Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Should the US government track the working conditions at its apparel suppliers ?

Posted on December 23, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times titled “Buying Overseas Clothing, US Flouts its own advice” (December 22, 2013) describes the $1.5 billion in clothing purchased by the US government and working conditions at its suppliers. Contracts for clothing for … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, mgmt5612018, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Apparel, audits, Bangladesh, Capacity, Cost, ethical sourcing, factory, mgmt5612018, Suppliers, US | 76 Comments

Retail Inventory of “Doc McStuffins” toys and impact

Posted on December 9, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek titled “This Christmas, Disney’s Doctor is In” (December 9, 2013) describes the quadrupling of retail shelf space for the Disney Toy Doc McStuffins – a toy girl that fixed broken toys, has a medical doctor mother … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Inventory, Retail, Risk, stockouts, Supply Chain, toy | 2 Comments

The impact of Airbus’s “asset value guarantees” for the Airbus 340

Posted on December 9, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek titled “Airbus May Need a Plaid Jacket” (December 9,2013) describes asset value guarantees that Airbus provided for buyers of the A 340 – which promised to compensate buyers of resale values were below a specified level. … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Airbus, airplane, Capacity, Cost, fuel costs, Inventory, Risk, Service, Supply Chain, upgrade | Leave a comment

Apparel factory fire in Prato, Italy

Posted on December 8, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times titled “Deadly Factory Fire Bares Racial Tensions in Italy” (December 8, 2013), describes a fire at an apparel factory in Prato that killed seven Chinese employees. The factory had windows that were blocked … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized | Tagged Apparel, Cost, Global, Italy, manufacturing, Outsourcing, regulation, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

The potential impact of copper concentrate stockpiles in China on copper prices

Posted on December 7, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “China’s Stock and Ore for Copper Prices” (November 22,2013) describes the over two months of copper concentrate (crushed copper ore) in inventory at China’s new smelters as against the usual two to … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, China, Copper, Cost, Global, Growth, Inventory, manufacturing, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Making apparel in the USA and retail prices

Posted on December 7, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times titled “That ‘Made in the USA’ Premium (December 1,2013) describes the growth in US manufacturing of higher end apparel but the continued difficulty in domestic production of lower cost items. It cites production … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Consumers, Cost, domestic sourcing, Global, manufacturing, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 50 Comments

Should independent bookstores sell Amazon’s Kindles ?

Posted on November 7, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times titled “An Offer from Amazon to its Most Bitter Rivals” (November 7,2013) describes an offer by Amazon to independent bookstores to sell Kindles in return for one of two options – a 6% … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged bookstores, Collaboration, competition, Consumers, Cost, disruption, ebooks, Ecommerce, Kindle, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Traditional vs transparent Pharmacy Benefit Management companies

Posted on November 5, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Fortune magazine titled “Painful Prescription” (October 28,2013) describes a traditional pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), Express Scripts and a transparent PBM, Envision Pharmaceutical Services. Transparent PBMs charge a fixed fee for processing prescriptions while traditional PBMs make money … Continue reading →

Posted in Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Margins, PBM, pharmaceuticals, regulation, Service, Suppliers, Supply Chain, transparent | Leave a comment

Burning wood with coal to comply with EPA emissions rules

Posted on November 5, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times titled “Power plants try burning wood with coal to cut carbon emissions” (November 4, 2013), describes the use of sawdust and wood chunks along with coal to reduce carbon emissions in US power … Continue reading →

Posted in Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged Capacity, coal, Consumers, Cost, Design, regulation, Sustainable, wood | Leave a comment

The EU regulation harmonization and the story of lawnmower decibel limits

Posted on October 16, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times titled “Why Europe needs cross-border lawnmower regulations” (October 16, 2013) describes a law setting the maximum noise level generated by lawn mowers. The limits were in response to German laws demanding lower decibel levels … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, European Union, Global, Imports, lawnmowers, manufacturing, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment