Tag Archives: Cost

Increased recycling by manufacturers to help themselves and municipalities

An article in the New York Times (March 23, 2012) describes plans by Coca Cola to recycle 100 % of its cans by 2015 and by Starbucks to enable paper cup recycling at 100 % of its outlets by 2015. … Continue reading

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The impact of natural gas extraction on steel mills

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 26, 2012) describes the doubling of steel tubes, pipes etc in the last two years – thanks to the demand from natural gas extraction facilities across the US. But the abundant supply … Continue reading

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The global supply chain for outsourced services

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (March 19,2012) describes new locations for higher level outsourced work – accounting, research, marketing etc. New locations in Argentina, Guatemala, Poland and Brazil, enable these tasks to be performed closer to the customer, despite being more … Continue reading

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Nike’s knit shoe design and global supply chain impact

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (March 19,2012) describe the flyknit shoe design by Nike – whose upper is knit from thread as one piece, thus saving 35 parts and 66 % less waste. The reduced labor intensive assembly also makes US … Continue reading

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Green jobs in the US Economy

The New York Times (March 22, 2012) describes a US government report that claims that there were 3.1 million green jobs in the US economy. Green jobs were defined as those involved in activities that either decrease energy consumption or … Continue reading

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The forest food chain and noise pollution

An article in the New York Times (March 26, 2012) describes the impact of noise pollution on the forest food chain consisting of pinyon pine trees and their pinyon nuts, scrub jays, mice and hummingbirds. Noise pollution seems to drive … Continue reading

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The impact of post office cost and rule changes

An article in the New York Times (March 26,2012) describes how different industry sectors might be impacted by decisions made by the post office. Greeting card manufacturers and drug distributors claim that increased post office rates will decrease their demand … Continue reading

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“Pay for response” model for drug payment and consequences

An Op-Ed by Sam Waksal in the New York Times (March 7,2012) suggests a pay for response model for drug payments, where the measurable impact of drugs would trigger payments. The author claims that such payment schemes would incent drug … Continue reading

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Will Apple succeed in changing supplier working conditions ?

An article in the New York Times (March 7,2012) describes pressures to improve Apple’s supplier, FoxConn’s working conditions, and the comparison to apparel supply chains. Unlike apparel supply chains, Apple’s products have higher margins, require quick response to design adjustments, … Continue reading

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The Jones Act of 1920 and today’s gas prices

An article in the New York Times (March 11,2012) describes the impact of the 1920 Jones Act, that mandates use of US carriers, with US built ships and employing US cargo, for domestic cargo transport by sea. Thus, US oil … Continue reading

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