Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Data Centers and their manufacturing impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (August 15, 2026) titled “Big Manufacturers find new demand in Equipping AI Data Centers”, describes the impact on Caterpillar, Eaton and Ford Motor company. Caterpillar’s electric generators and turbine engines, Cummins generators for … Continue reading

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Arctic Routes for ships and their impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (August 15, 2026) titled “China is Opening the First Regular Cargo Route through the Arctic”, describes the planned voyage of a Chinese ship, Dubai Tower, from Ningbo, China, to Felixstowe, U.K, through the … Continue reading

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New technology to use the entire cocoa fruit – who will it benefit ?

An article in the BBC news site (August 27, 2024) titled “Have Swiss scientists made a chocolate breakthrough?” describes new technology developed at the Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich that claims to use the rest of the coca fruit … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Cost, delivery, Prices, productivity, supplier, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability, technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Global freight charges surge in response to supply chain demand and supply disruptions

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 24, 2024) titled “Ocean Shipping Prices are Pushing Towards Pandemic-Era Highs” describes the doubling of freight from Asia to the East coast of the US. It suggests that the Houthi rebel ship … Continue reading

Posted in Air, Capacity, China, congestion, logistics, Made in USA, ordering, Prices, ship, supplier, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Climate change and its impact on olives, coffee and grapes

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 10, 2024) titled “Climate Change is Coming for the Finer Things in Life” describes heavy rains causing mildew that has destroyed grapes in Italy, hot weather and drought impacting olive groves and … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, Cost, disruption, Global Contexts, logistics, productivity, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Did Boeing favor “Speed over Quality” ?

An article in the New York Times (March 28, 2024) titled “”‘Shortcuts Everywhere’: How Boeing Favored Speed over Quality” describes examples of monthly production rates of the 737 Max increased from 42 in 2017 to 52 in 2018, suppliers pushed … Continue reading

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White house suggestions to reduce supply chain congestion

An article in the Wall Street Journal (February 24, 2022), titled “White House Lays Out Broad Changes to Address Supply-Chain Shortfalls” , describes several initiatives short, medium and long term,to deal with global container flows. In the short run, eliminating … Continue reading

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Managing small firm supply chain pressures

A Wall Street Journal article (February 22, 2022) titled “Worried About Inflation and Supply Constraints? Try Being a Small Business”, describes the longer supply lead times, how higher prices and higher demand, yet lower bank credit access. The article claims … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, competitiveness, delivery, disruption, manufacturer, Operations Management, Prices, Supply Chain Issues, technology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Manufacturers thinking holistically about opening in the New Normal

A report published by Purdue’s DCMME (https://tinyurl.com/y5579emz) describes an approach to leverage smart technology to enable manufacturers to operate as they open after the pandemic. The report describes process adjustments to prevent infection spread and rethinking the economics of technology … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, manufacturer, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 48 Comments

Building resilience in supply chains

A news report (https://tinyurl.com/y55ypho3) described six ways that supply chains can build in resilience to deal with the pandemic during the early days when suppliers in China were impacted. These include adjusting shipment modes, using alternate designs, building up inventory, … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, China, Coordination, disruption, logistics, product, ship, supplier, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 68 Comments