Author Archives: aviyer2010

About aviyer2010

Dean and H. William Lichtenberger Chair in Management at the School of Management, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

Are southern US states now the “least expensive production sites in the industrialized world”?

Posted on September 7, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (September 4, 2014) titled “The U.S. South Rises as a Manufacturing Hub” describes an article by BCG’s Harold Sirkin claiming that South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee represent the “least expensive production sites in the industrialized world”, … Continue reading →

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

“Parcel” aims to mediate between shipper, carrier and customer

Posted on September 7, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Mashable.com (February 12,2014) and available at http://mashable.com/2014/02/12/parcel/ describes the company Parcel (https://fromparcel.com/) that permits customers to have their online packages delivered to a Parcel shipping address. Customers then provide details such as preferred delivery time, doorbell ring or … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer, Cost, Ecommerce, logistics, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | 25 Comments

Verifying conflict-free refiners proves difficult for the US Commerce Department

Posted on September 6, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 6, 2014) titled “Conflict Minerals Prove Hard to Track” descries the Commerce Department list of over 400 refiners with a statement that finding which smelters have minerals that can be tracked to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cost, Global Contexts, Liability, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged conflict-free, Legislation, Tracing | Leave a comment

US Postal service to deliver Amazon groceries between 3 and 7 am

Posted on September 6, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 6,2014) titled “U.S. Mail Delivers Amazon Groceries in Test” describes a pilot in which US Mail delivers containers of grocery including meat and dairy in San Francisco. The deliveries take place between … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Collaboration, Ecommerce, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, truck | Tagged Amazon, grocery | 2 Comments

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