Tag Archives: manufacturing

Sustainable chemicals sourcing at P and G

Posted on February 9, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the website Sustainable Brands (http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/procter-gamble-developing-sustainable-chemicals-biofuel-company) describes Proctor & Gamble’s use of Zeachem, a cellulosic biorefinery manufacturer that uses raw material from poplar and agricultural residues and uses natural bacteria that produce no Co2 during fermentation. The consumer … Continue reading →

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Mexico’s gain at China’s rising cost expense ?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Feb 6, 2012) describes data that trains and trucks carried 9 % more freight last year from Mexico to the US, while container traffic from Asia dropped 0.2 %. As we have heard … Continue reading →

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Regulating copper in brake pads at the state level

Posted on February 6, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Feb 3, 2012) describes a proposal that requires that automobile brake pads decrease the copper content to less than 5 % by 2021 in Washington and less than 0.5 % by 2025 in California.  … Continue reading →

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Manufacturer “bonus depreciation” rules and impact

Posted on February 6, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Feb 3, 2012) describes the “bonus depreciation” rule that permits capital investments to be treated as costs for the current year and thus subsidizes equipment purchases.  The impact is to incentivize capital investments … Continue reading →

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Private Equity role in turning around manufacturing firms

Posted on February 5, 2012 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Feb 2, 2012) by Armand Lauzon Jr describes his experience as a private equity company representative with manufacturing firms. Firth Rixson was a metals forging company that he led, and that doubled revenues, improved profitability, added … Continue reading →

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US Demographics in 2020 and supply chain trends

Posted on February 1, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal by Mills and Ottino (Jan 30, 2012) states that in 2020 the US population will be younger than China and Europe. They present three trends – computing power and its ubiquity, smart manufacturing … Continue reading →

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Boeing Production Rampup and Supplier Chain Role

Posted on February 1, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Jan 28, 2012) describes Boeing’s efforts to speed up airplane production to respond to its eight year order backlog.  But worries about economic downturn have suppliers worried about order cancellations.  With the large fraction of … Continue reading →

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WTO disapproval of China’s use of GATT to justify export controls of metals

Posted on January 31, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Jan 30, 2012) describes a decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China’s use of export controls for zinc, bauxite etc t0 incent manufacturers to locate plants within China.  Use of GATT … Continue reading →

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Economies of scale vs risk in concentrating hard drive production in Thailand

Posted on January 27, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Jan 20, 2012) describes the quandry faced by hard drive manufacturers in Thailand whose plants were deluged during the floods.  Slow recovery of manufacturing raises the benefit of concentration of this industry (40-45 … Continue reading →

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Design for repairability for cell phones

Posted on January 25, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Sustainable Brands (http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/sprint-pushes-phone-makers-design-reparability?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=brandsweekly&utm_campaign=january25) describes a push by Sprint to produce environmental standards for design of cell phones, in partnerhsip with Underwriters Labs (UL). The goal is to develop modular designs so that only the specific broken part … Continue reading →

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