Tag Archives: Capacity

Plans to fix the US Postal System to avoid closure

A New York Times article (Sept 5, 2011) describes the financial crisis at the US Postal Service, which saw volumes decline by 22 % in the alst five years and is estimated to loose another 30 % of volume in the … Continue reading

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Struggling with recovery from the Tsunami – Honda vs the rest

A Wall Street Journal article (August 17, 2011) describes differences in the recovery from the tsunami across Nisaan, Toyota and Honda. While Nissan has 54 days of inventory in stock, Toyota has 34 days and Honda 18 days of supply.  … Continue reading

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Expand Capacity or shrink – a decision for Bremen Castings

A Wall Street Journal article (August 10, 2011) describes the choice made by Bremen Castings, a foundry in Indiana with $ 47.5 million in sales, that was choosing whether or not to undertake the largest capital project in their history … Continue reading

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“Piccolo bello” fims in Italy and regulation

A New York Times article (29 July 2011) describes the challenges faced by small Italian firms (“piccolo bello”) which form the backbone of the industry in Padua, Italy.  Firms face the need to work with 10 to 20 different government … Continue reading

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Dropping rare earth prices in China and supply chain impact

The Wall Street Journal (July 6, 2011) reports that rare earth metal prices in China dropped by as much as 7.2 %, a remarkable change from a short few months when China’s cut in exports created worries of global shortages … Continue reading

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Impact of the DOT delay rule on flight cancellations

An article in CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/06/13/tarmac.delays.cancellations/index.html?hpt=hp_bn12) describes the impact of the new Department of Transportation rile that penalizes airlines up to $ 27,500 per passenger for ground delays of more than three hours.  The result was a drop in such delays … Continue reading

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Volkswagen’s considers building the Audi in it’s US plant

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 25, 2011) states that  US production enabled VW to drop prices for the Jetta by $ 8,000 thus enabling it to compete with Honda and Hyundai’s cars in the category.  In addition, … Continue reading

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Power cuts in China and manufacturing impact

A Wall Street Journal article (18 May 2011) describes electricity rationing in Taizhou, China, which required some factories to halt production one day a week in March, two days a week in April and three days a week in May. … Continue reading

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Liner conferences and antitrust in Europe

Liner conferences involved ship owners who discussed sharing capacity, stabilized port fees, etc. They were legal in Europe until 2008. Ship owners claim that their role was benign, and only helped to stabilize prices by increasing efficiency. A recent investigation … Continue reading

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Opening a US plant to make candles

A Wall Street Journal article (May 5, 2011) describes the travails of Chesapeake Bay Candle as they tried to open a plant in the US. Candles face a 108.3 % inport duty and thus only 20 % of their volume … Continue reading

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