Category Archives: Global Contexts

Fiat’s Italian auto productivity vs Poland’s auto workers

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Bloombergbusinessweek article (Oct 31-Nov 6,2011, pg 30) describes Fiat’s Italian workers producing 30 cars per year per worker, earning 3 times their Polish counterparts and operating at 33 % of capacity. In contrast, Polish workers produce 100 cars per … Continue reading →

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Chinese oversight of US sources of apple juice in the global supply chain

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the wall street journal (Nov 4,2011) states that 72 % of US apple juice is sourced from China, and is part of over $3.2 billion in food imports. But concerns about food quality has caused the US … Continue reading →

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Rare earth mountains and Federal supply chain assistance ?

Posted on November 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

A bloombergbusinessweek article (Oct 31-Nov 6, 2011, pg 85) describes a private company’s attempt to mine rare earths from the Bokan montain in Alaska. The mountain represents the highest purity source of rare earths in the US.  But China represents … Continue reading →

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Thai floods, supply chain and insurance impact

Posted on November 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Nov 3, 2011) describes the floods in Thailand impacting 25% of the world’s supply of hard drives. The Honda plant’s water damage impacted global supply of components, and a plant in Brazil had … Continue reading →

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OEMs, Yuan contracts and supplier costs

Posted on November 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Oct 3, 2011) describes China’s attempts to make the Yuan a global currency and its role in supplier contracts. Current rules to buy and sell yuan involve a lot of paperwork, as a result … Continue reading →

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Federal response to vital Medicine shortages in US hospitals

Posted on October 31, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Oct 31, 2011) describes Federal attempts to ease shoratges of sterile injectables that constutue 74 % of drug shortages.  The government blames market concentration – 90 % of the medicines are bought by five hospital … Continue reading →

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Restructuring the global supply chain at Whirlpool

Posted on October 29, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 29, 2011) describes the extra capacity held by appliance makers anticipating a demand rebound from 25 % low in the US and a 15 % drop in Europe compared to past levels. But continued … Continue reading →

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Now Thai floods and Japanese auto supply chain impact

Posted on October 29, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 29, 2011) describes the impact of flooding in Thailand, which has resulted in two Sony plants deluged, Toyota suppliers impacted, a Honda plant impacted for six months etc. Given the disruption caused by the … Continue reading →

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Global Trade Financing Squeeze and Supply Chain Impact

Posted on October 29, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Jounral (Oct 29, 2011) describes the increase in the margins fior trade finance by a factor of thirty since 2008.  Trade finance provides letters of credit, export loans etc that finance global trade given … Continue reading →

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The Details in Free Trade Agreements with South Korea

Posted on October 25, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in BloombergBusinessweek (Oct24-20, 2011, page 30/31) describes details in the free trade agreement with South Korea that define a US made product. For instant hot chocolate, a US made definition requires at least 65 % of the sugar … Continue reading →

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