Monthly Archives: November 2011

Fair trade usa vs fair trade international – flexibility or selling out ?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 7,2011) describes a decision by the Fair Trade USA group to break away from Fair Trade International and enable growth of large OEMs and retailers. This requires permitting fair trade labels on chocolate bars that … Continue reading →

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US Natural gas production and the return of manufacturing ?

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 7, 2011) describes the rise of shale gas extraction, suing fracking, and the US becoming the world’s largest natural gas producer. With natural gas becoming a low priced energy alternative to coal, with lower greenhouse gas emissions … Continue reading →

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Fiat’s Italian auto productivity vs Poland’s auto workers

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Bloombergbusinessweek article (Oct 31-Nov 6,2011, pg 30) describes Fiat’s Italian workers producing 30 cars per year per worker, earning 3 times their Polish counterparts and operating at 33 % of capacity. In contrast, Polish workers produce 100 cars per … Continue reading →

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Chinese oversight of US sources of apple juice in the global supply chain

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the wall street journal (Nov 4,2011) states that 72 % of US apple juice is sourced from China, and is part of over $3.2 billion in food imports. But concerns about food quality has caused the US … Continue reading →

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Rare earth mountains and Federal supply chain assistance ?

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

A bloombergbusinessweek article (Oct 31-Nov 6, 2011, pg 85) describes a private company’s attempt to mine rare earths from the Bokan montain in Alaska. The mountain represents the highest purity source of rare earths in the US.  But China represents … Continue reading →

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Thai floods, supply chain and insurance impact

Posted on November 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Nov 3, 2011) describes the floods in Thailand impacting 25% of the world’s supply of hard drives. The Honda plant’s water damage impacted global supply of components, and a plant in Brazil had … Continue reading →

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OEMs, Yuan contracts and supplier costs

Posted on November 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Oct 3, 2011) describes China’s attempts to make the Yuan a global currency and its role in supplier contracts. Current rules to buy and sell yuan involve a lot of paperwork, as a result … Continue reading →

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