by Gary Mintchell | Sep 29, 2025 | Productivity, Workforce
Note: I had an allergy attack following my California trip that wiped me out for a few days last week. Now trying to catch up with a number of thoughts.
’Tis the season of surveys and reports.
Actually, that season has become about as year-around as Christmas and Halloween. Once the province of pharmaceuticals, companies commission surveys and report on the ones that support their place in the market.
Not to be entirely cynical—technology supporting the front-line worker has been burgeoning over the past few years. Perhaps this was accelerated by Covid pandemic increasing remote workers? I don’t know.
The other interesting tidbit concerns Zebra Technologies, sponsor of this survey (companies call it research, but given my grad school courses, I balk at that description), has grown through some acquisitions from the company I knew (and sold a couple products) in the 90s.
Oh, and they had to throw AI into the mix. It’s up to you to figure out what they mean by that.
Zebra Technologies Corp. announced new research in collaboration with Oxford Economics. The study showcases how improving frontline workflows with modern technologies like AI, automation, and data improves profitability and enhances the customer experience.
Retailers reported a 21% improvement in customer satisfaction, manufacturers cited a 19% increase in employee productivity, and T&L leaders reported a 21% increase in productivity with better workflows. In addition, the study indicates AI investments help organizations achieve real-time visibility, generate actionable insights and improve efficiency.
Companies surveyed said they were using (unspecified) AI to address loss prevention, risk detection, inventory optimization, inventory management, demand forecasting, and predictive analytics—all typical machine learning technologies that have been around for a while.
They also noted using tools that have been around for years, although greatly improved since I sold and installed them in the 90s—RFID and machine vision.
The news release touts Zebra’s new brand narrative, “Better Every Day” affirming the company’s commitment to empower organizations with automation and AI to create new ways of working that make everyday life better.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 5, 2025 | Personal Development, Productivity, Workforce
I have had some good bosses and a bunch of bad ones. I tried to be a good boss, but I bet there are some people who worked “for” me that would dispute that. As a soccer referee assigner, I try hard to be fair while also putting officials on the games where they would be most likely to succeed.
From Seth Godin, who talked about being the type of person that a good boss will appreciate. Hopefully you have one of those. If not, I wish you luck in leaving and finding a good one.
He compiled a list of attributes. I would suggest not looking at this like a check list. It’s more of a description of a type of person.
Are you now, or can you develop into, this type of person? I try…
- Ask useful questions
- Show up before you’re expected
- Make big promises and keep them
- Identify errors and flaws and self-correct
- Default to optimism
- Do work worth doing
- Build a useful network worth outsourcing work to
- Show your work
- Develop good taste
- Generously invite feedback
- Make productive decisions
- Communicate with precision
- It’s easy to claim these skills, but not easy to commit to being quite good at them.
Seth concludes, “Most bosses don’t deserve this level of effort. I hope you can find one that does.”
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 19, 2025 | News, Productivity
Foxit is a document management developer. It tries to give Adobe a run for their money in the pdf document management environment. Their web-first and AI-powered designs for documents, e-signatures, and the like appear powerful. I used it for a time and am using the basic system currently.
They have two new announcements. One details an updated SDK for their web-based document workflows. The other reveals an MCP hosting tool. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets you connect AI applications to tools, files, and APIs without needing to set up custom integrations.
Foxit Redefines Web-Based Document Workflows with PDF SDK for Web v11
Foxit announced the general availability (GA) launch of Foxit PDF SDK for Web v11, an enhanced version of its developer toolkit.
Foxit PDF SDK for Web v11 offers WebAssembly-powered rendering engine, modular architecture, and deeply refactored core components to eliminate longstanding friction points, empowering developers to build more responsive, secure, and modern document experiences.
- Refactored Form Module and New Unified APIs – Developers will experience increased efficiency and flexibility, leading to faster development cycles and more robust, scalable applications. This translates to a more reliable and streamlined experience for all users interacting with forms.
- Redesigned Signature Workflow and Modular Architecture – Users can expect a more secure, intuitive, and reliable signing experience, bolstering compliance and significantly reducing friction in critical document workflows.
- PDF JavaScript Execution Migrated to Web Workers and Rebuilt in C++/WebAssembly – This foundational upgrade delivers significantly improved performance and responsiveness (up to 50%) when handling PDFs, ensuring a fluid and stable user interface even with complex documents.
- Enhanced UI Components and Compatibility – The platform now offers a superior and more consistent user experience across all devices and browsers, driven by modern, accessible, and intuitive interface components.
Foxit PDF SDK for Web v11 is available now.
Foxit Launches PDF Editor v2025.2 with Industry-First MCP Host to Enable Agentic AI
Foxit announced the release of Foxit PDF Editor v2025.2. This release offers real-time communication with multiple external platforms such as Gmail, Salesforce, and Jira through its new MCP Host capability. This integration allows users to perform actions directly on their documents within the PDF Editor in a multi-step, agentic workflow.
Imagine extracting relevant text in the PDF document to create a Jira ticket, send emails via Gmail, or update Salesforce records without ever leaving your PDF. MCP’s standardized communication allows the AI agent to maintain context and seamlessly transition between these different tools and steps. By eliminating the need to switch between applications and manually enter data, Foxit streamlines document-centric workflows, leading to smarter, faster productivity.
Product Managers can review technical specifications in Foxit PDF Editor and instantly generate Jira tickets for missing details, including direct links to specific document sections—eliminating manual copy-paste and context switching.
Alongside MCP Host capabilities, PDF Editor v2025.2 expands Foxit’s AI Assistant with two powerful audio-first tools designed to help users retain and absorb information, on the go or at their desk.
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 5, 2025 | Productivity
Text-to-speech “AI” should be a useful tool for many. I’ve only just heard about Deepgram and posted a few pieces of news (you can search on the site). Of course, most of the world does not speak English, so these tools are beginning to be rolled out in other languages.
Deepgram has officially expanded its Aura-2 text-to-speech (TTS) API with a new suite of high-quality Spanish voice models, bringing realistic, expressive, and business-ready voice synthesis to Spanish-speaking markets.
This launch marks a major step in Deepgram’s mission to enable real-time, natural-sounding voice experiences across global industries. The new Spanish voices are optimized for enterprise use cases, from customer support and IVR systems to healthcare and education, featuring precise pronunciation for currencies, timestamps, acronyms, emails, and more.
- 10 new Spanish Aura-2 voice models tailored for professional use
- Support for Mexican, Peninsular, Colombian, and Latin American accents
- Models designed for diverse applications including advertising, IVR, storytelling, and customer service
- Support for code-switching in select models (English ↔ Spanish)
- Available now via REST and Websocket APIs
- Voices like “Celeste” (Colombian, energetic and friendly) and “Nestor” (Peninsular, calm and confident) are just a couple of the expressive voices now available
It is available now for use via Deepgram’s hosted TTS API platform. Developers and product teams can find implementation examples and model specifications in the Deepgram Developer Documentation.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 15, 2025 | Productivity, Technology
The marketing people at Hexagon tried to set up a meeting with Mike Payne, co-owner and president, Hill Manufacturing in Tulsa, OK, while we were at the Hexagon Live event in June in Las Vegas. We couldn’t connect then, but we finally caught up this week. I wanted the meeting because while talking to product people at the company brings in depth product information, people who actually use the products for daily success bring an entirely refreshing perspective.
Payne graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in management information solutions. He and a couple others founded a software company focused on shop floor data collection. The software collected data from automation and sensor devices providing the data to ERP. He eventually left the company pivoting into making investments. After a period of time, he decided he missed manufacturing purchasing Hill Manufacturing from the Hill family around 2017.
Hill Manufacturing is a production machine shop. The company had been in business for about 40 years pretty much making the same parts for the same customers in the same way.
Payne dived in studying Hill’s current processes. He began to bring technology into the processes leveraging it for productivity improvements. Now, he says, it’s more of a tech company that makes parts than a standard machine shop.
The key driver is driving productivity. Like everyone these days, he experienced the pain of finding new employees. Plus, leveraging technology to improve processes enables his current employees to produce more parts. It’s a tough business. Whittling out a little more profit for each part keeps the company healthy.
Staying active on the investment side, Hill had acquired several other machine shops. The company has grown from 22 spindles to 63. With each acquisition, he’s discovered many improvements to productivity and profitability comes with upgrading technology on the machines he’s acquired. Upgrading older machines with new technology provides a new lease on life that he calls a Second Round of Life.
He mentioned AI in the front office. Since I was working on a podcast and essay on AI, I was all ears. Hill uses AI in a couple processes. Using Toolpath application, they take the 3D model from the drawing and use AI with their CNC programming software to do the actual programming. It’s theoretically capable of providing 100% of a program. They’ve discovered that it’s really about 80% good. But that makes his programmers 80% more efficient.
AI is also pretty good at reading G code from the CNC program. They can translate the code to English and enter into their shop floor management software. Workflows, tool setups, and other work instructions are provided to operators to make them more efficient and effective.
They use laser measurement devices from Hexagon (remember Hexagon?) close to the machine for immediate quality feedback. They also use Datanomix, a Hexagon partner, to improve productivity.
Payne searches constantly for new technology to improve processes. He mentioned how new coatings on a drill, for example, improves productivity. Tooling and workholding advances also contribute.
Using technology to improve processes and productivity is the foundation of Hill Manufacturing’s success. He can’t solve problems by adding more bodies, so he fills in with technology. Hill now does 2x revenue with 2/3 of the people. With today’s demographics, Payne provides a great example of intelligent use of technology to solve business problems.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 24, 2025 | Productivity
A new company (to me) developing products in the PDF and eSignature market came to my attention late last year. I have been using the Foxit app for a few months preferring it to its competitor. Adding features attributed to AI seems to be a requirement in the market these days. Not to be outdone, Foxit has released Foxit AI to fill that product line “hole”.
Foxit AI, a standalone web-based AI platform, delivers cutting-edge document-centric AI capabilities to users across industries. This innovative platform redefines how individuals and organizations manage and interact with their documents, offering unparalleled flexibility, accessibility, security, and efficiency. [Superlatives are theirs.]
Foxit AI Features and Benefits:
- AI-Powered Chat Assistance – Provides instant, conversational support for document-related queries (e.g., quickly locate specific clauses in legal contracts or clarify essay structures).
- Image-to-Text and Analysis – Upload images (JPEG, PNG, etc.) to extract text, insights, or contextual information from the image (e.g., upload PNG, JPEG, etc. and use “Extract Text” command – for instance, upload a receipt screenshot, and then easily retrieve dollar amounts or other key details.).
- Text Enhancement Tools – Rewrite text with adjustable tone (e.g., professional, casual) and length (e.g., short, medium, long) (e.g., adapt content for different audiences, polish communications, or refine emails for clarity and tone).
- Security – Ensures user privacy and data protection through robust security measures and compliance with industry standards (e.g., process sensitive documents with confidence, knowing they are safeguarded against unauthorized access).
- Document Analysis – Upload documents for in-depth analysis to extract key insights and summarize content (e.g., analyze financial reports to identify critical data points without reading the entire document).
- Advanced Summarization – Generate concise summaries of large documents or specific sections for easy review (e.g., summarize meeting notes to identify actionable insights).
- Spelling and Grammar Checks – Ensure polished and error-free writing in seconds (e.g., proofread proposals and reports to improve quality).
- Text Clarification – Simplify complex or technical language for better understanding (e.g., break down dense legal or technical terms for students or professionals),
- Multilingual Translation – Translate text into multiple languages to bridge communication gaps (i.e., convert marketing materials for international audiences).
- Multi-Document Analysis – Review and compare multiple documents simultaneously to save time (e.g., compare contracts or analyze multiple reports in one session).
- Cross-Device Accessibility – As it is web-based, accessible on desktop, mobile, and tablet browsers without needing a PDF Editor license (e.g., Work efficiently across devices with cloud-based functionality).
- User-Friendly Design – Intuitive interface with product tours and real-time support (e.g., easily navigate features with minimal learning curve).
- Enterprise Scalability – Includes admin-controlled licenses and compliance tools for organizational use (e.g., manage access and ensure security across a team or enterprise).
