Tag Archives: Cost

A New Pentagon lab and better gas mileage for cars

Posted on May 19, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 21, 2012) describes a new Pentagon lab in Warren, Michigan to test alternate fuels, improve energy efficiency of parts amd thus improve tank designs. But the same technologies may assist automakers trying to increase their … Continue reading →

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The ripple effect of auto sales on the supply chain

Posted on May 19, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 21, 2012) describes the growth in auto sales to 2008 levels (14 million) – back to 2008 levels – and its ripple effect across the supply chain. Tooling and ficture manufacturer Apex Tool claims growth, … Continue reading →

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Lost opportunity for Pakistan’s textile mills ?

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 30,2012) describes Pakistan’s textile industry as one of the world’s largest,employing 20% of the country’s labor and $14 billion in exports. But in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad, that produces 50% of the output, power … Continue reading →

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Dealing with rising prices of “down”

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 8,2012) describes the impact of rising prices of goose down ($12 per pound in 2009 to $28 now) and duck down ($9 to $19). The driver of these price increases range from … Continue reading →

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Amazon’s fashion plans

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 8,2012) describes Amazon.com’s plans to sell more fashion product, with the logic that shipping costs are independent of item price and thus fashion goods offer greater margin. Amazon does not plan to … Continue reading →

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Target pulls Kindles from its stores in a spat with Amazon

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 3,2012) describes a decision by Target to stop selling Amazon’s Kindles in its stores. The article describes worries by Target that “showrooming” – a practice of scanning items in the store to … Continue reading →

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Figuring out if Chinese solar panel manufacturers are dumping in the US

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 16, 2012) describes possible countries whose cost structure could be used to estimate costs in China. In the past, costs in India i.e., labor, material, rent, electricity have been used as a … Continue reading →

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Why did Amazon.com decide to provide Harry Potter e-books free ?

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 11,2012) describes a decision by Amazon.com to provide Harry Potter e-books free to libraries, while paying book publishers the wholesale price. The article argues that Amazon will obtain profits from other purchases … Continue reading →

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Apple’s global supply chain flow choices and tax impact

Posted on May 3, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 2,2012) describes choices made by Apple in the organization of its product flows to avoid taxes. Apple’s distibutors in Germany are called “commissionaires” and do not take possession of inventory. Thus German … Continue reading →

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Private Equity Efficiency Improvement and the Toyota Production System

Posted on May 2, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 26, 2012) describes the efficiency improvement generated by a private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners. Examples include reducing forklift times by 10 minutes, finding lost inventory, streamlining operations etc. The company claims to runs kaizens … Continue reading →

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