Putting innovative ideas to work
A recent trip to the HRAI annual conference in Canada revealed that industry leaders are taking action to create a supply chain worthy of our times; here's a glimpse at how.
This edition reports on a panel discussion at HRAI's 2023 Annual Conference held yesterday in Montreal. HRAI is the Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada. I was honored to lead a discussion with top experts on indoor air quality, decarbonization, and CO2 heat pumps. The panel is the capstone event of my work with HRAI's distributor members—a year-long conversation about innovation and the future of distribution. Earlier web events explored the opportunity and responsibility for distributors to lead market and supply chain innovation, practical advice for building a data-confidence culture, and exploring three North Stars for guiding innovation: proximity, human flourishing, and generational transfer. (Click here for my Supply Chain Quarterly article and a discussion of all three.) The video below captures my immediate thoughts, and I welcome your feedback. In a future edition, I will return to a more detailed review of our panel discussion and implications for building a supply chain worthy of our times.
Seizing opportunities
The HVAC industry is central to many epic changes, including climate change, indoor air quality, electrification, and the shift to renewable energy. HRAI's panel included three experts, all offering excellent advice, experiences, and visions of the future: Jeffrey Siegal, Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto; Alain Mongrain, Contractor Relationship Lead for Copeland; and William Harvey, a Consultant at Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors. We talked about change and the future of distribution and, importantly, identified several innovation opportunities for distributors and building a supply chain worthy of our times. Our conversation was not recorded, but I've captured the highlights in the video below, introducing critical new themes I will write about in future editions.
Click below to watch this edition of Mark Dancer on Flourishing Business:
Radical collaborations
Your thoughts? Can we start a conversation? Do you know of innovations or startups focused on indoor air quality, net-zero carbon HVAC systems, or sustainable building design? I'm looking for stories to tell of people with ideas and working to make them happen. Let's collaborate and help build a supply chain worthy of our times! As always, I'm on mark.dancer@n4bi.com.