Monthly Archives: March 2011

Electronic Component Suppliers for the iPad but OEMs too

A Wall Street journal article (March 4, 2011) describes an interesting global supply chain issue for electronic component suppliers like Toshiba, Samsung and LG Display (they supply memory chips or screens). These companies supply components used by Apple for their … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Eliminating the ban on Mexican trucks crossing the US border

A Wall Street Journal article (March 4, 2011) describes the announcement of the end of the 20 year ban  on Mexican truckers driving across the US border (the ban was a violation of the Nafta agreement). That ban has resulted … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shrinking Retail Store Sizes

A Wall Street Journal article (March 3, 2011) describes a move by Best Buy, Staples and WalMart to move to smaller stores with a smaller range of SKUs. The article suggests that the very large selection of SKUs at Amazon.com … Continue reading

Posted in Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Green Score for Jeans based on Supply Chain Evaluation

A New York Times article (March 2, 2011) describes an effort to catalog the environmental impact of every step in the global supply chain of apparel, from cotton growth, to fabric, to dyes, textile manufacturing, packaging, shipping, retail through to … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why is the iPad the cheapest of the comparable tablets ?

A Wall Street Journal article (March 2, 2011) reports on a note by an analyst, Toni Sacconaghi, at Bernstein Research, on why the Apple iPad is the cheapest of the tablet products offered.  The article claims reasons for this cost … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Natural Gas extraction wastewater supply chain

A New York Times article (March 1, 2011) describes the supply chain of wastewater that is generated when hydrofracking – a process of injecting water and sand at high pressure to break rock formations and release natural gas.  In Pennsylvania, … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Overlapping programs and agencies in the US government and streamlining potential

A Wall Street Journal article (March 1, 2011) describes a new GAO (General Accounting office) report on overlapping  programs and their responsibilities across US govt agencies. The report lists 80 programs to help disadvantaged people with transport, 80 programs to … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment