Author Archives: aviyer2010

Unknown's avatar

About aviyer2010

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

Rice Husk Power Supply Chain in India

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in The New York Times (“A Light in India”, January 10,2011) describes a sustainable supply chain for electric power in the state of Bihar, India.  A short summary of the article – “In the past, over 1.8 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

US Solar panel producer closes MA plant

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (January 15,2011) describes closure of the MA plant of Evergreen Solar – that shifted production to a plant in China.   The article reports that company had plans to decrease its costs from $ … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Plug-In Hybrids – how clean are they ?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Fast Company (Ariel Schwartz, January 13,2011) summarizes a  MIT study (http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/reports/transport-electrification.html) that tracks the sources of electricity that will power electric plug-in cars.  Plug-ins using alternate energy sources such as nuclear, biomass etc are estimated in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Energy Efficiency for troop tents to save fuel convoys

Posted on January 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

An Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (January 13,2011) describes the over 1,000 US troops who have been killed on fuel related missions. The author, Steven Anderson, proposes a solution – using foam insulation on the exteriors of bases … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rare Earths Elimination in Electric Motors by Toyota

Posted on January 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (January 14,2011) describes imminent breakthroughs announced by Toyota in eliminating use of rare earth metals in electric motors for hybrids.  This is a response to earlier reports claiming decreased exports of rare earths by China … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Back to Basics” at Uniqlo Japan

Posted on January 13, 2011 by aviyer2010

Businessweek (Jan 10, 2011, page 16) describes the travails at Uniqlo, a division of Fast Retailing in Japan. The firm is repoted to be Asia’s largest retailer and is known for its low-priced casual “basic” apparel.  But competition from Zara and … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rare Earths Sourcing in Japan

Posted on January 13, 2011 by aviyer2010

Businessweek (Jan 10, 2011, page 9) has an article discussing the supply of rare earth metals (neodymium, dysprosium etc).  China supplies 97 % of the world’s demand for rare earth metals – but cut exports by 72 % in 2010 … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Probing Insider Trading based on Supply Data

Posted on January 12, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (November 24, 2010) describes the SEC probe of “channel check” as potential criminal activity. The article describes such data for Apple – forecasts of the “build plans” are used to project upcoming production volumes iPads … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Can “Buy American” Hurt US firms ?

Posted on January 12, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 16,2009) desribes the “Buy American” laws that are part of the US government’s stimulus package.  But companies whose supply chains include Canadian suppliers, like Aquarius, a manufacturer of sewage treatment equipment, are … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Temporary Stores by Toys R Us for the Holiday Season

Posted on January 12, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (September 15,2009) describes a plan by Toys R Us to open 350 temporary stores that will stay open during the holiday season and then shut down.  The stores will be smaller and will carry the … Continue reading →

Posted in Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment