Muffin know-how is as important to bakery industry as scalable processors is to computer industry

var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();

Remember the "nooks and crannies" in the Thomas's English Muffins? Apparently the know-how of getting these during the baking process is a huge trade secret no less than Coca Cola's secret formula ! One report suggests that the baking secret of "nooks and crannies"  is known only to 7 people in the company and Chris Boticella is being legally prevented from walking away to a job with Twinkie makers Hostess Brands.

For some reason we tend to unfairly dismiss low-tech industries like food as   not having great know-how. The only thing low-tech about any industry is the pace of change. It's just that for a while industries like computing  and biotech have have been changing rapidly. R&D happens quickly in these industries and generally the scientists have a very specific advanced research background as do the managers. For example IBM and Apple had similar issues regarding scalable processors when iPhone 4 lead Mark Papermaster had moved to Apple.

Low tech industries involve slow change as individual customers really don't want to try a different random type of muffin or bagel every day.  It takes years to get everything right . And to arrive at that winning  muffin or twinkie is not easy and is very very valuable for the company that has got its product,marketing and distribution all finely tuned.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: