Ducati factory.

Well I had almost a religious experience when I visited the Ducati factory in Bologna Italy, anyone that knows me knows that I have been a Ducati nut since I first laid eyes and ears on one when I was about 14 years old. Ducati are the most pure motorcycle made there is no doubt, but I am bias.
Interestingly Ducati only make two components themselves they are the crank shafts and cam shafts, they are considered the two critical components to the desmodromic valve train system that has made them famous, all other components are out sourced.
So this means The Ducati factory is really just an assembly line, a very efficient one at that, they produce 42,000 bikes a year, this equates to about 120/ day. Ducati adopted the just in time system of manufacture in 2002 it is based on the "Toyota" systems this enabled them to remain profitable and continue to push the racing side of things. No Photos where aloud in the factory so the ones you see below are from the museum. The racing dept is also handled from the factory in Bologna, however it is off limits to everyone including the production line staff you need a special tag to get in there, all we got to see was inside the door, just a tease really.
The museum is focused mainly on the racing history of Ducati, with standing next to Mike Hailwoods actual bike was awesome, along with every title winning bike that has been made and that is quite a list.
Bologna itself is a town with an incredible history dating back to a millennium before Christ, some of the new stuff was built in the sixteenth century, just amazing.
From here I head north into the alps.

China Reflection.

I thought I take this blog entry to reflect on China after what I have seen in the last 6 years of visiting and doing business in China, these are simply my my views of things and should not be taken any other way.
China has made a significant step forward in the road to capitalism that cannot be denied, there investment in infrastructure is second to none in the world that is a given. It is this investment that will see China step well ahead of other growing nations like India.
Having said that the rise in the middle class and the adoption of cars especially, is incredible but with that comes traffic issues particularly in the cites, parking and traffic management will be big issues onto he future. China also does not appear to have any real refrigerated road transport, which limits some market potential and provides risks to produce quality when opening up markets.
There public transport network is however world class in terms of efficiency and speed. Train travel in china is a good experience unlike in Australia.
The manufacturing capabilities are improving drastically, with a real understanding of the quality and service expectation of western markets, this has increased the costs of most items but the gap in quality is narrowing all the time.
Interestingly where the best education centres are is where you find the best products with the emphasis on innovation, to the point where I see in the near future china wanting to patent ideas and innovation something china is famous for not doing.

On this trip I was lucky enough to take a speed boat ride on the yellow river, what a volume of water that is and surprisingly clean and unpolluted, the colour was dirty but this was just stirring up of sediment not pollution.

Something new was at a Resturant the waitress brings out an iPad with the menu on it , you just flicked through what you wanted then reviewed your entire order and press send and it goes straight to the kitchen. It had a total of your account what was in each dish the ingredients any piece of information you wanted was all there, practical technology use that's for sure.

Next up I head off to Italy, stay posted.

My Nuffield topic travel begins.

Well off we go again, this trip takes me back to China to visit some emerging equipment suppliers who are trying to crack the world market, also investigate the Chinese seed industry and export opportunities.
Next I will be off to Italy to look at drying technology, and some soft heat technology which should be highly beneficial in rhizobia life expectancy.
Then to Austria to look at some horticulture and advancements being achieved there.
Next to France, followed by Switzerland, Germany finishing my European leg in Norway.
Then it is off to the USA and Canada, Canada will see Pam joining me with a program looking at mainly marketing styles and business development in a highly competitive market.
After Canada we have a full program in California with visits to seed central at Davis and also some insight into the native seed business in the US. Also some time in Idaho with Cargill.
Then it is back home with a short break in Hawaii to get to know the family again after a very hectic year. I must say that doing a nuffield scholarship has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done, and I am only half way.
It would certainly not be possible without the support of everyone back home, from my family who simply miss you being around, to my coworkers and extended family who pick up the work load when you are gone, I cannot express my thanks enough for everything all of you have done.

Ireland

Ireland, the weather was turned on for us the drizzle cleared just long enough to have a down pour!! Not that we expected anything different first up was a visit to country crest, a great couple guys with some fantastic innovation, unfortunately I feel they have suffered under the supermarket monopolies far to greatly with there appetite for risk far beyond anything I would be comfortable with.
Next up sheep farming Irish style, James and Kelly were in their element, with Kelly really getting her hands dirty, and Rich Fitzgerald, showing his skills or lack of on the pneumatic crush, there may be some sheep missing some limbs.
C&F tolling was a stand out with a huge business in tooling, automotive, wind turbines just to name a few, a real lesson in doing something no one else is doing and doing it with quality.
One of the highlights of the entire trip was the visit to the Bruen pronounced burn, this is an ancient landscape that had remnants of human life dating back 3000 years unbelievably preserved in what is a pretty inhospitable area. At first glance looked like just a mountain of rock but when we delved into it, the buren harbored one of the most extensive Eco systems that you could possibly imagine dating back to the ice age.
Then to the Cliffs of Moher, another example of mother nature at its best 600 feet vertical very impressive.
First time I had ever seen an "extreme" danger sign so had to have a bit of fun.
Next day we were off to Andrew Gows farm, he looked after us very well, and his enthusiasm for dairy was fantastic great farm.
Cashel was next with visits to the Rock of Cashel which is the castle that dates back to 600AD where St Patrick himself baptized the king of Ireland, then the castle was rebuilt with stone in the 12th century, with additions in the 13th and 15th centuries.
There were many more castles and old buildings the surprising thing for me was that most of these castle type buildings dated to 1800 to 1840 at the time of the industrial revolution rather than earlier, the other thing that surprised me was the amount of old buildings that had never been restored they were dotted everywhere.
The visit to Coolmore stud for horse racing was incredible with the top stallion in the world currently earning $300k per service equating to $60M per yr.
There were many other places but these are just a few of the highlights.
Finally we finished off at Peter Bakers for a farewell dinner, with Peter being quite the host and an inspirational talk from Jim McCarthy on operating agricultural enterprises on a global scale, world Ag is a small place when you talk on his level, which I must admit i was struggling to fully comprehend it all, you just don't think like that naturally.

Well that's it for the GFP what a ride, now off to Holland and UK. Stay tuned.