Author Archives: aviyer2010

About aviyer2010

Professor

Should we expect US logistics costs to increase in 2014 ?

Posted on September 5, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Supply Chain Digest (September 5,2014) by Dan Gilmore lists several recent price pressures on US transportation. He lists a 22.6% cost increase accounted by a combination of a 14% wage increase due to driver shortages, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Cost, logistics, Prices, Railroad, Train, truck | 16 Comments

Will the global package business model offered by “manyship.com” be sustainable ?

Posted on September 1, 2014 by aviyer2010

The website http://www.manyship.com describes a system in which individual travelers post their planned trip, shippers post their requirements and the available capacity is assigned to carry products between destinations. The company charges shippers $20 per pound and pays carriers $10 … Continue reading →

Posted in Air, Capacity, Cost, Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Liability, Service Operations | Leave a comment

Rail delays and crop price impact

Posted on September 1, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (September 1, 2014) titled “Rail Delays Knock north US grain prices” describes speed reductions of 9% for Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF) and 11% for Canadian Pacific causing shipment delays. The backlog for BNSF was … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Grain, Operations Management, Prices, Railroad, Supply Chain Issues, Train | 7 Comments

Is Amazon vulnerable because it does not control last mile delivery ?

Posted on August 4, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in WIRED magazine (May 8, 2014) titled “Amazon Should Make the Postal Service Its Own Personal Courier” describes Amazon’s service vulnerability because it does not control outbound transportation from distribution centers, unlike WalMart. The UPS delivery slippage last … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Supply Chain, transport | 9 Comments

Will the SupplierPay program boost small business sales ?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (July 11, 2014) titled “Apple, Coca-Cola Among Firms Signed on to White House Plan for Small Suppliers”, describes a voluntary plan announced at the White House under which small suppliers would be paid … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Coordination, Cost, financing, payment terms, Quickpay, Risk, SupplierPay, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 19 Comments

Amazon’s 1 cent shipping in France

Posted on July 15, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Slate (July 11, 2014), titled “France Banned Free Shipping. So Amazon made it cost 1 cent”, describes Amazon.com’s response to a new French law that bans free shipping and permits only bricks and mortar bookstores to offer … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged bookstores, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, France, Margins, prices, regulation, Supply Chain, transport | Leave a comment

Should “pay to delay” launch by branded pharma be considered illegal ?

Posted on July 11, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (July 10,2014) titled “EU fines drug makers over generics”, describes the $450 million fine levied in Servier, a branded producer of the blood pressure drug perindopril. The company is accused of buying up … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Cost, drugs, generics, manufacturing, patent, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

France’s laws to protect bookshops

Posted on July 11, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (July 10,2014) titled “The French do buy books. Real books”, describes two French laws, the “Lang Law” that says that book prices cannot be discounted more than 5%, and a new rule that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Service Operations | Tagged books, competition, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, France, regulation, Retail, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Will the US catfish inspection program derail the TPP pact

Posted on June 28, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times on June 28, 2014 (“US Catfish Program Could Stymie Pacific Trade Pact, 10 Nations Say”) describes the Agriculture Department’s catfish inspection program that is being protested by Vietnam with support from Thailand, Philippines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Global, inspection, Quality, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Surging prices for railcars as demand runs up against supply shortages

Posted on May 30, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 30,2014) titled “Driller’s Pain is Railcar Owner’s Gain”, describes 33% price increases for tank cars, 50% increases for cars hauling sand and 40% increases for grain hoppers. These price increases reflect the … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Demand Surge, Growth, railcar, regulation, Risk, Supply Chain, transport | Leave a comment