Category Archives: Global Contexts

London’s port expansion and volume aspirations

Posted on June 12, 2013 by aviyer2010

A video in the Financial Times (June 11, 2013) describes the expansion of London’s port by Dubai based DP World. The new port is claimed to be the largest logistics park in Europe and appropriate for the UK, given that … Continue reading →

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Shortage of TB drugs in India – a major producer of these drugs

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 6,2013) describes severe shortages of tuberculosis (TB) drugs in India, a country that is a major producer of TB drugs. TB kills a significant number of Indians and the government has been … Continue reading →

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Should the US restrict LNG exports to assist higher margin plastics exports ?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 3,2013) describes efforts by chemical companies like Dow Chemicals to argue against US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) given the abundance of natural gas in the US. These chemical companies produce polymers and plastics … Continue reading →

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Improving airline travel in Europe

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 3,2013) describes the delays in Europe caused by the 37 countries with 63 air traffic control units that do not have a common authority. Improving performance requires coordinating landings and takeoffs with … Continue reading →

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Palm oil using manufacturer constraints impact Indonesia’s forests

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 3,2013) describes sourcing restrictions for palm oil by Nestle, Unilever and Cargill which bans palm oil grown in virgin rain forest land. The impact is a move by the Indonesian government to ban virgin rain … Continue reading →

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Are European manufacturers globally competitive in making premium components or products ?

Posted on May 29, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (May 29, 2013) describes a collection of Italian manufacturers – Luxottica for eyewear, Sogefi for premium auto parts and Guala Closures for premium bottle caps that prevent counterfeiting. They compete globally to make premium … Continue reading →

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US forests to fuel European power plants – a green supply chain ?

Posted on May 29, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 28, 2013) describes exports of US forest generated pellets to replace coal in European power plants as Europe cuts down on fossil fuel use and tries to decrease emissions of carbon dioxide. … Continue reading →

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Vertical integration in the US global pharmacy supply chain and impact

Posted on May 22, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2013) describes an alliance between Walgreens, Alliance Boots and AmerisourceBergen to consolidate their global purchasing of generic and branded pharmaceuticals and sell them through their US Walgreens retail stores and AllianceBoots … Continue reading →

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Cadmium in Chinese rice – what should a consumer do ?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 20, 2013) describes the problem of ‘cadmium rice” – a report that claims that 44 % of the rice tested had twice the level of cadmium (0.4 milligrams per kilogram) as considered … Continue reading →

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Can outsourced manufacturing compliance to agreements be crowdsourced ?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 20, 2013) describes companies such as LaborVoices and LaborLink that permit employees at manufacturing plants abroad to call in anonymously to report about working conditions. The companies then follow up to verify complaints and thus … Continue reading →

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