Monthly Archives: October 2011

Near Net Zero at Frito-Lay’s Casa Grande, Arizona plant

Posted on October 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Sustainable Life Media (Oct 8, 2011) describes efforts at Frito Lay’s plant to reduce its energy and water impact. 67 % of the energy used comes from renewable sources – solar power. 75 % of the water … Continue reading →

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Amazon.com – the WalMart of the web ?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 1, 2011) reports that Amazon.com’s are 11 % lower than other retailers with physical stores for 100 products selected randomly.  The prices at Amazon were even lower compared to store websites. Amazon.com’s low profit margin, scale, the … Continue reading →

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Airline sustainability goals and biofuel role

Posted on October 9, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Green Column, Oct 9, 2011) describes the airline industry goal to become “carbon neutral” by 2020 and cut emissions by 50 % by 2050, given that they account for 2 % of all human generated … Continue reading →

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The Impact of concentration in the Global Electronics Supply Chain

Posted on October 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 8, 2011) describes how concentration of manufacturing by Taiwanese firms has enabled price decreases and feature increases faster than chip prices. At HTC, new product development time has dropped by six months compared to two … Continue reading →

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Toyota retools in Japan, plans for a weaker yen

Posted on October 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes efforts by Toyota to retool, reduce production batch size and plan to be competitive when the yen gets weaker. This strategy is counter to efforts by other automakers to move production … Continue reading →

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Yuan Appreciation, labor flexibility and back to US manufacturing

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes decisons a furniture manufacturer and high end earphone to move production back to the US. The reasons – a 30 % yuan appreciation from 2005 to 2011, US union flexibility and … Continue reading →

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Blocking generics by adding a second score

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 6, 2011) describes a decision by the firm Warner Chilcott, which sells tables for its drug Doryx, which was scheduled to go off patent, to add a second score on the tablet so it … Continue reading →

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Otis decides to return manufacturing to an American plant

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal (Oct 6, 2011) report describes a decision by Otis to move production from Mexico to South Carolina. Reasons cited include (a) 70 % of its customers will be closer to the new plant, (b) Freight and … Continue reading →

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How should retailers deal with the new “frugal consumer”

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes the emergence of the frugal consumer who buys what they need, focus on promotion purchases, avoid premium products, clip coupons and combine shopping trips to save on gas.  The impact of … Continue reading →

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Why are diaper sales dropping and diaper-rash ointment sales increasing ?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes sales decreases of 4 % for Kimberley Clark’s Huggies diapers and 2.5 % for Proctor and Gamble’s Pampers, and a 0.5 % drop in generic diapers. At the same time diaper-rash ointment sales … Continue reading →

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