Author Archives: aviyer2010

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“The New Oil” privatizing global water supply chains

Posted on October 17, 2010 by aviyer2010

The Oct 18, 2010 edition of Newsweek has an article titled “The New Oil” and describes a private supply chain to take water from Sitka, send it to a bottler near Mumbai, India for sale to customers in the Middle … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

iPad Sales Growth and Global Supply Chain Impact

Posted on October 13, 2010 by aviyer2010

iSuppli (weblink http://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/20/isuppli-boosts-ipad-sales-estimates-through-2012-to-nearly-100-million/) suggests a three year demand for iPads of 100 million units.  Even from the start of the year 2010 through the end, for a product whose category did not exist before its launch, the estimate is close … Continue reading →

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

Supplier Diversification and survival

Posted on October 13, 2010 by aviyer2010

A Financial Times article (“Suppliers Shift Gears to Survive”, FT, Oct 5,2010) describes small to medium sized firms struggle for survival. But it brings up an interesting issue – can firms that monitor participants in the supply chain (that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Baristas at Starbucks – “No More than two Drinks”

Posted on October 13, 2010 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 13,2010) reports current plans at Starbucks to improve the quality of drinks by making them fresher. The new process cuts batching – requiring milk be frothed separately for each order. It also restricts barista to … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Forever 21 and dual sourcing

Posted on October 10, 2010 by aviyer2010

The Oct 5 edition of the Wall Street Journal described “fast fashion” at Forever 21, a chain started by Korean immigrants in Los Angeles. The store was reported to have revenues of over $ 3 billion in 2010. The company … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tod’s – “A Shoemaker that walks”

Posted on October 10, 2010 by aviyer2010

The New York Times (Oct 8,2010) reported on Tod’s an Italian shoemaker that has maintained manufacturing in Italy, and does all of its design and development based on the founding family’s instinct for comfortable design. The company focuses on its … Continue reading →

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Outsourced Legal Services

Posted on October 1, 2010 by aviyer2010

A recent New York Times article described the outsourcing of legal work to lawyers in India. The concept of splitting white collar work into a standard and a customized component is interesting. A careful splitting of such work requires coordination … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Nespresso Coffee pods

Posted on October 1, 2010 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (August 20) talks about Nespresso and its rivals and their legal struggles. Nespresso’s coffee machines generate profits through sales of the coffee pods. Rivals are trying to create generic versions of these coffee … Continue reading →

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Multi-Channel Logistics at Nordstrom

Posted on October 1, 2010 by aviyer2010

In the August 24, 2010 issue, the New York times page B1 had an article titled “The Web as a Store Window – Nordstorm Links Online Inventory to the Real World”. The article describes how customers can look for a … Continue reading →

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