, Chile, Peru, Canada, the U.S., and Zambia07:00 Competing against OEM giants like Caterpillar and Komatsu08:24 The power of being small and agile08:53 Is mining still the Wild West?10:07 Centralized ownership vs. decentralized operations10:26 What “global aim, local execution” means12:49 Why customers wanted an alternative solution13:44 Why culture is the nemesis of modern M&A14:02 How global and local cultures clash after acquisitions15:37 Why you can't force one culture on another16:28 Innovation as a shared cultural principle18:00 The Chile soccer story19:23 Turning local culture into a business advantage20:47 Why culture gets ignored during dealmaking21:36 Why culture ranks low before close and first after close23:04 Why many deals miss their financial goals23:29 The “hockey stick” problem in projections25:00 How G.A.L.E. Force improves post-close success26:16 Moving from acquirer to acquiree26:43 Why leaving H.E. Parts was emotionally difficult28:24 When founders struggle with the decision to sell29:39 Where to find G.A.L.E. Force29:51 Closing

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Most agency founders built their business to buy back their time — then woke up to find the business owns them instead. Jason Swenk built and sold a seven-figure agency that served AT&T, Hitachi, and LegalZoom. Today he advises 7- and 8-figure agency owners through Agency Mastery, hosts the Smart Agency Masterclass podcast, and just released his book Operator to Owner. He's seen this trap from every angle. In this episode, Jason shares the 5-Stage Founder Evolution framework that changes everything: Operator → Manager → Architect → CEO → Owner. These aren't revenue milestones. They're deliberate identity shifts that progressively remove the founder from daily operations — until the business can run without them. What you'll learn in this episode: The 5 founder identity stages every agency owner must move through to achieve true business freedom Why chasing revenue without evolving your identity keeps you trapped — even at $10M How to build a business that runs without you so you can own it instead of being owned by it Key quote: "You could be a $10 million agency and be completely miserable and unprofitable and working all the time. I'd rather be a million dollar agency working 20 hours a week that I really enjoy life." — Jason Swenk If your agency story feels fragmented — across your website, pitches, and team — visit storycyclegenie.ai for a free Brand Story Grade and find out what it's costing you. Connect with Jason Swenk: Agency Mastery: agencymastery.com Smart Agency Masterclass Podcast: jasonswenk.com Book: Operator to Owner Subscribe to Business of Story for weekly conversations that help leaders, entrepreneurs, and communicators use the science of story to win more business and live more meaningful lives.

In 1803, fishermen on Japan's Hitachi coast spotted something round and unfamiliar drifting offshore. They hauled the hollow vessel onto the beach—and discovered a mysterious young woman inside. Step into the story as one of those fishermen. Examine the vessel's clouded windows and iron-plated hull, hear the woman speak in a language no one understands, and watch as she fiercely protects a box she refuses to surrender. Who was she, what was hidden inside—and why did the villagers send her back out to sea? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is a wild day on the Energy News Beat Stand Up.Make no mistake, time will tell if the Strait of Hormuz is open, but do not underestimate the importance that the Bank of London and Lloyds of London play in opening the Strait of Hormuz. They want the war to continue, and are not happy if the war ends.As we hit Operational Bottoms for oil storage in the US it is a real problem, and President Trump ran out of time. I think that he has a plan and will get it done, but it will be done after the midterms.President Trump at the G7 has had some major impacts on the news cycle.1. Cushing, Oklahoma Oil Storage Crisis (Top Story)The podcast opens with the critical issue that Cushing—the "pipeline crossroads of the world"—has hit operational tank bottoms with only ~21.64 million barrels of crude. This is a major concern because refineries may not be able to access the oil they need, and the situation could spike oil prices. Cushing is the primary delivery and pricing point for WTI (West Texas Intermediate) futures.2. Global Oil Market Dynamics & Geopolitical TensionsStrait of Hormuz concerns: 20% of the world's oil passes through this strait, creating vulnerability to disruptionsIran's actions: Iran has pulled the trigger on controlling the strait, prompting neighboring Gulf states to seek alternative routesTanker movements: Iranian super tankers are slipping through blockades, with 6 million barrels already moved (likely to China)3. UAE's Strategic Independence from Strait of HormuzThe UAE is accelerating plans to bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely by expanding pipelines from 1.7 to over 5 million barrels per day, with potential floating LNG terminals planned for the Gulf of Oman.4. Alternative Pipeline InfrastructureSaudi Arabia's east-west pipeline to the Red Sea (pumping ~7 million barrels/day)Plans to bypass the Suez Canal through the MediterraneanIraq's threat to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, forcing reliance on pipelines5. Qatar's LNG Export RestartQatar is preparing to restart LNG exports with tankers already positioned, which is critical for Europe's natural gas supply (especially as they lag behind in summer refilling).6. U.S. Power Grid CrisisSevere equipment shortage with power transformer lead times reaching 128 weeks (2.5 years)Some special orders taking up to 4 yearsNew transformer facilities being built (Hitachi in Virginia by 2028, Siemens in North Carolina)Recommendation for homeowners to invest in solar panels and off-grid capabilities7. California Energy & Infrastructure ProblemsRefinery closures: Only 7 refineries remain in California; losing one would spike gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel pricesHigh-speed rail project: Ballooned from $9.9 billion to $231 billion with companies relocating to Morocco due to regulatory burdenPort congestion: LA and Long Beach ports handling massive container volumes8. Oil Price ForecastsMorgan Stanley lowered Brent crude forecasts to $90 in Q3 and $80 in Q4Current prices: WTI at ~$76-77, Brent at ~$79.58, Natural gas at $3.169. AI & Grid InfrastructureDiscussion of potential AI bubble concerns and the need for grid validation tools before implementation.10. U.S. Reshoring & Industrial RecoveryThe Trump administration is working to reverse decades of intentional deindustrialization, though the process faces challenges.The podcast emphasizes that energy markets are at critical junctures with geopolitical tensions, infrastructure constraints, and strategic repositioning reshaping global oil and gas flows.1.Cushing, Oklahoma Oil Storage Hits Tank Bottom: Implications for Energy Markets, Consumers, and Investors2.Pain at the Pump: Can It Heal or Curse the Trump Administration?3.UAE is moving on plans to never use the Strait of Hormuz4.Qatar Returns Tankers in Preparation for Restarting LNG Exports5.Iranian Supertanker Slips Out of Chabahar, Crossing US Blockade as Tehran Moves Oil Ahead of Friday Deal Approvals6.Qatar Plans to Rapidly Restart LNG Output After Hormuz Opens – How will this impact Europe?7.Banks Slash Oil Price Forecasts After U.S.-Iran Breakthrough8.US Grid Equipment Shortage Deepens Impacting Repairs and New Installations9.Another California refinery closure will threaten national and global economies10.California High-Speed Rail project soars to $231 Billion – “We left to work in Morocco as it is a better work enviornment”Check out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/

Der Technologiekonzern Hitachi Energy hat Otelfingen im Furttal zu seinem Hauptsitz erkoren und nicht das aargauische Wettingen. Beide warben lange für das Unternehmen. Für das kleine Otelfingen ist es ein riesiger Coup: Langfristig will Hitachi dort bis zu 3000 Arbeitsplätze schaffen. Weitere Themen: - Abstimmungsflut in der Stadt Zürich: Gleich 20 Vorlagen kommen an die Urne. - Kantonspolizei Zürich verhaftet in Grüt bei Wetzikon vier Jugendliche nach Angriff auf 14-Jährigen. - Zürcher Obergericht verurteilt erstmals Raser aufgrund von Handy-Daten. - Stadt Zürich muss Massnahmen ausarbeiten für Hitzeminderung an Schulen. - Zürcher Regierung ist gegen Kompost-Bestattung. - Ausstellung «Bankenland Schweiz» im Zürcher Landesmuseum. - Windmessungen im Kanton Zürich: Ein Augenschein vor Ort.

Stuck on the entrepreneurial roller coaster where sales spike, operations crash, and you're still working 80-hour weeks? In this episode, Jason Swenk breaks down the stages from operator to owner and shows how to build a business that can finally run without you.Jason Swenk is a prominent digital agency coach, keynote speaker, and author of Operator to Owner. After launching a digital agency in 1999 and scaling it into a multimillion-dollar firm serving brands like AT&T, Hitachi, and LegalZoom, he successfully sold the company in 2011. Drawing from his experience, Jason founded Agency Mastery and created the "Founder Evolution Framework," a five-stage roadmap designed to help seven- and eight-figure founders transition from hands-on operators to true owners. Today, he also hosts the Smart Agency Masterclass Podcast, helping entrepreneurs build scalable agencies that run seamlessly without them.Connect with Jason Swenk:Website: https://operatortoownerevolution.com/ Instagram: instagram.com/jswenk YouTube: youtube.com/jasonswenk TurnKey Podcast Productions Important Links:Guest to Gold Video Series: www.TurnkeyPodcast.com/gold The Ultimate Podcast Launch Formula- www.TurnkeyPodcast.com/UPLFplusFREE workshop on how to "Be A Great Guest."Free E-Book 5 Ways to Make Money Podcasting at www.Turnkeypodcast.com/gift Ready to earn 6-figures with your podcast? See if you've got what it takes at TurnkeyPodcast.com/quizSales Training for Podcasters: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-training-for-podcasters/id1540644376Nice Guys on Business: http://www.niceguysonbusiness.com/subscribe/The Turnkey Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turnkey-podcast/id1485077152

Transformar una organización es una cosa. Hacerlo a gran escala, en múltiples plantas, países y culturas, es otra conversación completamente diferente.En este episodio Ana María Quintanilla recibe a Alberto Piñones, líder con una trayectoria en la industria manufacturera automotriz que incluye Grupo Industrial Saltillo, Hitachi y LEAR, donde fue VP de Operaciones con presencia en América, Europa y Asia, liderando 18 plantas y más de 15,000 empleados. Hoy fundador y presidente del Cluster Automotriz en Coahuila y miembro del Consejo de la Industria Nacional de Autopartes.Una conversación sin filtros sobre lo que realmente se necesita para mover organizaciones enteras:Cómo fue su carrera y lo que la industria le enseñó sobre el cambioCómo se inicia un proceso de transformación a gran escalaQué retos encuentra un líder al llegar a una organización que necesita cambiarQué recomienda a los líderes que quieren transformar su organización hoy

Julian Lighton, executive coach, strategic consultant, board advisor, and author of the book Navigating Your Next, joins me on this episode. Julian is one of Silicon Valley's leading strategy practitioners and business coaches, helping individuals and organizations navigate what's next. He has served as Chief Strategy Officer at four billion-dollar public companies, a General Manager of a $300M+ business, an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, and a senior executive at Cisco and Hitachi. In this conversation, we explore why so many successful people struggle to answer one simple but powerful question: What do I actually want next?

Machtkampf beim FC St. Gallen, Wettingen und Würenlos sind sich uneinig über die Ansiedlung von Hitachi, Giro d'Italia im Tessin, Renntag in der Offenen Rennbahn in Zürich

Bob Bengal worked for Hitachi for many years as their “in house” magician. That meant that he had all the benefits like insurance, vacation, 401-K, etc. He was responsible not only for performing at their trade show booths around the world, but also for playing golf with their premiere customers and keeping them happy. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize In this week's chat with Bob, he talks about how he got the job with Hitachi and why he left it. He also talks about and shares performing tips for “behind the trade show booth” to help attract crowds at the booth. You can find the trick we talked about in this week's episode, “Fusillade” (multiple card location) on Doc Eason's website as a DVD at: https://doceason.com/product/fusillade-the-dvd/ The original book is out of print but available for about a hundred bucks on Amazon or eBay. The Dream Job Scott Wells with Bob Bengel Download Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. You can download or listen to the podcast through Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly Stitcher) by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here. If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here. Enter the Drawing for a Chance to Win a Copy of "Know Brainer" by Michael Breggar Sign up with your name and email address for a chance to win a FREE copy of one of these books. There will be a total of SIX copies awarded. First Name Last Name Email Address enter now! Please only submit your name and email address once. You will be automatically entered into the contest for a chance to win one of two books. This is a hard copy of a book published by H&R Magic Books that will be mailed postpaid by Charlie Randall. This is open to all who can legally enter; however, any winners who reside outside the U.S. must agree to pay for foreign shipping.We respect your privacy. We will only share your email address with the author. Thank you for entering the drawing. There will be six winners in this drawing. If your name is randomly selected, then you will be notified on how to order your book from Michael Breggar. If you reside outside of the U.S., then you will be notified how much you will owe for foreign shipping. Good luck!

In this episode, Swati Trehan, co-founder of Ema, breaks down what AI agents actually are, how “AI employees” work inside Fortune 500 companies, and why the future of enterprise software may look nothing like today's SaaS tools. Swati explains how Ema's platform orchestrates teams of AI agents that can autonomously handle HR, IT, finance, onboarding, payroll, employee support, and customer service workflows across massive organizations. She also reveals how companies like Hitachi are already deploying AI employees at scale, why traditional automation failed, and how enterprise AI is evolving beyond simple copilots into fully agentic systems. The conversation dives deep into the technical infrastructure behind agents, including memory, orchestration layers, knowledge graphs, model routing, and why Ema uses multiple LLMs simultaneously to optimize for cost, latency, and accuracy. Swati also shares why Excel remains one of AI's hardest unsolved problems, why video is the next frontier for agents, and how the “SaaS apocalypse” is reshaping software businesses. If you've been hearing terms like agents, autonomous workflows, AI employees, copilots, or agentic AI, this is one of the clearest explanations of where the technology is heading and what it means for the future of work. Key Topics Covered: What AI agents actually are (explained simply) The difference between copilots, agents, and AI employees Why traditional automation and RPA failed How Fortune 500 companies are deploying AI employees today Why HR is becoming the entry point for enterprise AI adoption How Ema orchestrates teams of agents across workflows The technical stack behind enterprise AI agents Why memory, context, and permissions are critical for agents The “mixture of experts” approach using multiple LLMs at once Why Excel remains surprisingly difficult for AI systems The next frontier: AI-generated video workflows The rise of the “SaaS apocalypse” Why solving business problems matters more than building features How AI is changing the way founders and engineers think Episode Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - What AI agents actually are 03:01 - The difference between agents and AI employees 03:25 - Liam's “light bulb” moment using agents 04:06 - Swati's realization that HR work could be automated 05:57 - The founding story behind Ema 08:20 - Why AI unlocks human creativity 09:20 - The technical infrastructure behind AI agents 12:12 - How Ema routes tasks across multiple LLMs 13:49 - Memory, context, and knowledge graphs for agents 16:35 - The biggest unsolved problems in AI agents 18:32 - Why video is the next frontier for AI 20:05 - Why Excel is still difficult for AI systems 21:00 - Who Ema's ideal customers are 23:27 - Why HR teams are leading enterprise AI adoption 24:25 - How enterprise AI implementation actually works 26:13 - Why modular agents matter 28:35 - What the employee experience looks like with AI agents 30:24 - Live demo of Ema's AI employee system 36:58 - How companies roll out AI agents internally 39:31 - Building AI employees in real time 44:01 - Ema's competitive moat in the AI race 47:46 - The “SaaS apocalypse” and future-proofing AI businesses 49:16 - Why Ema focused on product over hype 52:12 - How AI changed the way Swati thinks 55:07 - Why rapid problem-solving matters more than ever 57:27 - Living in London while building a global AI company 59:16 - Why Swati does what she does Swati Trehan's Socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swati-trehan/ Ema: https://www.ema.co Partner Links Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe Join the community: https://www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Howard Penrose of MotorDoc joins to discuss current signature analysis, uptower circulating currents wrecking main bearings, and full drivetrain scans in minutes. Reach out at info@motordoc.com or on LinkedIn. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Howard Penrose: [00:00:00] Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining light on wind energy’s brightest innovators. This is the progress powering tomorrow. Allen Hall: Howard, welcome back to the program.  Howard Penrose: Hey, thanks for having me.  Allen Hall: It’s about time everybody realizes what motorDoc can do. There’s so much technology, and I’ve been watching- Yeah … your Chaos and Caffeine podcast on Saturday morning, which are full of really, really good information about the motorDoc as a company, all the things you’re doing out in the field, and how you’re solving real-world problems, not imaginary ones- Yeah real-world problems. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and  Howard Penrose: whatever annoys me that week. Exactly. And, and whatever great coffee I’m trying out. Yes. Except for a few. We’ve had the ReliaSquatch down our- Yes … um, a couple of times. Uh, yeah, no, I, I enjoy it, and we gotta get you on there sometime. I don’t do- I, it- … a lot of interviews other than an AI character we put in. Allen Hall: It’s a very interesting show because you’re [00:01:00] getting a little bit of comedy and humor and s- Yeah … and a, and a coffee review, which is very helpful because I’ve tried some of the coffees that you have reviewed, that you’ve given the thumbs up to. But if you’re operating wind turbines and you’re trying to understand what’s happening on the drivetrain side, on the generator, everything out to the blades even, main bearings, gearboxes- Yeah all those rotating heavy, expensive parts, there’s a lot of ways to diagnose them-  Howard Penrose: Yes …  Allen Hall: that are sort of like we can look at a gear, we can look at a joint, we can look at roller bearings, whatever, but motorDoc has a way to quickly diagnose all of that chain in about- Yeah … 15 seconds.  Howard Penrose: Well, a little longer than 15 sec- more like a minute. A minute, okay. It feels like paint drying. But- Uh, in any case, yeah. Uh, uh, and, and what’s kind of funny is, um, back in the ’90s, uh, EPRI actually accidentally steered the technology away from its [00:02:00] core purpose, which was in 1985, um, NAVSEA, the US Navy, had done research on using current signature analysis for looking at pumps, fans, and compressors, the bearings, the belts, the components, all the rotating components using the motor as the sensor. Not too much different than we are now. I mean, mind you, we got better resolution now, we’ve got, uh, more powerful– I mean, I look at my data from the ’90s, and now it’s completely different. Um, and then Oak Ridge National Lab, same thing, bearings and gears in motor-operated valves. So in 2003, we were the first ones to apply electrical and current signature analysis to some wind turbines in the Mojave Desert. Wow. Yeah. So, um, nobody had tried it before. Everybody said it couldn’t be done. And, uh, that was a bad thing to say to me because- … it meant I was gonna get it [00:03:00] done. Right. At that time, um, we were looking at bearing issues and some blatant conditions with the, um, with the, uh, generator using a technology called Altest, ’cause I was with Altest at the time. And, uh, I had taken an EMPath software and blended it with a, a power analyzer, and they still have that tool to this day. I was using that technology all the way through 2015. 2016, I should say. And then- And then switched over to the pure EMPath, which was more of an engineering tool. And then more recently, in 2022, uh, made the decision to ha- to take all the work we’d done on over 6,000 turbines, uh, looking at how we were looking at the data and what we were doing on the industrial side, and took a, uh, created a current signature analyzer that would do one phase of current to analyze the entire powertrain. Allen Hall: So when you tell [00:04:00] operators you can do this magic, I think a lotta times they gotta go, “ Howard Penrose: What?” Oh, yeah, yeah. They don’t understand it because they’re used to vibration- Right … which is a point analysis system. Right.  Allen Hall: Vibration at this- Yeah … particular location. Yeah. One spot- Even if it’s- … or a couple  Howard Penrose: spots triax, they’re reading through material, up through a transducer. Hopefully, they put it above the bearing and not in the middle of the machine like everybody is now, because everybody’s trying to sell a sensor. Right. True. They’re not selling a- they’re not selling accuracy. They’re just selling sensors. Right. So, um- Yeah … you know, uh, I, I’ll, I’ll even talk about one of the companies here. We’ve got Onyx here, and they do it right. I mean, they’ve been doing it right pretty well because we’ve been doing some of the same towers they’re on, and we can match the data they’re getting. Oh, good. Right? Yeah. Uh, so but they get it in multiple spots, and there’s areas they can’t quite reach, so we’ll detect those areas as well. So it’s a good melding of two technologies.  Allen Hall: Oh, sure. Sure,  Howard Penrose: sure. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when you have electrical signature and you have vibration, but in [00:05:00] cases if you don’t have vibration, we’re a direct replacement.  Allen Hall: Because the generator- I  Howard Penrose: dare say that.  Allen Hall: Yeah. Whichever–  Howard Penrose: I dare say that, um, with- Well, the  Allen Hall: generator is acting as the sensor. Howard Penrose: The air gap. The air gap in the generator s- specifically, yes. Yeah. Generator, motor, transformer. Right.  Allen Hall: Yeah. So any of those- Mm-hmm … you can clamp onto, look at the current that’s on there. Everything that’s happening on the drivetrain, in the gearbox, out on the rotor- Yep … main bearings, all of that creates vibration. Creates a torque. T- a, a torque. Yeah. Yes, more exactly a torque. Yeah. And that’s seen in the generator, in the current coming out of the generator. Yes. So those signals, although minute, are still there. Yes. So if you clamp onto that current coming out of the generator, you’ll see the typical AC sine wave sitting there. But on top of that- Is all the information about how that drivetrain is doing  Howard Penrose: Absolutely, and everything else. Anything electrical comes through [00:06:00] that. So what you do is just like vibration, you do a spectral analysis. So every component has a frequency associated with it, just like vibration. It’s, as a matter of fact, I, I keep having to try to explain to people electrical and current signature analysis is no different than vibration analysis. It’s the same concept. We use the same tools. The signature looks just a little different. It’s a little noisier, um, but you need that noise in order to see everything. But we have a time waveform, and instead of, um, inches per second or millimeters per second, whatever, you know, uh, velocity, acceleration, and displacement, uh, what we end up with is decibels is the optimal method. You can look at straight voltage signatures at those points or, or current signatures, but the values are so small that you have to look at it from a logarithmic standpoint. Right. There are some benefits to it versus vibration, and there’s some things that aren’t as good as vibration. [00:07:00] So, you know, we, we do… You have to… Any technology is gonna have their strengths and weaknesses. Sure. So we will see everything all at once. Load doesn’t matter. Right. Speed doesn’t matter. It’s… Only reason speed matters is the location of the frequencies. Uh, so the higher the resolution, meaning the longer you take data, the less chance you have on a lightly lo- loaded machine of blending the peaks together. Right. Um, on the flip side, if I have two bearings turning at the exact same speed, I couldn’t tell you which one it is. Because they’re the same. Right.  Allen Hall: And the mechanical features of that bearing is w- what creates the signal that you’re measuring. Exactly. So if a bearing has five rollers versus 10, just imaginary thing. Yeah, yeah. Five rollers versus 10 has a different electrical signature, so you can determine, like, that bearing, that 10 roller bearing- Yes … has the problem, the five is fine. Yes. Yeah. That’s the magic, and I think people don’t translate the mechanical world into the electrical world. That that’s what’s [00:08:00]happening. They,  Howard Penrose: they don’t because, because what’s happening is they named it wrong.  Allen Hall: Yes.  Howard Penrose: A majority of our users are mechanical folks. Sure. Our vibration analysts and stuff like, ’cause they know how to look at the signatures. Right. Everybody tries to force it on their electrical people, and electrical people go, “We don’t know what this is.” Yeah. And it’s, it’s, it’s a matter of that training and, and, you know, in the electrical world, you’re not taught to look at that. Right. Yeah. It doesn’t matter. Mechanical world, you’re taught to look at that. So our intern, we were trying to bring in electrical engineering interns and found out that just wasn’t working. So last year, I brought in my first, uh, intern that’s, you know, he’s been with us now since I brought him in. Okay. Uh, and, uh, Amar, and, uh, you know, he’s helped us develop our vi- uh, vibration software to go along with it. Guess what? It’s the same thing. It’s the exact same sy- system Um, but we just take in a vibration signal instead. But he picked up on it immediately as a [00:09:00] third-year college student. I can take somebody with a decade as an electrical engineer with a PhD and they can’t figure it out.  Allen Hall: Well, because you’re, you’re taking real- Because it’s different. Yeah. It’s r- well, it’s real-world components-  Howard Penrose: Yeah …  Allen Hall: creating electrical signals. That’s hard- Well, you have- … to process for a lot of people. Yeah,  Howard Penrose: yeah. It’s  Allen Hall: just not  Howard Penrose: something that we do every day. But that’s… If they, i- if we sa- i- i- if you’re looking at vibration and you start looking at the sensor, it gets complicated too, ’cause guess what? It’s an electrical signal. Right. It’s, it is technically electrical signature now. It’s converting a  Allen Hall: mechanical signal- Right … into an electrical signal, which is what’s happening in the generator anyway. Yeah.  Howard Penrose: Whether it’s a piezoelectric cell that’s generating a small signal- Yeah … on top of a small waveform that you then take out, you demodulate, uh, or it’s, uh… So you take that carrier frequency out, or it’s a MEMS sensor, which is the same thing. You know, the, it just sees some slower s- It, it does more of a digital output. So you, you, you know, you have those, or you [00:10:00] have this, which just basically uses a component of the machine to, to, as its own sensor. There is one other difference between them, too, and, uh, I find this very useful when I’m going out troubleshooting something that other people can’t figure out, uh, ’cause we use all the technologies. So in this case, it would be, uh, the structural movement. Okay? So, so say I have a generator and there’s something wrong with the structure, and the whole machine is vibrating. So y- well, if I put a transducer on it, they might think that’s vibration or something else. We don’t see it. Right. We only see directly exactly what’s happening with the machine. Sure. So a lot of times when we go in to troubleshoot something that people have done vibration on and everything else, it’s been pro- a, a problem for them for years. We walk in, and all of a sudden we’re identifying whether it’s the machine or it’s something else right off the bat. Then we can take a look at the vibration data and [00:11:00] say, “Okay, it wasn’t the bearing or the bearing, um, structure. It was, you know, the mounting.” Right. It wasn’t  Allen Hall: fastened  Howard Penrose: down properly. Yeah,  Allen Hall: yeah. Right.  Howard Penrose: Go tighten that bolt. Right, exactly.  Allen Hall: Well, I mean, that’s the cheap answer. Yeah. I’d rather tighten a bolt than rip apart a motor or a generator- And, and- … every day …  Howard Penrose: and that’s the whole point. Now, there are other strengths that go with it. So for instance, on the powertrain of a wind turbine, I can tell you if you’ve lubricated the bearings correctly. Wow. Because part of what we do is we do take those electrical signatures, and we convert those over to watts. Watts is an energy conversion. Sure. So you see that as heat or some type of loss. So whatever, whatever’s being lost there is not being sent to the customer. To the outside. Right. Making money. So, um, if I’m taking a look at, say, a main bearing, I might see watts or kilowatts of losses. So you’re gonna have some ’cause you have friction, right? But when we see it increase on, say, a roller, [00:12:00] or the rollers, or, or the cage, that’s usually an indicator that I have a lubrication issue. Or if we only see it on the outer race, that means that they didn’t clear out all the old grease when they were lubricating it, ’cause the rollers then have to ride across it- Right … ’cause it dries up.  Allen Hall: Sure.  Howard Penrose: Uh, and will carry contaminants. So if you see that, you go up, clean it up, you’ll extend the life of the bearing. Absolutely you will. Without having to do a lot of work. So, uh, we, we look at our technology as more so early in the, in the stage of a condition. I don’t wanna call it failure, ’cause it’s not a failure. It’s something that’s mitigable. And I made that word up. You can mitigate it. Meaning you can go up and correct it and extend the life of that component. Sure. Uh, in gearboxes we’ll see problems with, um… Well, the, the one we’re talking about here a fair amount is all the circulating currents going on uptower. We did that research. The current signature analyzer we have is a direct result of doing wind turbine [00:13:00] research just on circulating currents uptower, ’cause we conferred everything over to, to sound at 48 kilohertz. And so that gives me a 24-kilohertz signal. That high-frequency stuff, which we’re researching in CGRE, and IEEE, and IEC, is called supra harmonics, which I– we talked about that before. Yes, we have. Yeah. And, uh, so when you start seeing that in the, in, in the current that’s circulating uptower because the ground that goes from the top of the tower down is for- DC lightning protection. And lightning protection, yeah. It’s not meant for, um- Not for  Allen Hall: high frequency- Yeah …  Howard Penrose: currents. Yeah. Uh, we, when we measured it, when we mapped out dozens of towers of all different manufacturers, we found that the impedance about halfway down the tower is where it ends. Sure. The, the resistance. And then the increased, uh, the high-frequency noise turns any of your shaft brushes into resistors. And at about 15 kilohertz, no current is [00:14:00]passing through them. It’s all passing the bearing, which becomes more conductive the higher the frequency. So with 60% of main bearings failing due to electrical currents, it’s actually currents that are circulating uptower. It’s not static. There is some static up there, but it’s not static. It’s coming from the controls, the, the generator, and everything else. Inverters,  Allen Hall: converters.  Howard Penrose: And we’ve seen up to 150 amps passing through a, through a bearing.  Allen Hall: So I– We run across a lot of operators who have been replacing main bearings, and they don’t know the reason why. Yeah. And I always say, “Well, call Howard at MotorDoc because I would almost bet you you have the f- high frequency running around uptower in the nacelle- And the next main bearing you put in there is gonna go the same way as the- Yeah … first one you put in there. Until you cut off that circulating current and then the cell, you’re just gonna continue with the problem. Then you haven’t eliminated the problem, you’re just fixing the result of that problem. Yes. But it takes- Yeah, you’re, you’re- How, [00:15:00] how, well, how long- You’re replacing  Howard Penrose: a fuse.  Allen Hall: Right, you’re replacing a fuse. Yeah. How long does it take you to s- to determine- An expensive fuse. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, ’cause you’re taking the rotor down. Yeah. Well, how, how fast can you determine if you have harmonics uptower that are gonna be causing you problems? 120 seconds.  Howard Penrose: Okay.  Allen Hall: So that’s the thing. I think a lot of- I mean,  Howard Penrose: that’s of the actual data collection time. So you clamp on uptower, uh, and then you can… Well, the way we have it set up now, you just tell it you wanna collect data every five s- uh, five minutes, and then you go downtower, let it collect its data, go back up, grab it. Um, it’s like… It’s huge. It’s this size. So, um, and then you connect- It plugs into a laptop. Yeah. Plug it into a laptop or any type of tablet. Um, it, it’s Windows now. I’m trying to get away from Windows. We’re gonna have Linux systems, uh, as well. Uh, and then you use that to, um, just collect that data, and then you press another button. Now it pops up, and it tells you if you’re in danger or not, [00:16:00] the amount of current passing through the bearing, and the frequencies all the way out.  Allen Hall: So the ideal is you’re gonna have this kit with you in the truck. Yeah. And as you see these problems pop up, you’re gonna clamp on uptower. Yep. You’re gonna measure these circulating currents, and you’re gonna know immediately if you have another mechanical issue, a, a lubrication issue- Oh, yeah. It’ll look at- … some kind of alignment issue, or- You’ll get all  Howard Penrose: of this information at once. So you- Right … if you go on the power side. So certain turbines, like anything that has the transformer downtower, you don’t have to climb. Right. GE. I mean, I don’t climb. So, uh, uh, you know, th- and that was part of the, the concept behind when we started down this path because I’ve been in the wind industry since 1997. So one of the things I always saw was, and, and we talked about even, you know, here when it was called AWEA, and we were talking always on the health and safety side about wearing out the technicians. Um, so we discovered that, you know, what was it? Almost 60% of the [00:17:00] turbines you didn’t have to climb. Right. Oh, yeah. And even the ones you do, you go up, you set it up, and it’ll tell you where you need to focus. The other thing in the powertrain, let alone the generator, when we do a sweep of a site– Now, if we do a straight electrical signature analysis, I’d term that one as a technician’s tool. Sure. That’s more of an engineer’s tool. Uh, a lot more data, a lot harder to set up. But even though I’m saying harder to set up, it’s still pretty easy. It’s still minutes. Right. Yeah. Most technicians will collect data with, like, a couple hours worth of training. Yeah. You g- You basically gather that data, and if you’re getting a site, so we’ll go out– I love going out in the field. So we’ll go out in the field, especially if it’s a tower we don’t have to climb I’ll knock out, uh, well, let’s just say I’ll, I’ll, I’ll name one. Say a GE 1.6. I’ll knock out one of those every eight to 11 minutes, depending on how you get to the tower.  Allen Hall: So that’s a full diagnosis of drivetrain- Yeah … plus anything odd happening- Yep with circulating currents and all that [00:18:00] can- Oh, no, no. Circulating- Or just- … current, that’s a- That’s a separate thing at tower … separate study that- Okay … you have to do that uptower. But anything, anything drivetrain-wise, you can be in and out- Yeah … in a couple of minutes. Yep. Okay. So there’s a lot of operators that have end-of-warranties coming up, right? Yes. There’s been a lot of developments, so they’re kind of running into the end-of-warranty, and they don’t know the health status of their drivetrain. Same thing for a lot of operators that are in- Yep … full service agreements, and they’re questioning whether they’re getting their money’s worth or not. Yes. I always say, “Call Howard at Motordoc. You guys can have a whole site survey done maybe in a couple of days, and you will know all the problems that are on site for the lowest price ever”. Yeah. It’s crazy how fast you can do it and how accurate it is. I talk to operators that use your system, so I hear you. Yeah. Your podcast, listen to your podcast, I’m calling your customers to find out what they say, and they love it. Oh, yeah. They can’t believe how accurate it is. Yeah. Well, the thing about that is we as an industry need to make sure that our turbines are operating at [00:19:00] maximum efficiency. Yep. And if a simple tool like the Motordoc EMPath system exists, we need to get customers, operators in line to start doing it worldwide. Australia- Oh … Europe-  Howard Penrose: Yeah. We- … Canada. Australia, we’re trying to get into, but right now we even have OEMs using it through North- That’s good … and South America, Asia. Good. Uh, Middle East, um, and, uh, and some of Europe. Good. So it’s, it’s, it’s really taking off. Uh, I’d say probably our biggest market right now is Brazil. Sure. They’re going crazy. Well, the, the turbines are- They’re having a lot of problems. Yeah.  Allen Hall: Right. And the, well, those turbines have a h- high usage, right? So because- Oh, yeah … the winds are so good, they’re operating at, like, capacity factor is above 50%. Yes. It’s insane. Yeah. So there’s a lot of wear and tear. There’s no downtime for those turbines.  Howard Penrose: Yeah. Well, and, and people think it’s all the starting and stopping. It’s not. No. It’s a grid-related issue. So we have- Sure … we have a low frequency. And you know some of the stuff I volun- I, I’m, I’ve been volunteered for- [00:20:00] Yeah … uh, including the CIGRE thing. Um, so I get to sit in the grid code committees for IEEE and put my, and our input into that, uh, and kind of watch the back of the IBR industry, right? Mm-hmm. ‘Cause there’s a definitely bias against our industry. Um, and I also, uh, get to hear what’s going on in the grid side of things from CIGRE worldwide, and it’s all very similar, and it has to do with low-frequency oscillating currents- Yes … called subsynchronous currents- Yes … which are low enough not to damage large synchronous machines. And they thought, and there’s books written on this, by the way, multiple books written on wind turbine impact- Uh, and they’re seeing now, um… Well, we detected it first, along with Timken. Hank, uh, and, and I went out to a site, and we detected for the first time, because of how they wanna do the testing and where the site was located, we saw the oscillating torque [00:21:00] in the air gap, ’cause that’s one of the things the technology does. It actually measures the torque, air gap torque. Sure. So we were watching the oscillating torque as a tower started up. And so we did, we went through the rest of that site looking at the same stuff in the same way. It increased our time and data collection, and time on site. But then we started looking for it at other sites, and going to pass data because I don’t have to go back and retake data. Right. And we’re like, “Oh my God. It’s everywhere.” 16 hertz, 21 hertz, and 50 hertz. And we found a paper that specifically identified that as the sub synchronous frequencies for 60 hertz. So we know what they are also for 50 hertz. Once we identified that and we saw how much the torsi- torque was oscillating, we worked with Shermco, who got us some information on Y-rings that were failing. Yeah. And they were all failing… When the metallurgy was done, they were all failing from fatigue. And you’re like, fatigue how? What’s fatiguing these connections? [00:22:00] Well, the fatigue is that air gap torque- Exactly … because you’re basically causing the, the, everything to oscillate a little bit, and that causes the windings to move slightly. It’s a living,  Allen Hall: breathing machine-  Howard Penrose: Exactly … this generator  Allen Hall: is.  Howard Penrose: Yeah.  Allen Hall: It’s not  Howard Penrose: static. It’s definitely not sta- no electric machine is static. No. Even a transformer’s not static. Right.  Allen Hall: So- There’s a little  Howard Penrose: bit of wiggle going on there all the time All the time. And it’s minute, so it takes a long time. Right. And what, uh, uh, everybody… Well, first people thought it was a particular manufacturer, which it wasn’t. Turned out every defig’s failing the same way. Sure. You’re fatiguing it. Yeah. Every bearing is failing the same way, even in the gearbox, main bearings, and everything else. Right. All of these conditions are happening across all the OEMs, but they’re not allowed to talk. Well, this is, this is the thing that  Allen Hall: I like watching your podcast.  Howard Penrose: Yeah.  Allen Hall: The Chaos and Caffeine. It comes out Saturday mornings. It’s on YouTube. If you haven’t- Yeah … clicked into it, you should click into it  Howard Penrose: because a lot of these issues are discussed there. It’s definitely, um… [00:23:00] Let’s just say I’ll speak Navy quite a bit. Allen Hall: It’s a great podcast, and I think what you’re doing with the EMPath system- Yes … at motor dock is really a game changer. Yeah. I’m talking to everybody, all the operators I know. I keep telling them to call you and to try the system out because it’s so inexpensive and it does the work quickly and efficiently, and it’s been proven. There’s no messing- Oh, yeah … around when you’re talking to MotorDoc. I…  Howard Penrose: Somebody dared tell me that there’s no standard for it. There’s ISO standards for it. Yes. There’s IEEE 1415- Yes … which I chair. Uh, and there’s other standards coming out- This is- … associated with it. And there’s a document that I also chair for Sea Gray- Called A178, which is the practical application of the technology. So it’s well-documented. There are traceable standards for it. I need more  Allen Hall: operators to call you- Yeah … and to talk to you and get systems in the back of the trucks that they can use to check out the health of their gear boxes and their drive trains and their generators. How [00:24:00] do they do that? Where do they go? Where, where’s, what’s- Well- … the first place they should look for?  Howard Penrose: Uh, info@motordoc.com. Okay. I get all, I get all of those as well, so do my people. Um, or, uh, LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s really good.  Allen Hall: Look up anything. Yeah.  Howard Penrose: Yeah, yeah. So, so either the company at Motordoc, or, uh, I’m, I sh- I’ll show up either searching for my name or, uh, linkedin.com/in/motordoc. Come straight to me ’cause I’ve been in, on LinkedIn forever, so- Right, just- … I got to do that … look up  Allen Hall: Howard Penrose, P-E-N-R-O-S-E. Yep. Or go to motordoc.com is- Yep, motordoc.com … the website address.  Howard Penrose: Yep. There’s a lot of great information there. And we have partners, and we have people. We’re growing the company. You know, talk to me. I, I’ll- Yes … I like answering the phone and talking. It’s, it’s a thing. My people go, “Can we answer the phone one?” No. Um, but, but yeah, we, we, y- when you call us, you’re not just dealing with a single person. Right. The Motordoc is far more expansive. Right now, we [00:25:00] just got our partnership with, uh, Hitachi and, and Juliet- Yeah, that’s great and stuff like that. Uh, we’re helping them with certain things. Uh, we’re partnered with some of the big OEMs, almost all of them, um, you know, helping identify the issues, you know. And, and when users contact us, often they’ll tell us what’s going on, and we’ll, we can, uh, sometimes say, “Yeah, it’s this, and here’s how we prove it.” Allen Hall: Yeah. That’s the, that’s the beauty- Yeah … of calling Motordoc. So I need my operators that, that watch the show- Yeah … worldwide, go online, go on LinkedIn, get ahold of Howard, get ahold of Motordoc, and get started. Yep. Howard, thank you- And- … so much for being on the podcast. Yeah. This is fantastic. I love talking to you because- it’s, it’s like talking to, you know… Uh, no, really, it’s talking like someone who’s a real good industry expert, who’s been there a long time, and understands- Yeah … how this  [00:26:00] works.

TISS is a weekly podcast where Varun, Kautuk & Aadar discuss crazy "facts" they find on the internet. Come learn with them... or something like that.This week, the boys are talking about 'Unbelievable Origin Stories'To support TISS, check out our Instamojo: www.instamojo.com/@TISSOPFollow #TISS Shorts where we put out videos: https://bit.ly/3tUdLTCYou can also check out the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify and Google podcast!https://shorturl.at/hfQZXhttp://apple.co/3neTO62http://spoti.fi/3blYG79http://bit.ly/3oh0BxkCheck out the TISS Sub-Reddit: https://bit.ly/2IEi0QsCheck out the TISS Discord: / discord  Buy Varun Thakur's 420 Merch - http://bit.ly/2oDkhRVSubscribe To Our YT Channels:Varun - https://bit.ly/2HgGwqcAadar - https://bit.ly/37m49J2Kautuk - https://bit.ly/3jcpKGaNeville - https://bit.ly/2HfYlWyFollow Us on Instagram:Varun -   / varunthakur  Aadar -   / theaadarguy  Kautak -  / cowtuk  Neville -  / nevilleshahChapters:00:00 Kautuk's Ligament Tear 01:02 Dedicated “Segue-jeet” Ray 01:33 The Tear Story 06:32 Intro 07:03 Origin of Potholes 09:26 Bollywood Postmortem Tour 09:59 Lie Detector Inventor 12:34 Why Chainsaws Were Invented 15:32 Smoke Alarm Invention 16:40 Wireless Baby Stroller 21:13 Teddy Bear Origins 23:28 From Canvas to Jeans 27:34 Velcro Innovation 28:29 Vaseline Origins 29:10 Creating Braille 30:18 Padman & Pads 31:08 Mario & Mustaches 31:57 Accidental Inventions 33:37 Invention of Sandwiches 35:15 Weird Ketchup Inventions 38:25 Milind Soman's Swim Expedition 40:01 Microwave Discovery 44:15 Invention of AC 45:08 Printing Press Origins 48:13 Pringles Can Design 50:50 Potato Chips by Spite 51:44 €3 Award-Winning Wine 53:51 Hitachi's Accidental Blunder 56:04 Frisbee Origins 57:12 Viagra's Real Purpose 58:02 Evolution of Botox 01:00:17 Discovery of Boba 01:02:10 Origins of Famous Phrases 01:03:18 Sandal Soap Origins 01:04:21 Origin of Shampoo 01:04:40 “Buttering” Someone 01:05:02 “Cat Got Your Tongue?” 01:05:18 Parle-G During War 01:06:08 “The Whole 9 Yards” 01:06:57 Creation of Thums Up 01:08:16 Creation of Fanta 01:08:49 Why Hulk Is Green 01:09:54 Art & Technology 01:10:30 Evolution of Art 01:12:24 Evolution of Art (Contd.) 01:13:52 Why Flaws Are Memorable 01:15:37 Google's Big Mistake 01:16:07 Movie Color Differences 01:17:29 The Old Monk Phenomenon 01:19:14 Just Water 01:20:46 Engage & Comment Please 01:21:42 OutroEdit & Thumbnail - MetaFX Studio

Episode 179: Julian Lighton & his book, Navigating Your Next: Discover the Career You Want and the Path to Get ThereABOUT JULIANJulian Lighton is one of Silicon Valley's leading strategy practitioners and business coaches, helping individuals and organisations navigate what's next. He has more than 30 years' experience advising, hiring and developing talent as a senior operating executive, general manager, consultant and coach. Julian was a Chief Strategy Officer at four, billion-dollar revenue, public companies, a board director, and associate partner for McKinsey and a senior global sales and marketing executive at Fortune 100 companies Hitachi and Cisco. He holds a BA and MA in Law from Oxford University, a Masters-level in Negotiation from Harvard University, and is a Chartered Director by the Royal Institute of Directors. Julian is one of only four hundred coaches worldwide to be recognized as a senior professional coach at the individual and team level by both the ICF and EMCC.CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS• Julian's diverse career journey from law to tech to private equity• The role of curiosity in innovation and leadership• How resilience and failure have shaped Julian's career• The importance of focus, discipline, and storytelling in achieving goals• Leadership principles: responsibility, relationship, and service• The shift in corporate culture and leadership in the modern era• Practical advice for career navigation and self-actualization• Self-care, self-awareness, and balancing work with healthKey characteristics of effective leaders and collaboratorsThe MAIN QUESTION for you that comes out of my conversation with Julian is, What do you really take into account and consider when it's time to decide what comes next for you? FIND JULIAN• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianlighton1/• Website: https://www.julianlighton.com• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julian.lighton/• LinkedIn - Full Podcast Article:CHAPTERS00:00 - The Book Leads Podcast - Julian Lighton00:58 - Introduction & Bio05:15 - Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work?08:24 - How did your path into your career look like, and what did it look like up until now?56:03 - How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child?58:18 - What do you consider your superpower?01:01:06 - What does leadership mean to you?01:19:09 - Can you introduce us to the book we're discussing?01:39:35 - What's changed in you in the process of writing this book?01:42:25 - What book has inspired you?01:45:48 - What are you up to these days? (A way for guests to share and market their projects and work.)This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:Watch on YouTubeListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsRead About The Book Leads – Blog PostFor more great content, check out the catalog for my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!

This week Nick talks to Scott Lane Scott is the Founder and CEO of Speeki and serves as its Principal Auditor. He brings more than 25 years of experience in governance, compliance, and ESG risk, having built and scaled international businesses focused on helping organisations strengthen risk management and stakeholder trust.  After working for Sun Microsystems and Hitachi, Scott founded The Red Flag Group in 2006, where he served as CEO and Chairman. Under Scott's leadership, the company became a globally recognised expert in risk and compliance, advising many of the world's largest organisations. Scott exited the business in 2020 when The Red Flag Group became part of London Stock Exchange Group following its acquisition by Refinitiv. Nick and Scott discuss how audit and assurance capabilities have expanded from governance and compliance into broader ESG and sustainability reporting. They explore the growing need for independent verification of ESG claims, alongside the evolving global debate around ESG regulation, reporting, and governance standards. Book Choice Good To Great by Jim CollinsMusic ChoiceBruno Mars, FKA twigs, Nine Inch Nails, BIGBANG, Karol G & David GuettaThis content is issued by Zeus Capital Limited (“Zeus”) (Incorporated in England & Wales No. 4417845), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) for designated investment business, (Reg No. 224621) and is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange. This content is for information purposes only and neither the information contained, nor the opinions expressed within, constitute or are to be construed as an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or other instruments mentioned in it. Zeus shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damages, including lost profits arising in any way from the information contained in this material. This material is for the use of intended recipients only.

Surojit spent 14 years at Google building mobile ads into a $100B+ business and then took Coinbase public as Chief Product Officer in 2021. In early 2023, before "agent" was even a word in AI papers, he started Ema in stealth—betting on a future where teams of AI agents would replace the "human glue" inside Fortune 500s.In this episode, Surojit breaks down how a Hitachi deployment across 55,000 employees became Ema's true PMF moment, why he spent the first year obsessed with SOC 2, ISO 42001, and air-gapped architecture before chasing revenue, and why one client just cut their HR team from 1,000 people to 550 by automating 65,000 monthly job changes.Why You Should ListenWhy true PMF is when your average salesperson can sell the product without you in the room.How a single Hitachi deployment unlocked credibility for every Fortune 500 deal that followed.Why a cold email—not a warm intro—turned into Ema's largest partner today.How partnering with PwC and KPMG became a faster wedge into the C-suite than any conference.Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, AI agents, enterprise AI, AI employees, Fortune 500 sales, Surojit Chatterjee, Ema, agentic AI, enterprise softwareChapters00:00:00 Intro00:02:00 Hitachi Was the PMF Moment00:04:10 What Ema Actually Does00:11:48 From Coinbase to a Pre-ChatGPT Bet00:28:48 The Cold Email That Won a Top Partner00:30:52 Small Dinners Beat Massive Conferences00:36:11 The Moment of True Product Market FitSend me a message to let me know what you think!

"Leadership is really like leading by example." "I come in. I listen a lot." "Do what you say." "You need to gain the trust of the people and show that you actually care." "Everything can be trained." Wolfgang Bierer is the President of Endeavor SBC and a long-term Japan business builder whose career has moved across engineering, consulting, retail, fashion, medical devices, software, and interim executive leadership. Originally from Germany, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart and first came to Japan through a German government youth leader exchange program. That early exposure led to an internship at Hitachi Software Development Centre in Totsuka, which became a full-time role after he completed his master's thesis at Mercedes in Germany. At Hitachi, Bierer experienced Japanese corporate life from the inside, including living in a men's dormitory and working as one of the few foreigners in the organisation. He later moved into consulting, working with Swiss and German consulting firms and spending several years back in Germany, where he completed an executive MBA with the St. Gallen Business School. Regular assignments back to Japan eventually convinced him to return and build his own company. He founded Endeavor SBC after moving to Japan with his wife, two suitcases each, and €100,000 in savings. His first major consulting opportunity came through Adidas, where he helped rescue a troubled SAP project in Japan. From there, he built a reputation in performance-based consulting, inventory optimisation, process improvement, retail operations, and Japan market entry. Over time, he became involved in running, setting up, acquiring, or representing multiple companies, including German and European brands in software, fashion accessories, shoes, bags, and premium retail. Bierer's adaptability in Japan comes from his willingness to get close to the work itself. He has sold products in stores, reorganised warehouses, built back-office systems, negotiated with department stores, hired staff, secured medical device licensing, and acted as interim president for companies entering or restructuring in Japan. His leadership is defined by hands-on execution, listening, process discipline, cross-business synergies, and earning trust through action rather than title. Wolfgang Bierer's leadership story in Japan is not the conventional tale of an expatriate executive parachuted into a single subsidiary with a fixed playbook from headquarters. It is the story of a German engineer who entered Japan through curiosity, learned the operating reality of Japanese companies from the inside, and built a portfolio of businesses by combining process discipline, entrepreneurial risk-taking, and deep practical engagement with people. His first serious experience in Japan came through Hitachi, where he worked in software development and lived in a traditional men's dormitory. That early exposure gave him more than technical experience. It gave him a grounded understanding of hierarchy, group dynamics, implicit communication, endurance, and the daily operating rhythm of Japanese corporate life. Rather than observing Japan from the outside, he experienced the systems and expectations that shape behaviour inside Japanese organisations. Bierer's later move into consulting sharpened his ability to diagnose business processes. His work with Adidas in Japan, particularly around SAP and business process reform, became a launching point for Endeavor SBC. He developed a methodology centred on keeping systems standard wherever possible and changing the process rather than endlessly customising the software. That practical discipline reflects a key leadership question in Japan: how does a leader introduce change without creating unnecessary resistance? His answer is not to force transformation through slogans, but to make the process visible, measurable, and understandable. A recurring theme in his career is the difference between risk and uncertainty. Bierer accepts risk when he understands the process, the numbers, and the levers available to him. His performance-based consulting model, where compensation is tied to improved results, would seem risky to many executives. Yet for him, the uncertainty is reduced through data, inventory analysis, decision intelligence, and a clear view of waste. In industries such as fashion, sports, retail, and accessories, he sees inventory not as a static asset but as a source of hidden cost, operational drag, and strategic danger. His leadership style is highly hands-on. When entering a struggling company as interim president, he does not begin with distance, hierarchy, or command-and-control. He listens, studies the team, identifies cost drivers, and quickly looks for operational improvements. He believes leaders in Japan must be close enough to the work to understand it and close enough to the people to earn trust. This is where concepts such as nemawashi, consensus, and uncertainty avoidance become practical rather than theoretical. People need to see that the leader understands the business, respects the team, and will not abandon them when conditions become difficult. Technology matters in Bierer's world, but only when tied to process and decision quality. SAP, IT cost reduction, websites, digital workflows, checklists, and potentially tools such as digital twins all matter because they help leaders see the system. Yet technology cannot replace judgement, trust, or leadership presence. The leader still has to go to the warehouse, visit the store, meet the customer, and understand what is happening on the floor. Ultimately, Bierer's model of leadership in Japan is built on credibility through proximity. He leads by example, pays staff before himself, rewards contribution regardless of age, and expects people to go the extra mile because he does the same. His story shows that leadership in Japan is not about mastering every cultural term or speaking perfect Japanese. It is about building trust, learning the business deeply, communicating with care, and showing through action that people can believe what the leader says. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan is unique because trust is built through proximity, consistency, and careful attention to how people interpret instructions. Bierer's experience shows that Japanese teams often listen closely, weigh the leader's words carefully, and work hard to match expectations. This makes clarity essential. Leaders cannot rely on vague direction and assume the team will independently interpret the strategic intent in the same way as a Western organisation might. Japan's leadership environment is also shaped by consensus, nemawashi, ringi-sho thinking, and uncertainty avoidance. People often want to understand the process, reduce ambiguity, and confirm that the group is aligned before moving forward. Bierer's approach is to get close to the team, understand the operational detail, and build credibility by showing that he is not merely issuing instructions from above. For him, leadership in Japan requires showing care, being approachable, and proving competence through action. Why do global executives struggle? Global executives struggle when they assume that European or American leadership approaches will automatically work in Japan. Bierer notes that some international leaders become frustrated when teams do not operate in the way they expect. They may see hesitation or heavy checking as weakness, when in reality the team may be trying to interpret instructions carefully and avoid mistakes. Another struggle is distance. Executives who remain in an "ivory tower" or manage only from the top miss the operational detail that matters in Japan. Bierer argues that leaders need to sit with people, learn the business, and understand how work is actually done. Without that, they may misread the team, misdiagnose performance problems, and fail to gain trust. Is Japan truly risk-averse? Bierer's story suggests that Japan is often better understood as uncertainty-averse rather than simply risk-averse. Risk can be accepted when the process is clear, the data is strong, and people understand the decision pathway. In his own career, Bierer took significant risks: founding Endeavor SBC, accepting performance-based consulting, buying inventory, opening retail spaces, acting as interim president, and acquiring or representing brands in Japan. The difference is that he reduces uncertainty through analysis. He studies inventory, purchasing patterns, cost structures, and operational processes. This is decision intelligence in practice. Rather than gambling, he turns risk into a structured calculation. In Japan, this matters because teams and partners often need to see the logic, not just the ambition. What leadership style actually works? The leadership style that works for Bierer is hands-on, direct, fair, and close to the work. He describes leadership as leading by example. That means going to the warehouse, selling in the store, joining the team during busy periods, checking processes personally, and showing people that no task is beneath the leader. He also values listening. When he enters a company, he studies the team and the business before imposing change. He looks for people who understand his direction and can become part of his trusted core team. At the same time, he recognises that underperformance must be addressed. His approach combines patience, coaching, process clarity, and accountability. How can technology help? Technology helps when it improves visibility, discipline, and decision quality. Bierer's work with SAP, IT systems, websites, back-office processes, and cost reduction shows that technology can support leadership when it is connected to the business model. He is especially focused on standardising systems and improving processes rather than allowing unnecessary customisation or inflated costs. In a modern context, tools such as decision intelligence, digital twins, inventory analytics, and process dashboards could strengthen the same principles he already applies. They can help leaders simulate outcomes, identify waste, monitor cash flow, and understand operational bottlenecks. However, Bierer's example also shows that technology must not become a substitute for human closeness. Leaders still need to meet people, listen, and understand the floor-level reality. Does language proficiency matter? Language matters, but Bierer does not believe foreign executives should assume they can quickly master Japanese to the level required for nuance. His advice is to invest in someone who can act as a communication bridge. This person helps the leader communicate intent clearly and understand what is happening beneath the surface. The larger lesson is that communication is not only vocabulary. It is interpretation, expectation setting, cultural reading, and trust-building. Leaders need to know whether the team has truly understood the message, whether concerns are being hidden, and whether instructions are being interpreted too literally. Language support can reduce uncertainty and prevent misalignment. What's the ultimate leadership lesson? The ultimate leadership lesson from Bierer is that people trust what leaders consistently do, not what they claim. He pays staff even when he misses his own salary. He supports temporary workers during downturns. He rewards performance regardless of age. He gives young people responsibility and creates opportunities for those who may not fit traditional Japanese corporate environments. His leadership lesson is also practical: get close to the people, get close to the process, and do what is promised. In Japan, where trust, credibility, and consistency carry enormous weight, this approach gives leaders the foundation to make change possible. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows — The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews — which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan.

About Andrea Wanerstrand: Andrea Wanerstrand is a seasoned leadership strategist, executive coach, and founder of A3 Culture Lab, with over 25 years of experience inside global giants like Microsoft, Meta, T-Mobile, and Hitachi. She helps leaders shift from burnout to bold influence through her Mindset Maven Method and A3 philosophy: Authentic, Autonomous, and Accountable. Andrea has designed programs that have impacted leaders from more than 100 countries. She blends neuroscience, behavioral strategy, and sharp business insight to drive powerful cultural change. Her work enables organizations to build high-performing, human-centric workplaces where people truly thrive.   In this episode, Dean Newlund and Andrea Wanerstrand discuss: The critical difference between being nice and being kind in leadership How “nice” cultures create false harmony, passive-aggressive behavior, and broken trust The importance of authenticity, autonomy, and accountability in building high-performing teams Belonging vs. fitting in and how it impacts trust, engagement, and connection The shift toward human-centric leadership and its impact on engagement and workplace expectations   Key Takeaways: Prioritize kindness over niceness by having honest, constructive conversations that support growth and build trust. Foster authenticity, autonomy, and accountability to create consistent leadership and stronger team performance. Focus on belonging rather than fitting in to build genuine connections and reduce isolation within teams. Design team structures are intentionally created with clear roles, responsibilities, and collaboration models to avoid dysfunction and repeated reorg cycles.   "Nice is like icing on the top, whereas you can get the depth with true kindness.” — Andrea Wanerstrand   Connect with Andrea Wanerstrand:   Website: https://a3culturelab.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawanerstrand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreawanerstrand/     See Dean's TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I Connect with Dean:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkwWebsite: https://www.mfileadership.com/The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlundFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/Email: dean.newlund@mfileadership.comPhone: 1-800-926-7370 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Highlights 00:09 — Microsoft's global investments continue to grow. Latest news is the company plans to invest $10 billion into Japan over the next three years to build out AI infrastructure, improve cyber resilience, and train a million engineers and developers by 2030. 00:28 — Our key partnerships include internet infrastructure provider Secura Internet, whose share price rose over 20% following the announcement, and SoftBank, already a major player in the AI revolution. Now, thanks to Secura Internet's data infrastructure, the data used to develop various AI systems, including domestic large language models, will be processed in Japan. 00:57 — Now, in terms of training, Microsoft is also partnered with five other Japanese IT firms, including NTT Data Corp, NEC, Fujitsu, and Hitachi, to deliver this ambitious target. Now, the two-point focus here on both infrastructure and training is becoming a common strategy for companies building the next generation of AI systems. 01:22 — However, instead of solely focusing on the domestic market, Microsoft is continuing its global investment drive by enabling in-country training, leveraging the incredible skills base already available within existing organizations. Now, let's not overlook the importance of data sovereignty, either. 01:41 — It's increasingly important to adhere to the laws governing where data resides, and these laws are only becoming more stringent. Not only is Microsoft future-proofing itself, it's also cultivating the next generation of Azure customers and AI-native enterprises aligned with its platforms. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Can Europe's Sewage Plants Replace Russian Gas? (aka: the €1.9 Billion Biomethane Opportunity) Europe's wastewater treatment plants are sitting on a massive untapped energy reserve. With the right upgrades, roughly 1,900 facilities across Europe could produce 13.4 billion cubic meters of biomethane per year — matching Russia's remaining pipeline gas deliveries in 2024. Let me break down the economics, the technology, and the investment landscape driving this shift.

Send a textWhy Should You Listen? FABCON is where Microsoft Fabric conversations stop being theoretical and start getting real. This year in Atlanta, Hitachi Solutions is on the ground at Booth 545, focused on one thing: helping organizations turn Fabric potential into practical, measurable outcomes.To kick things off, we recorded a special, on‑site episode of Exchanges with Hitachi Solutions, bringing together a few of the experts you can meet at the booth—and giving you a preview of the conversations we're having all week at FABCON.Meet the voices behind the conversationIn this episode, host Matt Volke is joined by:Sree Reddy, Senior Data & Analytics Architect, who's working hands‑on with customers adopting Microsoft Fabric and demonstrating our Empower Data Platform—showing how organizations can simplify architecture, strengthen governance, and move faster with analytics and AI.Philip Rainsberger, Solution Sales Professional for Azure Solutions, who brings a business‑first perspective to Fabric adoption—helping teams prioritize initiatives, align stakeholders, and turn capability into real value.Carrie Smedira, Solution Sales Professional, who specializes in bridging the gap between AI ambition and business‑ready outcomes. At FABCON, Carrie is focused on helping organizations cut through the hype and zero in on where Microsoft Fabric and AI can drive measurable impact—quickly and responsibly.global.hitachi-solutions.com

Send us Fan MailThis week on The Events Insight, we're tackling a topic that resonates across our industry, work life boundaries, not work life balance.Jack and Karen are joined by Claudia, a brand storyteller with 25 years of experience delivering award-winning work for global names including Hitachi, Amazon, PwC, PepsiCo and Audi, across sectors spanning Technology, Professional Services, FMCG, Healthcare and Automotive.As Managing Director of INVNT EMEA, Claudia has built and led high-performing teams responsible for bold, results-driven campaigns that have fuelled the agency's rapid growth since 2020. She understands what it takes to operate at the highest level and what it costs if boundaries aren't clearly defined.In this episode, we explore the difference between chasing “balance” and setting meaningful boundaries. What does leadership look like when performance and personal life collide? How do you build ambitious teams without burning them out? And how do you protect your energy in an always-on industry?Beyond agency life, Claudia is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation. She serves as a Board Member at Brixton Finishing School and mentors through Elevate, helping to shape future talent across the industry.A first-generation American who grew up across Germany, England and the US, Claudia has called London home since 2011  navigating agency leadership alongside family life with her two sports-obsessed boys and her chef-skilled husband.This is a conversation about ambition, boundaries and building a career that works for you ... not against you.See more about our Season Sponsor – Electric Cat https://www.electriccat.co/ Find out more about our Shoutout Sponsor Church House Westminster https://churchhouseconf.co.uk/ Our Season Quickfire round Sponsor is the The Lewis Foundation https://www.thelewisfoundation.co.uk/ Our partnership with Standout Magazine is also worth following; https://standoutmagazine.co.uk/ Music Credits go to;Artist: Cathrine RannusTitle: The Events Insight Theme MusicMusic from #Uppbeat:Forever - Sega Williamshttps://uppbeat.io/t/sega-williams/foreverLicense code: 7F5KY293FYDFNVEVhttps://uppbeat.io/t/moire/summerLicense code: WNFODRXZ1ITXJS3HFly Away - Mountaineerhttps://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/fly-awayLicense code: EKN0IYNUKGUXMCTWClarity - Zoohttps://uppbeat.io/track/zoo/clarity License code: GL25RXVDXIBQWSWL 

Creativity through the lens of the Co-founder of Pennant Video"You have to bring a sense of pride and ownership into what you're doing."Tim Bradley is the Co-Founder of Pennant Video, a B2B-focused agency that has pioneered the Video Marketing Trifecta™ to power mid-funnel marketing strategies. With nearly two decades of experience in video marketing, Tim has partnered with leading B2B tech brands like Cisco, Hitachi, Philips and countless startups, bringing their stories to life with compelling video campaigns.Before founding Pennant, Tim was the Executive Producer at a large communications agency. In his 12 years there, he built, managed and mentored a 25-person creative team, while growing the business in competitive sectors such as tough tech, cybersecurity, and healthcare. He believes in creating work that cuts through the noise—methodical yet bespoke, scalable yet unique. Beyond client projects, Tim mentors aspiring creatives through workshops and portfolio reviews, reinforcing his belief that elevating new talent fosters a more innovative and story-driven industry.Tim has built an engaged following on LinkedIn by being relatable, authentic and authoritative, with equal parts actionable insights and compelling storytelling. (And the occasional dad joke.) He believes strongly in the power of community and mentoring, that connections mean more than just a numbers game, and that young creatives deserve the wisdom he's gained over a long and ongoing creative career. His philosophy is simple: create meaningful connections through impactful stories that resonate and endure.Outside the office, Tim draws inspiration from his love of snowboarding, family, and the outdoors, channeling the focus, adaptability, and persistence honed on the slopes into navigating today's competitive marketing landscape.https://www.pennant.video/https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-bradley-pennant/https://www.instagram.com/pennant.videohttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ele4VqgzHfNPvnyk-e0JQhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/pennantvideo/Send a text

Pokemon Day 2026 is here! Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokemon with the Krewe by reliving the 25th anniversary of Pokemon! lol Digging deep in the vault to pull out a special Pokemon Day throwback to Season 1, Episode 3 of the podcast... where we have the WHOLE OG Krewe freshly hatched out of our podcast Pokemon egg!  ++++++ In this episode, the Krewe gathers to discuss the iconic Japanese media franchise, Pokémon! Celebrating its 25th anniversary this February, Pokémon is the highest grossing media franchise in the world! From its anime and games, to trading cards and mobile apps, Pokémon truly unites people from across the world. Tune in to this episode to hear the krewe discuss the history, major moments, and each krewe member's favorite Pokémon! ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Past KOJ Pokemon/Nintendo Episodes ------ The History of Nintendo ft. Matt Alt (S4E18) The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 2] (S4E3) The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 1] (S4E2) We Love Pokemon: Celebrating 25 Years (S1E3) Why Japan? ft. Matt Alt (S1E1) ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!