Tag Archives: Global

The Jones Act and its impact of shipping between US ports

Posted on January 18, 2014 by aviyer2010

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 Cost, Global, regulation, ships, Supply Chain, transport, Water | 19 Comments

Apparel factory fire in Prato, Italy

Posted on December 8, 2013 by aviyer2010

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 →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized | Tagged Apparel, Cost, Global, Italy, manufacturing, Outsourcing, regulation, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

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

Posted on December 7, 2013 by aviyer2010

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 →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, China, Copper, Cost, Global, Growth, Inventory, manufacturing, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Making apparel in the USA and retail prices

Posted on December 7, 2013 by aviyer2010

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 Capacity, Consumers, Cost, domestic sourcing, Global, manufacturing, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 50 Comments

The EU regulation harmonization and the story of lawnmower decibel limits

Posted on October 16, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times titled “Why Europe needs cross-border lawnmower regulations” (October 16, 2013) describes a law setting the maximum noise level generated by lawn mowers. The limits were in response to German laws demanding lower decibel levels … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, European Union, Global, Imports, lawnmowers, manufacturing, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Understanding and fixing the 244% inflation for onion prices in India

Posted on October 15, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Express titled “Dousing the vegetable fire” (October 11, 2013) describes the 244% price rise between between August 2012 and 2013. The authors highlight that 50% of the onion production in India is in two states … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, competition, Consumers, Cost, Global, Inventory, onions, prices, regulation, Retail, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Should Lumber Liquidators be responsible for its Chinese supplier’s wood sources

Posted on September 28, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Lumber Liquidators’ Offices Raided) (Sept 28, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303342104579101042712448428.html) describes a Federal government raid on Lumber Liquidators’ offices to find evidence of use of Mongolian oak and Korean pine logged illegally in Russia. … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged China, Consumers, Cost, Global, Imports, Legal, lumber, Russia, Siberian tiger, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 4 Comments

High Speed trains and productivity impact in China

Posted on September 24, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times, on September 23,2013, titled “Speedy Trains Transform China”, (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/business/global/high-speed-train-system-is-huge-success-for-china.html?_r=0) describes the impact of the trains that travel 186 miles/hour and connect 100 cities. For individual textile manufacturers, the fast access to customers enables … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Consumers, Cost, Efficiency, Global, Growth, manufacturing, rail, Supply Chain, transport | 5 Comments

Resurgence of US textile manufacturing – an automation driven solution

Posted on September 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times on September 19, 2013 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/business/us-textile-factories-return.html?_r=0) describes a textile plant, Parkdale Mills, that makes 2.5 millions pounds of yarn using 140 workers now, compared to 2000 workers in 1980. The new plant uses automation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged automation, Cost, domestic, Global, manufacturing, Outsourcing, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain, textile | Leave a comment

Will Apple’s two different market segment phone offerings help or hurt?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (September 11,2013) describes possible issues caused by Apple’s decision to offer the iPhone in a 5S and a 5C configuration, priced at $550 and $400. The cheaper model will have a plastic body … Continue reading →

Posted in Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Design, Global, Growth, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain | 4 Comments