Tag Archives: Cost

“Anticipatory Shipping” ideas from Amazon

An article in the CBS News website (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-files-patent-for-anticipatory-shipping/) titled “Amazon files patent for anticipatory shipping” provides an outline of the idea. The key is that goods would be shipped out before the customer places the order so that the deliveries … Continue reading

Posted in Ecommerce, emb2019, imm2018, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

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

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The Jones Act and its impact of shipping between US ports

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek titled “Lots of Oil, Not Enough Ships ” (December 16, 2013) describes the Jones Act, a 1920 US law that restricts ships that ply between US ports to be US carriers with a US crew. Given … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

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

Tracking consumers and adjusting inventory locations to improve retail performance

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Hot at the Mall:Heat Maps to Track Shoppers” (December 9,2013) describes heat sensor technology and cell phone tracking software used by retailers to identify shoppers routes through the store, bottlenecks, and products … Continue reading

Posted in competitiveness, consumer, Ecommerce, Operations Management, Service Operations, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 24 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

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Apparel factory fire in Prato, Italy

An article in the New York Times titled “Deadly Factory Fire Bares Racial Tensions in Italy” (December 8, 2013), describes a fire at an apparel factory in Prato that killed seven Chinese employees. The factory had windows that were blocked … Continue reading

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The potential impact of copper concentrate stockpiles in China on copper prices

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “China’s Stock and Ore for Copper Prices” (November 22,2013) describes the over two months of copper concentrate (crushed copper ore) in inventory at China’s new smelters as against the usual two to … Continue reading

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Making apparel in the USA and retail prices

An article in the New York Times titled “That ‘Made in the USA’ Premium (December 1,2013) describes the growth in US manufacturing of higher end apparel but the continued difficulty in domestic production of lower cost items. It cites production … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | 50 Comments