Tag Archives: Quality

Is the quality vs availability tradeoff for Hatchimals a good idea ?

Posted on January 7, 2017 by aviyer2010

As previously discussed in this blog, Hatchimals have been crowned the hit toy for the 2016 Holiday season. But a recent article in Fortune (December 28, 2016) titled “Meet the Hatchimals that Ruined Christmas (For some kids, anyway) describes toys … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Cost, delivery, logistics, manufacturer, Supply Chain Issues, toy | Tagged Christmas, Demand Surge, Hatchimal, Quality | Leave a comment

Will the US catfish inspection program derail the TPP pact

Posted on June 28, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times on June 28, 2014 (“US Catfish Program Could Stymie Pacific Trade Pact, 10 Nations Say”) describes the Agriculture Department’s catfish inspection program that is being protested by Vietnam with support from Thailand, Philippines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Global, inspection, Quality, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Indian firm Tata building the Land Rover in a joint venture in China

Posted on April 21, 2014 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (April 20, 2014) titled “JLR China chief says Changshu factory will rival UK for quality”, describes a new plant in China, owned by China automaker Chery and the Indian Tata group that owns Jaguar … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged automation, Capacity, cars, China, Cost, Jaguar Land Rover, plant, Quality, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Lulemon’s CEO’s blame on supply chain issues for poor performance a stretch ?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 12, 2013) describes a conference call in which Lululemon’s CEO blamed supply problems associated with Luon, a stretch fabric that was the cause of see through black yoga pants that had to … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Consumers, Cost, Design, disruption, Inventory, manufacturing, Quality, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain | 1 Comment

Sarin antidote stockpiles, supply problems and extension of expired drugs

Posted on September 16, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 13, 2013) describes supply problems for antidotes for Sarin due to manufacturing issues, that result in less than the stated dosage, in prefilled syringes made by Pfizer. The impact is possible erroneous … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, disruption, expired, extension, Inventory, military, Quality, Risk, Service, stockpile, Supply Chain | 1 Comment

Paying Auditors to audit pollution compliance inspections

Posted on July 18, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (July 18, 2013) describes an experiment in Gujarat, India, to increase the correctness of the pollution readings by auditors. In the past, most pollution audits claimed compliance. But two experiments were conducted – … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Sustainability | Tagged audits, Cost, Gujarat, Incentives, manufacturing, pollution, Quality, regulation, Risk, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Cambodia’s shoe factory collapse, with Japanese owners, shipping to Asian markets

Posted on May 17, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 16,2013) describes the collapse of a building producing shoes in Cambodia for Asics, a Japanese brand, that ships primarly to Asian markets. The factory moved its production from China to Cambodia to … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Cambodia, Consumers, Global, manufacturing, Quality, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Drug shortages and quality issues at backup compounding pharmacies

Posted on October 5, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (October 4, 2012) describes an outbreak of meningitis caused a fungus that contaminated steriod solutions supplied by a compounding pharmacy in New England. Hospitals ordered the solution, which was in short supply, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Cost, disruption, manufacturing, Margins, pharma, Quality, Service, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Can data transparency reduce medical errors and increase coordination of care?

Posted on September 17, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article by Dr Marty Makary in Newsweek (September 24, 2012) describes medical error rates at 25%, with 100,000 people dying due to preventable errors. But he suggests that data transparency, such as the publication of heart surgery data by … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Coordination, Cost, data, healthcare, Quality, Service, Supply Chain, transparency | Leave a comment

Health care waste in the US estimated at $750 billion

Posted on September 11, 2012 by aviyer2010

A report released by the Institute for Medicine in September 2012, titled “Best Health Care at lower Cost:The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America” , suggests that the US health care system had 30% of wasted expense or … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Collaboration, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, healthcare, Quality, Service, Supply Chain | Leave a comment