Can buyers dictate how suppliers treat their workers?

Steven Colbert once set out the following rules for buying electronic gadgets: It must cost next to nothing. I must never learn why it costs next to nothing. That gets us to a recent article with the very un-Wall Street Journal headline of “Measuring the Human Cost of an iPad Made in China” (Jun 3). [...]

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Who’s Xoom-ing who? Why don’t new tablets match Apple’s price?

So tablets are the hottest thing in tech right now. Apple has just announced the second coming of the iPad while every other tech firm is trying to get in on the game. The recurring theme in reviews of these tables is that in comparison to the iPad, they seem pricey. It’s a weird world [...]

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Supply chain partnerships for more efficient recycling

An interesting story from the Wall Street Journal (Tight Supplies, Tight Partners, Jan 9). Apparently it is not as easy to get your hands on good trash as it use to be. That may not sound line a bad thing — unless, of course, your business depends on recycling that trash into usable products. That [...]

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Supply chain contracts and mass customization

So here is an interesting business model that leads to a nice supply chain contracting story (from Finnish shoe firm pays lifetime royalties, Oct 12, Globe and Mail). Pomarfin, a Finnish shoemaker, was facing increased competition from cheaper firms manufacturing in Asia and was forced to look for ways to differentiate its products. It seemed [...]

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Fallout from bullying suppliers

A few months ago, I wrote about how Sears Canada has been trying to strong arm its suppliers following the appreciation of the Canadian dollar. Now the Globe and Mail reports that at least one major brand is pulling out of Sears as a consequence (Chanel to quit Sears in dispute over dollar, Jul 22): [...]

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Balancing responsiveness and commitment in supply chains

Supply chains offer an almost unlimited number of points of conflict. Unquestionably, there are opportunities for partners to jointly increase revenue or lower costs. But it is almost always easier for one party to identify ways to lower his costs at the expense of other supply chain members. Even if there are programs that increase [...]

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The politicization of a newsvendor problem

So last year everyone was nervous about a flu pandemic — and with good cause. The H1N1 virus was an unknown protagonist and it was not out the realm of possibility that it could lead to a devastating public health crisis. We now know it didn’t. Yes, some people got sick but the forecasts of [...]

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Smoothing a smoothie launch at McDonald’s

It’s hard to imagine a firm asking its sales force to reign in sales of a new product for which it has high hopes, but that is effectively what McDonald’s is doing with franchisees and its new smoothie offering (McDonald’s Cuts Aggressive Smoothie Promos Ahead of U.S. Launch, Jul 2, Wall Street Journal). Here’s the [...]

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Walmart’s drive for more trucking

Walmart has long been famous for its sophisticated supply chain. Now Businessweek reports that it is looking to take on an even bigger slice of its supply chain’s logistics (Why Wal-Mart Wants to Take the Driver’s Seat, May 27).  Walmart has apparently been contacting suppliers proposing that Walmart take greater responsibility for transporting goods in [...]

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A Canadian supply-chain power play

So here is an interesting bit of supply chain bullying.  Sears Canada is trying to unilaterally force some significant price cuts on its suppliers because of the rise in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the loonie (Strong Loonie Sets Off a Retail Tiff, May 19, Wall Street Journal). Sears Canada Inc. is [...]

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