Category Archives: Global Contexts

Battery manufacturing capacity rampup and short and long term impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2012) describes the US government’s $ 1.26 billion investment in battery capacity, and demands for rapid ramp up and hiring to create 6400 jobs. The slow growth rate implied only 2000 … Continue reading

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Pipeline flow direction in Canada to accomodate tar sands output growth

A article in the Economist (May 26, 2012) describes the increased oil production from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, estimated to gow to 72 % of Canada’s output by 2020 (from 58 % now). But getting that oil, which … Continue reading

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The deceptive global supply chain for Mercury

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 28, 2012) describes the demand for mercury in Colombia, to extract small gold deposits, the lethal impact of vapors and errant disposal, and the global supply chain for its supply. Mercury exports were banned by … Continue reading

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Making TVs in Detroit ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2012) describes a decision by Element Electronics to assemble 46 inch flatscreen TVs, to be sold for $ 499 at Target, in a plant in Detroit. The company claims that the … Continue reading

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Uniqlo’s strategy for low priced apparel

An article in the New York Times (May 22, 2012) describes the Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo’s low price strategy for T-shirts ($ 9.90) and cashmere sweaters ($ 79.90). The company claims that it does not follow fashion fads but, instead, … Continue reading

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Global Twinning with a Belgian plant to improve a US steel mill

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2012) describe an approach called twinning, pairing a weaker and stronger plant to share productivity improvement methods, and thus increase productivity. ArcelorMittal paired their Burns Harbor plant in Indiana with a … Continue reading

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Will parents pay more for US made baby cribs ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2012) describes a decision by Stanley Furniture to move production of its baby cribs to Robbinsville, NC from China. Four reasons cited are (a) the worries about poor quality products (think … Continue reading

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The logic for making $ 39 hand mixers in the US

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2012) describes a decision by Whirlpool to move production of its hand mixers, that retail for $ 39, back to its plant in Greenville, Ohio. This decision was despite US wages … Continue reading

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Nature’s closed loop supply chain at the Palmyra Atoll

An article in the New York Times (May 19, 2012) describes a closed loop supply chain fosterd by nature. Birs, in this case red-footed boobies, nest high on the trees and feed on fish and squid. Their waste, guano, is … Continue reading

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Including the pesticide in the paint to fight malaria

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 21, 2012) describes a microcapsule technology to embed pesticides in paint developed by Inesfly Africa – a Spanish company. The technology embeds a mix of pesticides in microcapsules and releases them slowly – thus decreasing … Continue reading

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