Tag Archives: Capability

US Battery companies “shocked” by low demands and high costs ?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Dec 5, 2011) describes the plight of US battery companies, funded by over $ 2.4 billion in Federal grants, but struggling to win contracts from automakers. In the case of Ener1, low sales … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged automobiles, Capability, Capacity, competition, Cost, Global, Growth, Risk, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Slow down Postal delivery to save USPS ?

Posted on December 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in CNNMoney (http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/05/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_t2) describes a proposal by the US Postal service to change the delivery guarantee for first class mail from the current one to three days to a slower two to five days. The slower delivery will … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, competition, Consumers, Cost, Outsourcing, regulation, Service, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Walmart’s environmental efforts in China and US retail impact

Posted on November 26, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Atlantic (December 2011) suggests that 70 % of Walmart’s $420 billion in sales are provided by 20,000 Chinese suppliers. Walmart’s efforts at decreasing waste, pollution etc thus impact its supply chain in China significantly, and increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged Capability, Capacity, China, Collaboration, Consumers, Cost, Global, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Topitop – the “Andean Zara” in Peru ?

Posted on November 16, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (nov 14, 2011) describes the growth in the middle class from 41% to 51% of the population in the last decade in Latin America. Defined as people earning 45 % to 70% of the per … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, competition, Consumers, Latin America, manufacturing, Retail, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Apple’s supply chain strategy – more insights

Posted on November 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 7,2011) describes Apple’s plans to invest $ 7.1 billion in its supply chain and commit $ 2.4 billion in prepayments to suppliers. It describes Apple’s decisions to buy such large volumes of high-end drills that … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Apple, Capability, competition, Consumers, Cost, Global, Growth, manufacturing, Margins, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Apple’s use of supply chain as a strategic weapon

Posted on October 25, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (24 Oct 2011) describes Apple’s low price strategy – iPhone 4GS priced at $199, iPads at $499 etc, with competitors barely managing to match prices for similar or lower specification products. The article suggests that … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Capacity, competition, Global, manufacturing, Risk, Service, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Strategies to decrease procurement costs – not just a price focus

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

In a talk by Mr Haaije van der Brug, Procurement Manager for Shell in Russia, on October 18, 2011, he described the 40/40/20 practice at Shell. The claim is that cost savings are generated only 20 % of the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Collaboration, competition, Cost, Design, Global, Service, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 21 Comments

Amazon.com – the WalMart of the web ?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 1, 2011) reports that Amazon.com’s are 11 % lower than other retailers with physical stores for 100 products selected randomly. The prices at Amazon were even lower compared to store websites. Amazon.com’s low profit margin, scale, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, competition, Ecommerce, Margins, Retail, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment

Otis decides to return manufacturing to an American plant

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal (Oct 6, 2011) report describes a decision by Otis to move production from Mexico to South Carolina. Reasons cited include (a) 70 % of its customers will be closer to the new plant, (b) Freight and … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Capacity, Consumers, Cost, freight, Global, logistics, manufacturing, Outsourcing, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

“Surge and Purge” contractors for defense services

Posted on October 1, 2011 by aviyer2010

A BloombergBusinessweek article (Sept 5, 2011) describes the approach in the Pentagon to use “surge and purge” services offered by CACI International and ManTech International. These companies provide the capability required for the specified time frame and are available on … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Capacity, Cost, Demand Surge, Global, military, Outsourcing, Service, Supply Chain | Leave a comment