Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

WalMart and Healthy Food

Posted on January 20, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (January 20, 2011, B1) described WalMart’s announcement to lower salt, fat and  sugars in packaged foods and decrease prices of fruits and vegetables over the next five years. Specifically the company plans to reduce sodium … Continue reading →

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Slow Steaming, Extra Slow Steaming and Antitrust Exemption

Posted on January 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Supply Chain Digest article (January 13, 2011,http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/11-01-13-1.php?cid=4091) describes discussions between shipping carriers that transport between Asia and the US to slow down speeds and decrease their environmental impact. Slow steaming reduces speed from 25 knots to 18 knots and … Continue reading →

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U.S.Manufacturing jobs grow 1.2 %

Posted on January 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

A report in the Wall Street Journal (January 19, 2011) describes a 1.2 % growth in manufacturing jobs in the US in 2010, with a projected increase of 2.5 % in 2011. The article also states that while manufacturing output … Continue reading →

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Initiatives to protect the Global Supply Chain

Posted on January 18, 2011 by aviyer2010

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, wrote an Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal (Januray 6,2011) describing the challenges and efforts to protect the Global Supply Chain. Products ordered by consumers today may often involve components, subassemblies and packaging … Continue reading →

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US Factory Output, Capacity Utilization Increases

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (January 15,2011) reports that US factory output rose 0.8 % in December (from November).  Capacity utilization was reported to increase to 76 % from 75.4 % in November and business inventories increased 0.2 … Continue reading →

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The weak dollar vs Yen and Toyota’s production decisions

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An Associated Press article (January 15,2011, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Toyota-Rising-yen-could-force-apf-1661264517.html?x=0) describes the impact of the current 83 yen to the dollar exchange rate on Toyota’s decisions regarding production. Toyota has the largest Japanese production of all Japanese automakers, and the strong yen decreases … Continue reading →

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Rice Husk Power Supply Chain in India

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in The New York Times (“A Light in India”, January 10,2011) describes a sustainable supply chain for electric power in the state of Bihar, India.  A short summary of the article – “In the past, over 1.8 billion … Continue reading →

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Plug-In Hybrids – how clean are they ?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Fast Company (Ariel Schwartz, January 13,2011) summarizes a  MIT study (http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/reports/transport-electrification.html) that tracks the sources of electricity that will power electric plug-in cars.  Plug-ins using alternate energy sources such as nuclear, biomass etc are estimated in the … Continue reading →

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Energy Efficiency for troop tents to save fuel convoys

Posted on January 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

An Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (January 13,2011) describes the over 1,000 US troops who have been killed on fuel related missions. The author, Steven Anderson, proposes a solution – using foam insulation on the exteriors of bases … Continue reading →

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“Back to Basics” at Uniqlo Japan

Posted on January 13, 2011 by aviyer2010

Businessweek (Jan 10, 2011, page 16) describes the travails at Uniqlo, a division of Fast Retailing in Japan. The firm is repoted to be Asia’s largest retailer and is known for its low-priced casual “basic” apparel.  But competition from Zara and … Continue reading →

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