{"id":3590,"date":"2025-12-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gembadocs.com\/learn\/?p=3590"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:56:26","slug":"lean-and-ai-gemba-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gembadev.3rddigital.com\/getgembadocs\/lean-and-ai-gemba-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean &amp; AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3590\" class=\"elementor elementor-3590\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2859f6d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2859f6d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aadd3a1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"aadd3a1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Keynote from Paul Vallely from Kukoon at Gemba Summit 2025<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-49c5403e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"49c5403e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Paul Vallely of Kukoon delivered a refreshingly honest presentation at Gemba Summit 2025 about the intersection of lean thinking and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>Starting from humble beginnings in 2006 helping his dad sell rugs at a market stall, Paul and his sister took an eBay course in London and launched what would become a 65-person business with \u20ac90 million in online sales and retail stores across Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>After visiting Seating Matters in May 2018 and launching their first morning meeting in June of that year, Kukoon embarked on a lean journey that Paul described as &#8220;a barrage of excitement and energy and also a lot of issues&#8221; as they tried to change both their own culture and the team culture they had built. Seven years into that journey, Paul shared not just their successes but their ongoing struggles and mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>His presentation covered three distinct phases of AI integration: using ChatGPT for everything, building automation capabilities through scripts and coding, and investing in full-blown AI platforms.<\/p>\n<p>With characteristic candor, Paul admitted where Kukoon needs to improve &#8211; including bringing back a second morning meeting in January because &#8220;brain osmosis&#8221; hadn&#8217;t worked to transfer lean knowledge to new team members, and the gap between experienced and new team members had grown embarrassingly large. His message about AI was clear and pragmatic: embrace ChatGPT everywhere, invest heavily in learning automation and coding, but proceed with extreme caution on expensive AI platforms because there&#8217;s &#8220;a lot of snake oil being sold&#8221; by companies charging tens of thousands for little more than ChatGPT with good connectors.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6776171 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6776171\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6569320 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6569320\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Watch keynote<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73803eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"73803eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/ss8IQG4eOP4?si=kBQ-ExPLOhAphA3e&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0c640fe e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0c640fe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e993182 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e993182\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Listen to Keynote with GembaTalk Podcast<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2d3165d elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"2d3165d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"clipboard-write\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/bb12e76a-2887-47c1-8395-6fcf0b8ffe81\/\"><\/iframe><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-90205d5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"90205d5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d1c21af elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d1c21af\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Key takeaways<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-12a8b74 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"12a8b74\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>1. Honest Assessment &#8211; What Kukoon Needs to Do Better<\/h3>\n<p>Paul opened with unusual transparency about Kukoon&#8217;s current challenges. They&#8217;re bringing back a second morning meeting in January because they discovered that reducing to one weekly meeting 18 months ago had failed to transfer lean knowledge to new team members.<\/p>\n<p>The gap between experienced and new people has grown significantly, and without proper lean knowledge, people fall back into papering over cracks rather than identifying waste. Despite being seven years into lean, Paul admitted this was &#8220;pretty embarrassing&#8221; but necessary to acknowledge. They&#8217;re also implementing formal Kaizen targets for every department monthly, adding a lean metric to performance reviews, and creating a formal lean education structure. His willingness to share these struggles provided valuable lessons for everyone in the room about the ongoing nature of lean transformation.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Use ChatGPT for Everything &#8211; The Low-Hanging Fruit<\/h3>\n<p>Paul&#8217;s first recommendation was simple and emphatic: use ChatGPT at every single opportunity. Ask it every question, use it for analysis and comparison, and especially try it for things you think it couldn&#8217;t possibly help with. The learning process of discovering what AI can and cannot do is invaluable. He emphasized that ChatGPT has become phenomenal at teaching people how to be better prompters &#8211; the key is providing a feedback loop. When an answer isn&#8217;t right, tell ChatGPT why it&#8217;s not right, and it will help you understand what a better prompt looks like.<\/p>\n<p>As part of personalization, ChatGPT encourages users to always help improve their prompting skills. This low-risk, high-value exploration costs $30 per month and provides immediate learning opportunities for everyone in the organization.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Build Automation Capabilities &#8211; Scripts, Coding, and Integration<\/h3>\n<p>Kukoon invested significantly in building a three-person business improvement team focused entirely on office-based improvements through data analysis and automation. They use a combination of Google Apps Scripts, Python scripts, and Microsoft Power Automate to create integrated automation systems. For example, they might set Power Automate to pull data from a specific channel, execute a Google Apps Script to manipulate that data into the required form, then return to Power Automate to send the processed file wherever needed.<\/p>\n<p>Paul showed a revealing graph: over 11 months, their monthly hours invested in Power Automate (red line) started very high with practically no results, but the monthly hours saved (blue line) grew exponentially. By month 12, they were heading toward 150 hours saved monthly for less than 40 hours of input time. The key phrase Paul emphasized: &#8220;slow is smooth and smooth is fast.&#8221; The learning curve is difficult with minimal gains early on, but once you understand the tools, most Power Automates take less than an hour to write. Paul noted anecdotally that they multiply the time savings by three to account for the genuine value, including reduced defects, improved customer service, and eliminating the cognitive cost of task-switching.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Create Subject Matter Experts and Give Time to Learn<\/h3>\n<p>Within their business improvement team, Kukoon created specialists &#8211; one person focuses on Google Apps Scripts, another specializes in Python, and so on. This creates deep expertise where complex topics become owned by individuals who can deliver at high levels. Critically, Paul emphasized giving people time to learn and test, especially in this area where the learning curve is much steeper than traditional lean improvements.<\/p>\n<p>The team became &#8220;prompting pros&#8221; because they invested time in understanding how to interact effectively with AI tools. Paul stressed that creating this specialization and allowing learning time was essential to moving beyond easy wins and low-hanging fruit toward maximum returns.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Focus on Maximum Returns &#8211; Not Just Easy Wins<\/h3>\n<p>Once Kukoon developed good coding standards, they had to step back and identify where maximum returns existed across the entire business. To the annoyance of operations, finance, customer service, and other departments, they determined that commercial (sales and marketing) was the biggest lever they could move.<\/p>\n<p>Increasing sales marginally by 2-4% provided greater returns than improvements elsewhere. As a result, their business improvement team spends 70% of their time supporting the commercial team. Paul acknowledged this is a personal decision for each business, but emphasized the importance of justifying investment by focusing automation efforts where they create the most value, not just where improvements are easiest to implement.<\/p>\n<h3>6. Proceed With Extreme Caution on Big Ticket AI Platforms<\/h3>\n<p>Kukoon invested in two significant AI platforms: Algolia for web search (\u00a325,000 annually) and Digital Genius for customer service (\u00a335,000 annually). These are big checks for their business, requiring extensive research. They spoke to nearly 20 companies initially, narrowed to detailed inquiries with more than half a dozen, and conducted thorough research including speaking with current customers and seeing live environments.<\/p>\n<p>The critical factor: they required return on investment in less than two years, not just of upfront costs but of time investment. Why?<\/p>\n<p>Because AI technology moves so fast that what&#8217;s top of the market one year might be fourth or fifth the next. Paul gave it 50\/50 odds they&#8217;d still be with either company next year. As ChatGPT creates better API connections, platforms like Digital Genius &#8211; which Paul views as having good AI but whose real value is quality integrations &#8211; may become obsolete. His assessment was blunt: &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of snake oil being sold within the category.&#8221; Many companies are just ChatGPT with good connectors, charging tens of thousands for something worth $30 per month. His advice: &#8220;Definitely proceed with a lot of caution. There&#8217;s not much really, really good out there that ChatGPT can&#8217;t do with a good connection.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>7. Automation Benefits Everyone &#8211; Even Manufacturing-Heavy Businesses<\/h3>\n<p>Paul&#8217;s final point was that even if 80% of a business is manufacturing, everyone else is &#8220;just moving data and information around the business.&#8221; Automating that data movement makes it more accurate, more efficient, more scalable, and provides better customer service. The opportunity for scripts, coding, and automation exists in virtually every business, regardless of industry or operational makeup.<\/p>\n<p>Taking just ten hours to understand what these tools can do represents one of the biggest opportunities for businesses today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ebf164a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ebf164a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fd5b4d5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"fd5b4d5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Speaker details<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a51563 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"9a51563\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cc929b8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cc929b8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f1cb55 elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"1f1cb55\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon\">\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"#003659\"><g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_3111_32669)\"><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M17.53 7.77C17.46 7.76 17.39 7.76 17.32 7.77C15.77 7.72 14.54 6.45 14.54 4.89C14.54 3.3 15.83 2 17.43 2C19.02 2 20.32 3.29 20.32 4.89C20.31 6.45 19.08 7.72 17.53 7.77Z\"><\/path><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M20.79 14.7004C19.67 15.4504 18.1 15.7304 16.65 15.5404C17.03 14.7204 17.23 13.8104 17.24 12.8504C17.24 11.8504 17.02 10.9004 16.6 10.0704C18.08 9.8704 19.65 10.1504 20.78 10.9004C22.36 11.9404 22.36 13.6504 20.79 14.7004Z\"><\/path><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M6.44002 7.77C6.51002 7.76 6.58002 7.76 6.65002 7.77C8.20002 7.72 9.43002 6.45 9.43002 4.89C9.43002 3.3 8.14002 2 6.54002 2C4.95002 2 3.65002 3.29 3.65002 4.89C3.66002 6.45 4.89002 7.72 6.44002 7.77Z\"><\/path><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M6.54999 12.8496C6.54999 13.8196 6.75999 14.7396 7.13999 15.5696C5.72999 15.7196 4.26 15.4196 3.18 14.7096C1.6 13.6596 1.6 11.9496 3.18 10.8996C4.25 10.1796 5.75999 9.88962 7.18 10.0496C6.77 10.8896 6.54999 11.8396 6.54999 12.8496Z\"><\/path><path d=\"M12.12 15.87C12.04 15.86 11.95 15.86 11.86 15.87C10.02 15.81 8.54999 14.3 8.54999 12.44C8.54999 10.54 10.08 9 11.99 9C13.89 9 15.43 10.54 15.43 12.44C15.43 14.3 13.97 15.81 12.12 15.87Z\"><\/path><path d=\"M8.86999 17.9396C7.35999 18.9496 7.35999 20.6096 8.86999 21.6096C10.59 22.7596 13.41 22.7596 15.13 21.6096C16.64 20.5996 16.64 18.9396 15.13 17.9396C13.42 16.7896 10.6 16.7896 8.86999 17.9396Z\"><\/path><\/g><defs><clipPath id=\"clip0_3111_32669\"><rect width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"white\"><\/rect><\/clipPath><\/defs><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f028157 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f028157\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Who<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2b151c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2b151c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulvallely-kukoon\/\">Paul Vallely<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fdd7ac7 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"fdd7ac7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a6b437 elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"4a6b437\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon\">\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"#003659\"><g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_4418_4950)\"><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M7.1099 5.9593L16.1299 2.9493C20.1799 1.5993 22.3799 3.8093 21.0399 7.8593L18.0299 16.8793C16.0099 22.9493 12.6899 22.9493 10.6699 16.8793L9.7799 14.1993L7.0999 13.3093C1.0399 11.2993 1.0399 7.9893 7.1099 5.9593Z\"><\/path><path d=\"M12.1201 11.6305L15.9301 7.81055L12.1201 11.6305Z\"><\/path><path d=\"M12.1201 12.38C11.9301 12.38 11.7401 12.31 11.5901 12.16C11.3001 11.87 11.3001 11.39 11.5901 11.1L15.3901 7.28C15.6801 6.99 16.1601 6.99 16.4501 7.28C16.7401 7.57 16.7401 8.05 16.4501 8.34L12.6501 12.16C12.5001 12.3 12.3101 12.38 12.1201 12.38Z\"><\/path><\/g><defs><clipPath id=\"clip0_4418_4950\"><rect width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"white\"><\/rect><\/clipPath><\/defs><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1ff456e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1ff456e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">from<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-76426d2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"76426d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kukoonrugs.com\/\">Kukoon Rugs<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a9d9fe e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"7a9d9fe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-07e3833 elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"07e3833\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon\">\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"#003659\"><g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_4418_4379)\"><path opacity=\"0.4\" d=\"M16.19 2H7.81C4.17 2 2 4.17 2 7.81V16.18C2 19.83 4.17 22 7.81 22H16.18C19.82 22 21.99 19.83 21.99 16.19V7.81C22 4.17 19.83 2 16.19 2Z\"><\/path><path d=\"M9.1001 12.0005V10.5205C9.1001 8.61048 10.4501 7.84048 12.1001 8.79048L13.3801 9.53048L14.6601 10.2705C16.3101 11.2205 16.3101 12.7805 14.6601 13.7305L13.3801 14.4705L12.1001 15.2105C10.4501 16.1605 9.1001 15.3805 9.1001 13.4805V12.0005Z\"><\/path><\/g><defs><clipPath id=\"clip0_4418_4379\"><rect width=\"24\" height=\"24\" fill=\"white\"><\/rect><\/clipPath><\/defs><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-206194c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"206194c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">YouTube<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d4e1cf1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d4e1cf1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@KukoonRugs\">Kukoonrugs<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Vallely shares Kukoon&#8217;s AI journey: embrace ChatGPT everywhere, invest in automation and coding skills, but beware of  expensive AI snake 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