Tag Archives: Supply Chain

A deeper Jacksonville port to accommodate larger ships through the Panama Canal

An article in the New York Times (July 27, 2013) describes a move to increase the depth of the Jacksonville port from 40 to 47 inches, through dredging, to accommodate the larger ships that will be passing through the Panama … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shipping HP computers by rail from China to the Netherlands

An article in the New York Times (July 21, 2013) describes Hewlett Packard’s shipment of computers, produced in Chongqing to Oostrum in the Netherlands. The trip takes 21 days, compared to 5 weeks by sea, and is cheaper than air … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Inconsistent responses across governments to the Dreamliner beacon fire

An article in the New York Times (July 20, 2013) describes inconsistencies between the British aerospace authority’s proposal to request that beacon batteries be disabled vs the US FAA’s plan to inspect these batteries vs the Japanese authorities plans to … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will the US govt proposal to the Bangladesh govt improve garment factory conditions

An article in the New York Times (July 20, 2013) describes a proposal by the US govt to Bangladesh for the country to regain its suspended trade privileges with the US. The plan includes creation of a public database of … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The US alliance vs the European accord’s plans for Bangladesh garment factories

An article in the New York Times (July 14,2013) describes plans by an alliance of the US retailers to offer shared inspection reports of over 500 factories in Bangladesh, loans from a pool of $100 million to factory owners to … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The Thai mountain of rice inventory and global supply chain worries

An article in the Financial Times (July 18, 2013) describes the impact of the 50% price premium offered by the Thai government to rice farmers that last few years, leading to a drop in Thai rice exports and a surge … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can electric-assisted tricycles use for local deliveries become economical ?

An article in the New York Times (July 7,2013) describes a company, B-Line Sustainable Urban Delivery, that uses electric-assisted tricycles to make local deliveries hauled in a 60 cubic foot cargo box. The company coordinates deliveries in a local area … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Competition and monitoring challenges of apparel manufacturing in Cambodia

An article in the Wall Street Journal (July 6, 2013) describes the evolution of the role of “Better Factories Cambodia” and its monitoring of working conditions in Cambodia’s apparel factories. Though initially focused on public release of its reports, the … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Selling more books vs maximizing profits – are Amazon’s decisions in sync with author preferences ?

An article in the New York Times (July 5, 2013) describes discount reductions on books by Amazon as the company’s share of book sales grows to 25% of the market. Several authors and small publishers claim that the lowered discounts … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The global supply chain that clothes US consumers

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (July 1,2013) displays data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel at the US Department of Commerce to show exporting countries that clothe US consumers. The participants range from China (exporting $553 million pairs of cotton … Continue reading

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment