Tag Archives: Capacity

Understanding the logic for Tesla’s proposed $5 billion battery plant

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 2, 2014) titled “Does Tesla Need a $5 Billion Battery Factory” describes Tesla’s planned mass market electric cars (the GEN III) priced at $35,000 and the current $25,500 cost of the 85 … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why are lime prices rising in the US ?

An article in the New York Times (March 30, 2014) titled “Is the Lime an Endangered Species” describes many reasons for the rise in lime prices in the US from $25 per 40 pound carton in February to over $100 … Continue reading

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

Penalties for Canadian railways that do not ship enough grain

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 7,2014) titled “Canada sets Minimum Grain Shipment Targets for Railways”, describes penalties of up to $90,000 if shipments by railways fall below 5,500 railcars a week. This target is significantly greater than … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Apple’s efforts on conflict free tantalum procurement

An article published by the Financial Times titled “Apple to name and shame suppliers of conflict minerals” (February 13, 2014) describes Apple’s “supplier responsibility” report. Given the Dodd-Frank bill’s requirement to track use of conflict materials, Apple plans to use … Continue reading

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

Will delaying online cab service pickups by 15 minutes increase competition in France

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Uber, Taxis engage in French Street Fight” (30 December 2013) describes a proposal to impose a 15 minute delay between the online order and pickup by online by limo service companies like … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The many reasons for Christmas delivery delays by UPS

An article in Supply Chain Digest (Jan 6, 2014) available at (http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/14-01-06-2.php?cid=7717) discusses reasons for the delivery delays of Christmas orders handled by UPS. While UPS anticipated an 8% increase in shipment volume, and added 55,000 employees and 23 aircraft, … Continue reading

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

Why are Chinese and Indian yarn manufacturers opening US plants ?

An article in the. Wall Street Journal (December 21,2013) titled “A Good Yarn for US workers” describes decisions by the Chinese yarn manufacturer Kerr to open a plant in North Carolina and the Indian Shrivallabh Pitte group to open a … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Centralized vs decentralized last mile delivery models in New York City

An article in the Wall Street. Journal (December 21,2013) titled titled “Delivery goes Hi-Tech” describes Hobsons, a delivery service with its own vans that does 300 trips a day currently, and Postmates, a decentralized service provider that broadcasts request to … Continue reading

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

Should the US government track the working conditions at its apparel suppliers ?

An article in the New York Times titled “Buying Overseas Clothing, US Flouts its own advice” (December 22, 2013) describes the $1.5 billion in clothing purchased by the US government and working conditions at its suppliers. Contracts for clothing for … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, mgmt5612018, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 76 Comments

The impact of Airbus’s “asset value guarantees” for the Airbus 340

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek titled “Airbus May Need a Plaid Jacket” (December 9,2013) describes asset value guarantees that Airbus provided for buyers of the A 340 – which promised to compensate buyers of resale values were below a specified level. … Continue reading

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