Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Are southern US states now the “least expensive production sites in the industrialized world”?

Posted on September 7, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (September 4, 2014) titled “The U.S. South Rises as a Manufacturing Hub” describes an article by BCG’s Harold Sirkin claiming that South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee represent the “least expensive production sites in the industrialized world”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, competitiveness, Global Contexts, Operations Management, productivity, Supply Chain Issues | Leave a comment

“Parcel” aims to mediate between shipper, carrier and customer

Posted on September 7, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Mashable.com (February 12,2014) and available at http://mashable.com/2014/02/12/parcel/ describes the company Parcel (https://fromparcel.com/) that permits customers to have their online packages delivered to a Parcel shipping address. Customers then provide details such as preferred delivery time, doorbell ring or … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer, Cost, Ecommerce, logistics, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | 25 Comments

Verifying conflict-free refiners proves difficult for the US Commerce Department

Posted on September 6, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 6, 2014) titled “Conflict Minerals Prove Hard to Track” descries the Commerce Department list of over 400 refiners with a statement that finding which smelters have minerals that can be tracked to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cost, Global Contexts, Liability, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged conflict-free, Legislation, Tracing | Leave a comment

US Postal service to deliver Amazon groceries between 3 and 7 am

Posted on September 6, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 6,2014) titled “U.S. Mail Delivers Amazon Groceries in Test” describes a pilot in which US Mail delivers containers of grocery including meat and dairy in San Francisco. The deliveries take place between … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Collaboration, Ecommerce, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, truck | Tagged Amazon, grocery | 2 Comments

Rail delays and crop price impact

Posted on September 1, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (September 1, 2014) titled “Rail Delays Knock north US grain prices” describes speed reductions of 9% for Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF) and 11% for Canadian Pacific causing shipment delays. The backlog for BNSF was … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Grain, Operations Management, Prices, Railroad, Supply Chain Issues, Train | 7 Comments

Is Amazon vulnerable because it does not control last mile delivery ?

Posted on August 4, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in WIRED magazine (May 8, 2014) titled “Amazon Should Make the Postal Service Its Own Personal Courier” describes Amazon’s service vulnerability because it does not control outbound transportation from distribution centers, unlike WalMart. The UPS delivery slippage last … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Supply Chain, transport | 9 Comments

Will the SupplierPay program boost small business sales ?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (July 11, 2014) titled “Apple, Coca-Cola Among Firms Signed on to White House Plan for Small Suppliers”, describes a voluntary plan announced at the White House under which small suppliers would be paid … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Coordination, Cost, financing, payment terms, Quickpay, Risk, SupplierPay, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 19 Comments

Amazon’s 1 cent shipping in France

Posted on July 15, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in Slate (July 11, 2014), titled “France Banned Free Shipping. So Amazon made it cost 1 cent”, describes Amazon.com’s response to a new French law that bans free shipping and permits only bricks and mortar bookstores to offer … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged bookstores, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, France, Margins, prices, regulation, Supply Chain, transport | Leave a comment

Should “pay to delay” launch by branded pharma be considered illegal ?

Posted on July 11, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (July 10,2014) titled “EU fines drug makers over generics”, describes the $450 million fine levied in Servier, a branded producer of the blood pressure drug perindopril. The company is accused of buying up … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Cost, drugs, generics, manufacturing, patent, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Will the US catfish inspection program derail the TPP pact

Posted on June 28, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times on June 28, 2014 (“US Catfish Program Could Stymie Pacific Trade Pact, 10 Nations Say”) describes the Agriculture Department’s catfish inspection program that is being protested by Vietnam with support from Thailand, Philippines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Global, inspection, Quality, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment