Tag Archives: Trends

Is fiber optic cable capacity too much ?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2012) suggests that fiber optic capacity expansion is too optimistic, pointing to 3% utilization of cable in big cities and new laser technology that expanded capacity in the past. But capacity … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, competition, Cost, Demand Surge, Global, Growth, regulation, Risk, Supply Chain, Survival, Trends | Leave a comment

Ban “pink slime” or let the market decide ?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 29, 2012) describes a move by supermarket chains to ban ground beef containing “pink slime”, an additive made from leftover beef trimmings, that is used as a filler in beef. Iowa’s governer … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Margins, regulation, Retail, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment

Inditex’s supply chain as it goes global

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (March 24, 2012) describes the fact that future growth for the parent company of Zara will come from Asia and the US, rather than the current 70 % of sales in Europe. Zara, known for … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, China, Consumers, Design, Fast Fashion, Global, Growth, manufacturing, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment

The forest food chain and noise pollution

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 26, 2012) describes the impact of noise pollution on the forest food chain consisting of pinyon pine trees and their pinyon nuts, scrub jays, mice and hummingbirds. Noise pollution seems to drive … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged Cost, disruption, Legal, Risk, Supply Chain, Sustainable, Trends | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged Environment, manufacturing, regulation, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Sustainable, Trends | Leave a comment

Bringing manufacturing back to the US — and associated profitability

Posted on February 5, 2012 by aviyer2010

An Accenture report titled “Manufacturing’s Secret Shift” reports a survey that shows that 49 % of respondents faced delivery time issues and 46 % faced quality issues associated with outsourced manufacturing. In addition, 73 % faced material cost increases and … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Global, Margins, Outsourcing, Quality, Risk, Supply Chain, Trends | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Global, Infrastructure, manufacturing, Risk, Supply Chain, Survival, Trends | Leave a comment

Supply Chain Coordination issues – Book Publishers, Apple and Amazon

Posted on January 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Jan 30,2012) describes the conflict between publishers and Amazon.com ebook pricing plans of $ 9.99, the publisher controlled pricing model for sales on Apple’s iPad (termed agency pricing), and the resulting threat to without sales on … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Ecommerce, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Collaboration, competition, Coordination, Cost, Ecommerce, Efficiency, Margins, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Trends | 1 Comment

WRAP certification and supplier competitiveness

Posted on January 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Sourcing Journal (https://www.sourcingjournalonline.com/wrap-surge-demand-compliance-certification-emerging-asian-markets) describes the increasing demand for WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited production) from suppliers in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Pakistan, in addition to China. As OEMs are forced to certify their supply chains, suppliers with … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged competition, Consumers, Cost, Global, regulation, Supply Chain, Sustainable, Trends | 1 Comment

Global Apparel Sourcing Trends

Posted on January 11, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Sourcing online (http://www.sourcingjournalonline.com/wheres-and-whys-2012-apparel-sourcing-trends) describes rising labor costs in China and its impact. The article cites lead time, flexibility and variety as issues to consider in sourcing. Vietnam benefits from being close to mills in China, Bangladesh has … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged competition, Coordination, Global, regulation, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment