Tag Archives: Cost

Now Thai floods and Japanese auto supply chain impact

Posted on October 29, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 29, 2011) describes the impact of flooding in Thailand, which has resulted in two Sony plants deluged, Toyota suppliers impacted, a Honda plant impacted for six months etc. Given the disruption caused by the … Continue reading →

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

Strategies to decrease procurement costs – not just a price focus

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

In a talk by Mr Haaije van der Brug, Procurement Manager for Shell in Russia, on October 18, 2011, he described the 40/40/20 practice at Shell. The claim is that cost savings are generated only 20 % of the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Tracking the US supply chain impact of new California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Laws

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Oct 21, 2011, A25) describes recent passage of greenhouse gas emissions laws in California that aim to impose stringent caps on emissions with the flexibility to trade with any other firm across the US for … Continue reading →

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

A Parallel between Japanese auto and Chinese solar manufacturers ?

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Oct 21, 2011, B3) describes a potential reaction to US solar manufacturer unfair trade concerns regarding Chinese competitors , a parallel to Japanese auto manufacturers in the ‘80s.  At that time, Japanese auto … Continue reading →

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

Near Net Zero at Frito-Lay’s Casa Grande, Arizona plant

Posted on October 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Sustainable Life Media (Oct 8, 2011) describes efforts at Frito Lay’s plant to reduce its energy and water impact. 67 % of the energy used comes from renewable sources – solar power. 75 % of the water … Continue reading →

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

The Impact of concentration in the Global Electronics Supply Chain

Posted on October 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 8, 2011) describes how concentration of manufacturing by Taiwanese firms has enabled price decreases and feature increases faster than chip prices. At HTC, new product development time has dropped by six months compared to two … Continue reading →

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

Toyota retools in Japan, plans for a weaker yen

Posted on October 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes efforts by Toyota to retool, reduce production batch size and plan to be competitive when the yen gets weaker. This strategy is counter to efforts by other automakers to move production … Continue reading →

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

Yuan Appreciation, labor flexibility and back to US manufacturing

Posted on October 7, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes decisons a furniture manufacturer and high end earphone to move production back to the US. The reasons – a 30 % yuan appreciation from 2005 to 2011, US union flexibility and … Continue reading →

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