Tag Archives: Retail

The Google and Amazon product search competition

An article in the New York Times (September 10, 2012) describes the growing battle between Amazon.com and Google to lead in product search. As Google tries to improve its product search and provide more ecommerce services, it has decided to … Continue reading

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Walgreen’s Jupiter warehouse controlled substances shipments shut by US agents

An article in the Wall street Journal (September 15, 2012) reports that controlled substances shipments from Walgreens Jupiter warehouse were shut amidst government claims that shipments were diverted to addicts. The government accuses Walgreens of having insufficient controls over sales … Continue reading

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A global pharma supply chain as Walgreens and Alliance Boots combine forces

An article in Forbes (September 24,2012) describes a merger between Walgreens in the US and Alliance Boots in Europe to create a global supply chain serving “170,000 pharmacies, doctors and health clinics” globally. Analysts claim that providing a supply of … Continue reading

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Smuggled HCFC-22 foils ban on the refrigerant in the US

An article in the New York Times (September 9,2012) describes the smuggling into the US of HCFC-22, a refrigerant that the US has banned due to its link to global warming. As production of the product gets phased out, its … Continue reading

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Intel’s lowered forecasts for chip revenues and supply chain impact

An article in the New York Times (September 9,2012) describes Intel’s lowered revenue forecasts as orders from OEMs like HP and Dell soften. The company had bet on sales growth of ultrabooks, which are between tablets and laptops. But OEMs … Continue reading

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The potential supply chain impact of eliminating agency pricing for ebooks

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 8,2012) describes a settlement by a set of publishers and the department of justice and elimination of the scheme whereby publishers set retail prices and paid a percent of retail price go … Continue reading

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The Cheesecake Factory and 2.5 % food waste

An article by Atul Gawande in the New Yorker (August 13, 2012) describes the processes used at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant to decrease its food waste to under 2.5 %. These include guest forecasting – which estimates the demand each … Continue reading

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Google’s “Made in the USA” media player

An article in the New York Times (June 27, 2012) describes Google’s new media player assembled by a contract manufacturer in California, about a 15 minute drive from Google’s office. Rising wages in China, worries about intellectual property and an … Continue reading

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Using UPS to outsource drug delivery

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 28,2012) describes pharmacists at UPS’s hub in Louisville filling prescriptions for insulin or other drugs for quick delivery to customers. The same supply chain allowed Walgreen to ship vaccines to Laos, with … Continue reading

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WalMart’s supplier workplace allegations by third party activists and impact

An article in the New York Times (June 29, 2012) describes allegations by the National Guestworker Alliance against WalMart’s seafood and vegetable suppliers regarding worker wages and working hours. But WalMart and the suppliers allege that the data was aggregated … Continue reading

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