Category Archives: Operations Management

Toyota retools in Japan, plans for a weaker yen

Posted on October 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes efforts by Toyota to retool, reduce production batch size and plan to be competitive when the yen gets weaker. This strategy is counter to efforts by other automakers to move production … Continue reading →

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Yuan Appreciation, labor flexibility and back to US manufacturing

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes decisons a furniture manufacturer and high end earphone to move production back to the US. The reasons – a 30 % yuan appreciation from 2005 to 2011, US union flexibility and … Continue reading →

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Blocking generics by adding a second score

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 6, 2011) describes a decision by the firm Warner Chilcott, which sells tables for its drug Doryx, which was scheduled to go off patent, to add a second score on the tablet so it … Continue reading →

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How should retailers deal with the new “frugal consumer”

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes the emergence of the frugal consumer who buys what they need, focus on promotion purchases, avoid premium products, clip coupons and combine shopping trips to save on gas.  The impact of … Continue reading →

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Why are diaper sales dropping and diaper-rash ointment sales increasing ?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes sales decreases of 4 % for Kimberley Clark’s Huggies diapers and 2.5 % for Proctor and Gamble’s Pampers, and a 0.5 % drop in generic diapers. At the same time diaper-rash ointment sales … Continue reading →

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Sprint guarantees Apple it will take 30 million iPhones ?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes a guarantee by Sprint that it will buy at least 30.5 million iPhones in return for the opportunity to offer those phones on its network.  Such volumes in turn enable Apple … Continue reading →

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Estimating Apple’s potential revenue based on supply chain partner volumes

Posted on October 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Bloombergbusinessweek (Sept 12-16, 2011) article describes the Apple company forecast that sales will drop 12 % this quarter. But analysis of Apple’s outsourced supply base consisting og Foxconn, Samsung etc that provide 75 % of Apple’s cost of goods … Continue reading →

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Using cell phone minutes to save cash in Kenya

Posted on October 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Bloombergbusinessweek article (Sept 12-18, 2011) describes M-PESA – a service offered by Safaricom – Kenya’s largest cell phone company. The system allows a phone owner to save money in the form of cell phone minutes which can be transferred … Continue reading →

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Using Real time truck fleet data to decrease fuel costs

Posted on October 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Sept 12-18, 2011) describes used by the 10,000 fleet US Xpress trucking company. By adjusting truck temperatures during a driver 10 hour break to be 70 degrees the first two hours and 78-79 degrees after, the … Continue reading →

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Rising leather prices and supply chain impact

Posted on October 2, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Sept 19, 2011) describes the surge in leather prices – 21% in 2011 and 43 % in 2010. The reasons (a) decreased beef consumption in response to health concerns and income slowdown and thus reduced cattle … Continue reading →

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