Tag Archives: Retail

US egg price rise (by 42%) and global supply chain impact

Posted on June 24, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 14, 2013) describes a 42% rise in US egg prices and explores possible reasons. One key reason is the avian influenza in Mexico that has created a dramatic demand increase in US … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Demand Surge, eggs, exports, Global, Mexico, price increase, Retail, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment

Will Tesla’s new 90 second battery swap increase electric car demand ?

Posted on June 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

A report in PCmag.com (June 21, 2013 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420802,00.asp) describes a demonstration of a 90 second battery swap by Tesla, thus offering consumers the choice of waiting and getting free battery charging or paying close to the price of tank of … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged battery swap, Capacity, charging, competition, Coordination, electric car, Growth, regulation, Retail, Sustainable, Trends | Leave a comment

Should Tesla be permitted to sell cars direct to consumer ?

Posted on June 18, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 18, 2013) describes the electric car company Tesla’s attempt to sell direct to consumer from its own stores. The company can do so in states such as New York, New jersey, Massachusetts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, cars, Consumers, Cost, dealerships, Legal, Margins, Retail, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

The “build your own supply chain rule” in India

Posted on June 12, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Business Standard (June 13, 2013 IST) describes a new rule in India that requires foreign retailers entering the country to create new required supply chain infrastructure and stores worth $100 million, with purchases of existing retailer … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Consumers, Cost, Global, India, regulation, Retail, stores, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Vertical integration in the US global pharmacy supply chain and impact

Posted on May 22, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2013) describes an alliance between Walgreens, Alliance Boots and AmerisourceBergen to consolidate their global purchasing of generic and branded pharmaceuticals and sell them through their US Walgreens retail stores and AllianceBoots … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, competition, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Efficiency, Global, Margins, pharmaceuticals, Retail, Supply Chain, vertical integration | 5 Comments

Sustainable metrics at REI and associated insights

Posted on May 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article by Kevin Hagen (http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/what-i-learned-about-sustainability-rei-part-2-metrics-over-intuition?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=businessweekly&utm_campaign=may20) describes REI’s tracking of greenhouse gas emissions in 2011. The company realized that while 10 % of these emissions were caused by transportation of its products, 15 % were the result of employee commutes … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged commuting, greenhouse gases, Retail, Risk, river transport, Supply Chain, Sustainable | 3 Comments

Software to track detailed flows from prescriptions to drug usage at the patient level

Posted on May 17, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 16,2013) describes software that uses insurance records, claims etc to track individual drug prescriptions from doctors to patients to pharmacies, including refills, albeit without patient identifiers. But the data does include details … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged chain, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Information, pharmaceutical, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain, tracking | Leave a comment

Ecommerce in Nigeria – motorcycles, tuk tuks and vans to deliver goods and collect funds

Posted on May 15, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (May 14, 2013) describes ecommerce companies in Nigeria like Konga.com and Jumia.com, that permit internet ordering of goods, delivery to the customer and collection of money on delivery. Given worries about fraud, Nigerians prefer … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Global, Nigeria, Retail, Risk, Service, Supply Chain, transport | Leave a comment

Should Quirky open retail stores ?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Forbes (May 27,2013) features “Quirky” (http://www.quirky.com/) – an online new product development company that uses crowdsourcing to take product suggestions to develop and manufacture products for sale at retailers. Quirky starts with ideas from inventors, then chooses … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Collaboration, Consumers, Cost, Design, Outsourcing, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Differing manufacturer responses to the Bangladesh factory collapse

Posted on May 6, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times. (May 1,2013) describes the differing public stances by manufacturers. Bennetton, the Children’s Place and Cato Corporation distanced their link to the plant they used as a source, claiming their garments were not on … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Collaboration, Cost, Global, manufacturing, regulation, Retail, Risk, Service, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment