Tag Archives: Trends

Increased restructuring and manufacturing’s future

Posted on October 25, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street journal ( Oct 24, 2011) states that while close to 70% of S&P companies beat earnings,  significant number are focused on restructuring operations. The size of this spend varies from $100 million at Danaher, … Continue reading →

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Estimating the firm level impact of China Imports

Posted on October 25, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 15, 2011) describes attempts to understand the impact of imports from China on US jobs.  One study suggests that regions where manufacturers had a greater impact of Chinese imports showed greater job loss and … Continue reading →

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A Parallel between Japanese auto and Chinese solar manufacturers ?

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Oct 21, 2011, B3) describes a potential reaction to US solar manufacturer unfair trade concerns regarding Chinese competitors , a parallel to Japanese auto manufacturers in the ‘80s.  At that time, Japanese auto … Continue reading →

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Contradictory trends – Retail Sales forecasts at odds with imports trends

Posted on October 19, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Oct 11, 2011) describes the contradiction faced by shipping companies. Growth in retail sales have inspired strong retail growth forecasts into the future. But dropping manufacturer shipments at ports suggest demand downturns at … Continue reading →

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Amazon.com – the WalMart of the web ?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Oct 1, 2011) reports that Amazon.com’s are 11 % lower than other retailers with physical stores for 100 products selected randomly.  The prices at Amazon were even lower compared to store websites. Amazon.com’s low profit margin, scale, the … Continue reading →

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Airline sustainability goals and biofuel role

Posted on October 9, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Green Column, Oct 9, 2011) describes the airline industry goal to become “carbon neutral” by 2020 and cut emissions by 50 % by 2050, given that they account for 2 % of all human generated … Continue reading →

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How should retailers deal with the new “frugal consumer”

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes the emergence of the frugal consumer who buys what they need, focus on promotion purchases, avoid premium products, clip coupons and combine shopping trips to save on gas.  The impact of … Continue reading →

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Why are diaper sales dropping and diaper-rash ointment sales increasing ?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 4, 2011) describes sales decreases of 4 % for Kimberley Clark’s Huggies diapers and 2.5 % for Proctor and Gamble’s Pampers, and a 0.5 % drop in generic diapers. At the same time diaper-rash ointment sales … Continue reading →

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Financing sustainability driven retrofits and thus manufacturing growth

Posted on September 20, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Sept 19, 2011) describes a new consortium, including Lockheed Martin and Barclays bank, that will finance retrofits of buildings to decrease energy costs, cutting energy use and utility bills by 33 %.  Building … Continue reading →

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Two Tier pay in the US auto industry

Posted on September 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Sept 13, 2011) describes the practice of hiring new workers at $ 14 per hour while paying older workers twice that amount. These new employees permit manufacturing at price points comparable with global competition and … Continue reading →

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