Power in the back office┬áHaving robust technology is vital to the gas or electricity retailer that wants to keep its customers, Commerce EnergyÔÇÖs Mark Podorsky tells John OÔÇÖHanlon. Commerce Energy Group provides energy to both commercial and retail customers. Its headquarters and customer service team are based in Costa Mesa, California, but its operation team is located in Dallas, Texas, which is where I caught up with Mark Podorsky, vice president of operations.

Breaking new ground┬áThe Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago, the new state-of-the-art childrenÔÇÖs hospital soon to replace ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital, will set new standards in pediatric healthcare, Ruari McCallion reports. The feet that stood on the shovel that broke the ground for the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago on April 21, 2008, may have been just regular-sized but they represented a huge step forward in child health in the whole of North America.

Canfor Corporation, a Canadian forest products company based in Vancouver, utilizes every aspect of forestry to maintain a lucrative portfolio of lumber and pulp products. Kate Sawyer reports As the largest producer of softwood lumber in Canada, Canfor Corporation understands that what gives a company success and longevity is a reactive business model that responds to changing economic conditions.

Fuel for the future┬áThe Andersons Inc. has a long history of finding the most efficient ways to bring agricultural commodities from farm to market. Keith Regan finds out how the companyÔÇÖs entry into the ethanol business turned out better than expected. When he opened his first grain elevator in the 1940s, Harold Anderson was seeking to find more efficient ways for farmers to get their crops to market.

Getting lean and thinking greenAs Keith Regan reports, it took a new management team and a renewed focus on operational excellence and supply chain optimization to get the venerable company back to being the value-added market player it is today. American Pad & Paper is a company with a lengthy and storied history in the office supplies space, having first introduced the legal padÔÇöstill a ubiquitous sight in courthouses and law offices worldwide.

Lean leverageLeadership in lean is opening up new opportunities for auto components manufacturer Alfmeier Corp., Keith Regan learns from Mark Rose-Innes, director of North American operations. Alfmeier Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alfmeier Praezision, based in Treuchtlingen, Germany, has been a key tier two supplier in the US automotive sector since 1995, with its specialty components in the powertrain and seat systems found in many of the worldÔÇÖs most popular automobile brands.

Touch Base┬áTouchscreens are so user-friendly itÔÇÖs easy to overlook the technology behind them. AD MetroÔÇÖs Albert David told Ruari McCallion about the current state of the market and future developments. TodayÔÇÖs battlefields are hotbeds of electronics, but some things remain constant. They are dirty and dangerous places, where everything is treated roughly.    Technology is a great servant but it has to be able to withstand dirt, shocks and general beating up.

Mercedes-Benz, a luxury car division owned by Daimler AG, recently suffered a drop in sales causing the German carmaker to post quarterly results that were worse than expected. As a recession is fast approaching the European economy, luxury cars are getting left behind. ┬á Mercedez-Benz car sales fell 17.9 percent to $14.9 billion, and the divisionÔÇÖs pre-tax earnings fell an astounding 91.6 percent to $143.6 billion.

In an attempt to restore the companyÔÇÖs fortunes in the face of declining profits, Yahoo plans to cut about 1,500 jobs, 10 percent of its global workforce. ┬á The US internet group made an announcement as it reported a 64 percent decrease in third quarter profits. YahooÔÇÖs net profit for the third quarter was $54.3 million, compared with $151.3 million a year earlier. ┬á Back in January, Yahoo quickly turned down a takeover from Microsoft who offered to buy the firm for $47.5 billion. Yahoo rejected the offer saying that it undervalued the company.

Catepillar Inc., the worldÔÇÖs largest maker of construction and mining equipment, saw third-quarter profit slip 6 percent, as higher raw material costs offset record global sales. ┬á ÔÇ£We expected that material and freight costs would increase in the second half of 2008, and they did in the third quarter,ÔÇØ Jim Owens, chairman and chief executive of Catepillar, said in a statement.