Steelcase Hajj

Last month the majority of the development team in Portland made a business trip to the Steelcase International Headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While we were there we also visited the Steelcase Kentwood Factory. The whole trip really put it into perspective for us. Steelcase itself is over a century old and takes in more than 4.5 billion dollars in annual revenue, employing tens of thousands of employees. Their Kentwood plant (which is only one of five factories) has 3, eight hour shifts working around the clock. They consume 200,000 lbs of steel a day, 9,000 lbs of paint, and produce a new piece of furniture every 52 seconds. The factory itself is a single warehouse spanning 800,000 square feet, or nearly 20 acres of floor space. It was the single largest building I’ve ever been in.

But I’ve probably bored you to tears rambling off these statistics. I guess it’s just something you have to see for yourself, so back to local matters. I’ve worked through about three quarters of the of <a href=https://www.bignerdranch.com/books/android-programming/” title=”Big Nerd Ranch” target=”_blank” rel=”external”>Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (2nd Edition)</a>. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who’s interested in learning Android. Even as an Android veteran myself I’ve picked up useful tidbits and best practices here and there. I think my next step is going to be to touch up this blog though. The page load time just keeps going up with each new post. The argument for pagination is becoming stronger with every passing month. So I’ll leave you with that. Have a good month.