Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Overlapping programs and agencies in the US government and streamlining potential

Posted on March 1, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (March 1, 2011) describes a new GAO (General Accounting office) report on overlapping  programs and their responsibilities across US govt agencies. The report lists 80 programs to help disadvantaged people with transport, 80 programs to … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

New retail outlets for book publishers – apparel, hardware stores

Posted on February 28, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (February 28, 2011) describes book publishers use of apparel retailers (Marc Jacobs, Kitson, Urban Outfitters), hardware stores (Lowe’s Pro Bass Shops) as outlets for book sales.  The decline of Borders, and the increased focus on … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Commodity Trader Glencore’s role in the global supply chain

Posted on February 27, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (February 27, 2011) describes the role of Glencore, a commodity trading company. Glencore provides raw materials supply to OEMs (ArcelorMittal, Sony, Chevron etc) from raw materials suppliers, managing the risk of weather, price … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are Consumers using products longer ? What is the Impact ?

Posted on February 26, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (February 26, 2011) provides data suggesting that consumers are waiting longer to replace products – 4.5 months longer for cars, 2 months longer for cellphones and one month longer for laptops.  Some of the reasons … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Targeted Emissions cuts before general carbon focused cuts

Posted on February 24, 2011 by aviyer2010

The Economist (February 17,2011) suggests that piecemeal focused emissions reductions of specific gases may generate fast results while building a more general consensus. For example,the article cites HFC-134a as a gas 1,000 times more warming than carbon dioxide. Similarly, carbon … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Emissions Rules Relaxation and Industry Impact

Posted on February 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (February 23, 2011) describes the current EPA emissions rules – rolling back requirements for industrial boilers, incinerators etc.  The impact is to permit many plants, municipalities, universities etc to reduce their costs of compliance – … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fewer car dealers, higher dealer sales, how about the customer

Posted on February 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (February 23, 2011) describes growth in demand at car dealerships – the result of the auto recovery but also the elimination of about 20 % of the dealers the last few years and elimination of … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sick workers at Apple’s supplier and OEM’s responsibility

Posted on February 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (February 23, 2011) describes worker complaints at an Apple supplier, Wintek, and their plant in China that uses the n-hexane agent to cleaning glass panels for the Apple iPhone.  The cleaning agent was used for … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Pepsico’s guaranteed price corn purchases from small farmers in Mexico

Posted on February 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (February 22, 2011) describes Pepsico’s guaranteed price purchase (upfront) of corn from small farmers in Mexico. The farmers use the contract to buy seeds, fertilizer and equipment. Buying from these farms close to … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Choosing the Apple option or the Google option – a quandry for publishers

Posted on February 21, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (February 21, 2011) summarizes two choices for publishers wanting electronic magazine sales – go through the iTunes store and pay Apple 30 % and get no consumer information, or go through Google and … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment