Tag Archives: Capacity

Climate change risks and disclosure rules

An article in the New York Times (Feb 1, 2012) describes a requirement by California to require insurance companies to report on their plans to mitigate the impact of climate change. The data shows that by June 2011, the insurance claims … Continue reading

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Bringing manufacturing back to the US — and associated profitability

An Accenture report titled “Manufacturing’s Secret Shift” reports a survey that shows that 49 % of respondents faced delivery time issues and 46 % faced quality issues associated with outsourced manufacturing.  In addition, 73 % faced material cost increases and … Continue reading

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WTO disapproval of China’s use of GATT to justify export controls of metals

An article in the New York Times (Jan 30, 2012) describes a decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China’s use of export controls for zinc, bauxite etc t0 incent manufacturers to locate plants within China.  Use of GATT … Continue reading

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Coal, barges and the global supply chain

An article in Fortune (Dec 26,2011) describes the US barge industry, with each barge having a capacity 15 to 17 times a railcar and more than 60 times a truck, using less fuel per mile and thus lower emissions and … Continue reading

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Apple’s public release of its supplier audit and impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Jan 16, 2012) describes Apple’s decision to publicly release its supplier audit. The report includes 229 audits in China and problems with 112 locations and requires suppliers to (a) improve conditions at plants, … Continue reading

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The Berry Amendment for US Army sourcing and global supply chain impact

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Jan 16,2012) describes the impact of the Berry Amendment, a 1941 amendment requiring self sufficiency of Army supplies.  A current plan to have combat clothing made of silk to reduce the impact of IEDs (improvised explosive … Continue reading

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Solarthermal approach to store solar energy and supply chain impact

An article in the New York Times (Jan 4, 2012) describes solarthermal techonolgy- using  salt to store the heat generated from solar energy, with release of this heat to create electricity at a later time.The resulting heat can be used … Continue reading

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Free ecommerce shipping, online sales, supply chain impact

An article in the New York Times (Jan 4, 2012) describes the 15 % growth in ecommerce sales this year compared to last year. 92% of the online sites offered free shipping and retruns. The resulting surge caused FedEx to … Continue reading

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Caterpillar’s US plant labor costs vs Canadian costs

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Jan 7, 2012) describes Caterpillar’s assertion tha labor costs in its US plants are 50% of the costs in Canada. Given the Canadian plant’s lack of global competitiveness due to labor rule inflexibility, … Continue reading

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Corn Storage Capacity increase and supply chain impact

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Jan 9, 2012) describes a significant increase in corn storage capacity at the farm level. The result, farmers hold their crop to sell at the best price, thus corn prices have increased 23 % over the … Continue reading

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