Category Archives: Sustainability

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 →

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

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 →

Posted in Collaboration, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , | 48 Comments

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 →

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

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 →

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

US Solar panel producer closes MA plant

Posted on January 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (January 15,2011) describes closure of the MA plant of Evergreen Solar – that shifted production to a plant in China.   The article reports that company had plans to decrease its costs from $ … Continue reading →

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

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 →

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

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 →

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

Rare Earths Elimination in Electric Motors by Toyota

Posted on January 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (January 14,2011) describes imminent breakthroughs announced by Toyota in eliminating use of rare earth metals in electric motors for hybrids.  This is a response to earlier reports claiming decreased exports of rare earths by China … Continue reading →

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

Rare Earths Sourcing in Japan

Posted on January 13, 2011 by aviyer2010

Businessweek (Jan 10, 2011, page 9) has an article discussing the supply of rare earth metals (neodymium, dysprosium etc).  China supplies 97 % of the world’s demand for rare earth metals – but cut exports by 72 % in 2010 … Continue reading →

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

Recycled Paper Availability and Supplier Partnerships

Posted on January 12, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Page B5, January 10, 2011) focuses on the collaboration with suppliers of recycled paper that paper company SCA – which uses the fiber to make recycled paper for napkins, toilet paper etc.  By investing in … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Service Operations, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment