Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Electronic Medical Records cost impact and the benefit of mining information

An article in the New York Times (January 17,2013) refers to a report from the RAND corporation that suggests that shifting to electronic medical records make increase health care cost. But is also suggests that the data collected from patient … Continue reading

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How should the excess steel capacity problem be solved ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (November 28, 2012) describes the glut in steel capacity -an estimated 1.8 billion tons, compared to demand which is 1.5 billion tons. The reason, fragmented capacity with the top five companies comprising 18.2 … Continue reading

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The elections, toy introduction delays and preorders this holiday season

An article in the New York Times ( November 20, 2012) describes the increased media buys by candidates this election and thus delays in advertising toys. The focus on detecting hits by manufacturers and retailers is thus claimed to require … Continue reading

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American flagged or American controlled ships to move military cargo globally?

An article in the New York Times (November 19, 2012) describes decision by the US military to use US flagged ships to move military cargo, thus providing billions in fees for US ships. But 82% of the ships are controlled … Continue reading

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Setting up a supply chain of transformers to transmit power during a grid failure

An article in the New York Times (November 16,2012) describes a recently unclassified National Academy report describing the vulnerability of the US power grid. Solutions described include custom step up and step down generators to maintain transmission across the grid … Continue reading

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Will shifting designs from ODMs to OEMs improve PC industry competitiveness ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (November 16,2012) describes slumping PC demand and a decision by OEMs such as HP and Acer to assume control of their product design details. In the past, ODMs (Original Design manufacturers) such as … Continue reading

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How suppliers sometimes overestimate their power in a supply chain

The New York Times (November 21,2012) describes the role, in 1861, of Southern US cotton growers who supplied cotton to British mills and imported household furniture, thus serving as a source of supply and demand. In April 1861, when the … Continue reading

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Same day delivery by the US Postal service and impact

An article in the Associated Press (November 23, 2012) describes a plan by the US Postal service to offer same day delivery – with items picked up from retailers and dropped off to customers in the same metropolitan area the … Continue reading

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Argentina’s DJIA system for imports and supply chain impact

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (November 12, 2012) describes the DJIA system (initials of the Spanish law) that requires each importer to compensate with an equivalent amount of exports. Thus, a bicycle manufacturer who imports parts compensates with the export of … Continue reading

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The Mad Max Economy and supply chains

An article in the New York Times (November 11,2012) describes the Mad Max Economy that focuses on the impact of bad events such as Hurricane Sandy – when generators,kerosene heaters, radios, batteries, candles and industrial fans see demands soar. But … Continue reading

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