Tag Archives: Consumers

Simple Labels or Comprehensive Nutrient Labels for Food ?

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Oct 21, 2011, B3) describes a new proposed food labeling system by the Institute of Medicine. The proposal would list calories per serving and up to three stars. Each star would be for … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged Consumers, Costs, food labeling, manufacturing, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Liking Cotton Price Increases to Consumer Goods Sales Growth in Pakistan

Posted on October 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Oct 17,2011) describes a global cotton driven supply chain. The rising cotton prices worldwide, doubling the past year, has increased spending capacity among Pakistan’s farmers. But the biggest beneficiaries are global consumer goods manufacturers Unilever and … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cotton, Global, Growth, Pakistan, prices, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Food waste and food shortages across the global supply chain

Posted on October 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (Oct 15, 2011) describes waste as a key contributor to food shortages. 33 % of food purchased in the UK is wasted. 40 % of the fruits and vegetables grown in India is wasted. … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Consumers, Cost, Food, Global, India, Supply Chain, waste | Leave a comment

Airline sustainability goals and biofuel role

Posted on October 9, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Green Column, Oct 9, 2011) describes the airline industry goal to become “carbon neutral” by 2020 and cut emissions by 50 % by 2050, given that they account for 2 % of all human generated … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Design, Efficiency, Global, regulation, Supply Chain, Sustainable, 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

Why are diaper sales dropping and diaper-rash ointment sales increasing ?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes sales decreases of 4 % for Kimberley Clark’s Huggies diapers and 2.5 % for Proctor and Gamble’s Pampers, and a 0.5 % drop in generic diapers. At the same time diaper-rash ointment sales … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, diapers, Trends | 2 Comments

Using cell phone minutes to save cash in Kenya

Posted on October 4, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Bloombergbusinessweek article (Sept 12-18, 2011) describes M-PESA – a service offered by Safaricom – Kenya’s largest cell phone company. The system allows a phone owner to save money in the form of cell phone minutes which can be transferred … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged cellphone, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Kenya, regulation, Service, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Rising leather prices and supply chain impact

Posted on October 2, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Sept 19, 2011) describes the surge in leather prices – 21% in 2011 and 43 % in 2010. The reasons (a) decreased beef consumption in response to health concerns and income slowdown and thus reduced cattle … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Demand Surge, exports, Global, Growth, India, leather, manufacturing, price increase, Sustainable | 1 Comment

How did Amazon manage to price the Kindle Fire for $ 199 ?

Posted on October 1, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Oct 3, 2011 edition) suggests that Amazon’s new Fire tablet’s amazing $ 199 price point may be related to its smaller screen but also subsidy from potential margins from sale of toys, diapers and electronics. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Amazon Fire, competition, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Growth, Margins, Retail, Service, Supply Chain | 1 Comment

Buying weather contracts to support retail promotions

Posted on October 1, 2011 by aviyer2010

A BloombergBusinessweek article (Sept 5, 2011) article on weather related risk management describes a retail promotion by a parka manufacturer, Weatherproof Garment, that promised promised Macy’s credit card customers reimbursement of the cost of parkas if weather was freezing on … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, derivatives, disruption, retail promotion, Risk, Supply Chain | Leave a comment