The “Swissness” of watches made in Switzerland

Posted on April 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 28, 2012) describes plans to change the current “Swiss-made” labeling requiring 50 % of the value of movement to be made in Switzerland, with new 80% requirement. Swiass watches account for 3 % of the units but 50 % of the $40 billion watch market. But Swatch dominates the Swiss movement manufacturing and has announced plans to cut supply of components (described in earlier blogs). In addition, luxury watch sales in China are booming. So is this new law an attempt to protect the Swiss watch industry or enable further dominance by Swatch ? Will increasing the need for smaller players to invest in capital equipment in Switzerland enable the industry to become more globally competitive or will it increase costs and cause a fall in variety and thus competitiveness ? Will such Swissness constraints hurt the opportunity to sell in China or will it increase the benefit given the new Chinese consumers need for genuine luxury products ?

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McDonalds and their supply chain visibilty strategy

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek(April 23, 2012) describes pressures on McDonalds to identify its food supply chain. Chipotle focuses on its meat being obtained from pen free and cage free organic cources and vegetables from farms within 350 miles. Five Guys Burgers focuses on locations of farms growing their potatoes. But McDonalds serves 9 million lbs of fries a day. Will McDonalds benefit from such a supply chain visibility strategy given its volume ? Should an alternate strategy that computes sustainable supply chains be adopted – highlighting the importance of volume on economies of scale and efficient processing ?

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The global garbage supply chain

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An essay in the Wall Street Journal (April 18,2012) describes computers as the top export from China to the US, and garbage as America’s greatest export to China. With Americans generating 7 lbs of garbage per person per day, New York City alone generates 12,000 tons of garbage that has to be trucked over 300 miles to landfills. Should solutions like those in Los Angeles, where a garbage mountain generates gas that can be used for power generation be considered the solution ? Or should new plasma technologies that convert garbage by shrinking it 99% be subsidized to provide the answer ? Or will it require reduced packaging and less disposable product designs to get ourselves out of the garbage trap ?

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An alternate plan to rescue the US Postal Service

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 17,2012) provides an alternative to the current plan to shut post offices and decase delivery days. The Pistal workers union suggests increasing stamp prices, providing delivery services for pharmaceutical delivery etc as ways to boost revenues. They also suggest that cutting services will get them into a spiral that will make them less competitive. Should the postal service, that has the lowest rates across the world, be permitted to set prices in line with world rates ? Should the postal service be allowed to compete in insurance and local deliveries – last mile service to assist small business go be competitive ? Or should the logic of complete access to all locations, a US Postal service mandate, be reconsidered ?

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Bangladesh – an emerging apparel manufacturer ?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 23,2012) describes the doubling of apparel exports from Bangladesh, compared to four years ago. Li & Fung, a manufacturer of apparel increased its procurement to over $1 billion in 2011, a 41% increase over the previous year. But will the disruptions and costs due to power cuts, potholed roads etc be compensated by the low wage rates compared go China ? Or will the growing middle class, and a growth rate of 6%, generate domestic consumption that justify sourcing in Bangladesh ?

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Coal supply issues, power supply and supply chain impact in India

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 19,2012) describes coal supply difficulties in India due to price controls on power, rising prices of Indonesian coal and lack of incentives to use natural gas. The impact – erratic power supplies that cause production to adjust to accomodate, thus increasing costs, or incur the higher costs for use of diesel fueled generators. The associated impact is blamed for a drop in India’s growth rates from 10% to 7%. Should Indian manufacturers accept power generated from generators as their stable source and thus increase their energy costs for production ? Should coal supplies that are imported be subsidized by the Indian government to guarantee power supply – an infrastructure role similar to transport ?

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Toys “R” Us retailing challenges – competitor impact

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 7,2012) describes competitors to Toys”R” Us, and the resulting sales challenges. Target and Wal-Mart have slashed toy prices, with Wal-Mart allowing layaway. Amazon.com continues to be aggressive in the toys category while also attacking diaper sales. Sales of electronic games like Nintendo have declined as kids switch to apps. Toys “R” Us has responded by increasing its share of private label (of KB Toys and FAO Schwarz brands it owns) to 50 % of sales and using pop-up stores during the holidays to permit shopping convenience. What credible competitive choices can Toys “R” Us make to survive ? Can custom toys or Build-A-Bear type options enable the store to become a destination ? Or should the company move to toys rental – similar to Toygaroo ?

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Wal-Mart, the Environmental Defense Fund and sustainable supply chains

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 14, 2012) describes a partnership between the Environmental Defense Council (EDF) and Wal-Mart, as the retailer attempt to make its supply chain more sustainable. Wal-Mart would like to get to zero waste, 100% alternate energy and 20 % reduction in greenhouse gases and double its fuel efficiency. While EDF will have no contributions from Wal-Mart or other corporations, Wal-Mart’s improvements and direct measurement of its success provide tangible improvements to the environment. Wal-Mart claims an 80% recycling of waste, 60 % improvement in fuel efficiency from 2000 levels, 12.8 % reduction of greenhouse gases and 15 % renewable energy use. If Wal-Mart’s efforts decrease consumer costs and results in even more consumption, should that be treated as a sustainable supply chain ? Given that consumers seem to like sustainable products, but are not willing to pay the price, should these savings be used to pay for the potential cost increases, if any, for bio-friendly products ? Do you see the goal of these efforts to enable Wal-Mart to be positioned as a consumer destination i.e., are these efforts a more effective advertising approach ?

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Service constraints abroad and market access impact

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 10,2012) describes restrictions on flight paths for UPS in China, and the consequent service disruption due to bad weather. The lack of route flexibility thus impacts service guarantees offered by UPS. Given that unreliable delivery hurts product and service competitiveness, should this service constraint be treated as an export tax on US goods ? Similarly, if US insurance companies were restricted to one territory per year in China, and thus not able to follow their clients across the country, does that hurt US goods ? In short, should the US government focus on constraints on service companies as a tax on manufactured exports ?

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The potential impact of capping patient co-pay on drug prices

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 12,2012) describes efforts to cap the patient co-pay amounts to shield them from he high cost of specialty drugs – that account for 1% of the units sold but 17 % of the cost. Opponents claim that the only beneficiaries will be pharmaceutical companies, who will be shielded from the demand impact of their costs. But others claim that this will put pressure on health insurance companies to adjust their margins. Will caps on patient co-pays prevent customers from being forced to forgo treatment or will they decrease availability of such treatments altogether ? Are pharmaceutical companies let off the hook by such rules ? How should one infuse competition in these markets, given the high research costs for discovery and approval of these drugs ?

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