This volume models a 21st century supply chain: one that uses technology that leads to the power of the individual, not larger organizations. Author Jack Buffington explains how in the near future, each of us will be a “prosumer” in a peer-based economy of micro-level manufacturing with little waste and infinite customization. There are two primary schools of thought in regard to the world economy of the future; from one side is a belief that economic growth can continue in perpetuity, driven upon a cheap and plentiful energy supply. From the other point of view is a perspective that economic growth will soon end has due to a lack of cheap and plentiful oil, too much financial debt, and a damaged environment that cannot withstand more growth. Frictionless Markets proposes a third way: a 21st century model based upon an economic calculus that does assume that fossil fuels are rapidly depleting and the environment is being damaged, but does not assume that this means an end to growth, but rather, a beginning of opportunities. Frictionless Markets tells the story of why and how frictionless markets will exist by the year 2030. Dr. Jack Buffington is both a supply chain professional for one of the largest consumer products companies in the world, and a researcher in biotechnology and supply chain at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Learn how frictionless organizations cut costs, grow revenue, and create loyal fans by creating products and services that work so well, their customers never have to contact them for the wrong reasons. This book will help any customer-facing organization deliver better customer experiences, save money, and increase revenue. Veteran customer service experts Bill Price and David Jaffe, coauthors of the bestseller The Best Service Is No Service, explain how organizations can design products, sales, and support so that customer effort is reduced or, better still, removed. This simplicity for the customer is what Price and Jaffe call frictionless. The book defines a straightforward methodology, drawing on more than thirty practical examples from leading companies across four continents. The approach provides a radically different way for the whole business to focus on the customer experience. It explains how any organization can look at all customer interactions as potential opportunities for improvement and question whether they are helpful or represent symptoms of friction. Lower friction innovators are disrupting established businesses in every industry. This detailed guide shows how any business-from start-ups to major multinational corporations-can remove friction. Being frictionless has become a strategic necessity, and now this strategy is available to any organization.

The book treats the known types of the potential flow of frictionless fluids having a uniform and invariable density. The main topics are: fundamentals of the irrotational flow of frictionless fluids; the use of complex functions in hydrodynamics; cases of two-dimensional flow - specific subjects treated are simple flow, line singularities, transformations, forces on cylinders, airfoil theory, rotating boundaries, flow in channels and free streamlines; cases of three-dimensional flow; coefficients of inertia.

Several types of air bearings are discussed and analyzed which can effectively simulate a frictionless environment for testing space vehicle instruments and control systems. A spherical dual-flow bearing, designed for a load of 15 pounds and employing an input pressure of about 4.5 psi, has been operated with an effective coefficient of friction of only 0.00000406. However, unless all externally applied torques as well as the center of gravity of the test fixture are exactly are the bearing's center of gravity of the test fixture are exactly at the bearing's center of rotation, it will precess. This is overcome in a cylindrical dual-flow bearing designed on the same principal. A spherical mono-flow bearing, which will bear loads of 700 and 400 pounds respectively with low input pressures, are also discussed. Plots of theoretical and actual performance are given, and fabrication techniques are described.

This investigation attempts to surpass the boundaries of pure mathematical interest in that it possesses as an example, a flow investigation in a multiply-connected region. Then the results appear to be carried out by means of an appropriate conformal representation of the region around two chosen closed curves. Thus we have the basis of an exact plane theory of the biplane. Certainly, the known difficulties of the accomplishment of this representation depend upon the region around the given curves. It is easier to choose the transformation function so that we obtain the transformal curves which, as contours of the wings of a biplane are at least useful to a certain extent, and correspond to the Joukowski monoplane wing.

Serial entrepreneur Christiane Lemieux describes the new rules of entrepreneurship and business, arguing that visionary startups leverage the concept of “frictionless” to beat their competitors. Based on interviews with dozens of startup founders, experts and scholars on entrepreneurship, Frictionless provides readers with a wide-ranging education in starting companies that thrive in the world of frictionless commerce—made possible by new technologies, a new mindset, and new demands from Millennial consumers. Working with bestselling author and journalist Duff McDonald, Lemieux also shares her own story—lessons learned, failures absorbed—at the helm of DwellStudio (which was acquired by Wayfair) and her latest venture, The Inside. Some founders profiled in the book are reducing friction in their own business models, others reduce friction through improved customer experiences, and still others are revolutionizing their operations to create frictionless organizations. Readers will glean lessons from the founders of well-known companies such as Instant Pot, Bonobos, Hims, and Halo Top—as well as upstarts Billie, Dame Products, and Convene. Frictionless outlines the groundwork necessary for getting a company up-and-running and explains how companies make and market products and services while meeting the demands of their customers and employees today. Frictionless is the essential handbook for creating tomorrow’s mind set and competitive advantage.