Monthly Archives: March 2012

Nike’s knit shoe design and global supply chain impact

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (March 19,2012) describe the flyknit shoe design by Nike – whose upper is knit from thread as one piece, thus saving 35 parts and 66 % less waste. The reduced labor intensive assembly also makes US … Continue reading →

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Green jobs in the US Economy

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

The New York Times (March 22, 2012) describes a US government report that claims that there were 3.1 million green jobs in the US economy. Green jobs were defined as those involved in activities that either decrease energy consumption or … Continue reading →

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The forest food chain and noise pollution

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 26, 2012) describes the impact of noise pollution on the forest food chain consisting of pinyon pine trees and their pinyon nuts, scrub jays, mice and hummingbirds. Noise pollution seems to drive … Continue reading →

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The impact of post office cost and rule changes

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 26,2012) describes how different industry sectors might be impacted by decisions made by the post office. Greeting card manufacturers and drug distributors claim that increased post office rates will decrease their demand … Continue reading →

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“Pay for response” model for drug payment and consequences

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An Op-Ed by Sam Waksal in the New York Times (March 7,2012) suggests a pay for response model for drug payments, where the measurable impact of drugs would trigger payments. The author claims that such payment schemes would incent drug … Continue reading →

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How many US jobs did Apple create ?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 7,2012) describes a report by Apple claiming go have created 517,000 US jobs. While the number includes jobs created at glass panel and chip manufacturing plants at Corning and Samsung, it also … Continue reading →

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Will Apple succeed in changing supplier working conditions ?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 7,2012) describes pressures to improve Apple’s supplier, FoxConn’s working conditions, and the comparison to apparel supply chains. Unlike apparel supply chains, Apple’s products have higher margins, require quick response to design adjustments, … Continue reading →

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Minimum wage hikes across China and impact

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek ( March 12,2012) describes minimum wage hikes of 9% in Beijing, 14% in Shenzhen and 35% in Henan. Given the Chinese system where minimum wage is a local decision, and local demand supply conditions demanding such … Continue reading →

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The Jones Act of 1920 and today’s gas prices

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 11,2012) describes the impact of the 1920 Jones Act, that mandates use of US carriers, with US built ships and employing US cargo, for domestic cargo transport by sea. Thus, US oil … Continue reading →

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Multiple suppliers for the new iPad’s components

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 16,2012) describes a teardown of the new iPad – and shows multiple suppliers for memory chips and the high resolution display. Chips are provided by Qualcomm, Broadcom and Elpida, for example. Will … Continue reading →

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