Supply chains - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Cargo Ship Company Innovates by Returning to Wind Power

March 16, 2017

For centuries, ships used wind-catching sails to travel all over the world. Then the steam engine arrived during the industrial age and changed maritime transportation forever. Of course, the massive engines in today’s vessels rely on petroleum for power, presenting a number of potential problems. Along with environmental issues, big tankers also cost a fortune to fuel. For instance, the Danish shipping firm Maersk Group spends $2.1 billion per year on fuel costs.

To reduce this enormous expense, the company Continue reading →

Product Distribution, Shipping, Maersk, Operations Management, Supply chains, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How to Get 60,000 Containers Around the World in Record Time

March 2, 2017

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Supply chain management is an incredibly complex process involving dozens of companies stretched across thousands of miles. This video takes a look at the shipping firm Flexport and how they simplify “freight forwarding” for businesses transporting goods from China to the U.S.

Questions:

How does Flexport improve the process of freight forwarding?
Why is international supply chain management so complicated?

Product Distribution, Shipping, Freight Forwarding, China, Supply chains, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

Patagonia: Attempting to Operate Ethically While Pursuing Mass Appeal

November 3, 2016

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Since its founding in 1973, the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has strived to make quality goods in an ethical manner. This combination of strong values and superior products has allowed the company to grow into an $800 million brand. But over the years Patagonia has run into a number of roadblocks in their quest to “build the best product” and “cause no unnecessary harm.” For example, in 2010 an animal rights group revealed that the company had been buying goose Continue reading →

Apparel, Clothing, Product Development, Ethics, Branding, Supply chains, Sustainability, Patagonia, South America, Taiwan

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Chinese Factories Produce Knockoffs at Record Speed

October 25, 2016

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Israeli entrepreneur Yekutiel Sherman had a great idea for a product: a selfie stick that folded seamlessly into the back of a smartphone’s case. He spent a year carefully designing his idea, producing prototypes and securing small investments from family and friends. By December 2015 Sherman launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to finish funding the item, now called Stikbox. But while the project immediately attracted investors, his popular crowdfunding campaign also caught the attention of Chinese bootleg manufacturers. Within Continue reading →

Product Development, Ethics, China, Manufacturing, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Knockoff products, Operations Management, Global

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] Automating the Grocery Warehouse

September 23, 2016

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Although drone deliveries are still a few years away from becoming a reality, automated machines are already having a big impact in other parts of the supply chain. This short but visually rich video takes a look at the robots made by a company called Symbiotic and the ways that they have streamlined operations at a grocery warehouse.

Questions:

What makes Symbiotic’s robots more efficient than human workers?
Will worker robots from companies like Symbiotic eventually replace human labor?

Supply chains, Automation, Product Distribution, Robots, Symbiotic, Warehousing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

Shipping Company Bankruptcy Strands $14 Billion in Cargo at Sea

September 8, 2016

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Almost 95 percent of all manufactured goods arrive at their destinations in shipping containers. These freight boxes often begin their journeys aboard enormous cargo ships that transport items around the globe. Normally this process is simple enough: a ship pays a docking fee upon arrival along with additional charges for unloading and container storage. In the case of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Company, however, this common process has been halted. After filing for bankruptcy protection last week, ports across the Continue reading →

Supply chains, Transportation, Product Distribution, Shipping, South Korea, Global

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

Airline Profits Soar While Passenger Perks Remain Grounded

February 10, 2016

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For the airline industry, the last few decades have been more like a rollercoaster ride than a smooth flight through calm skies. Enduring consistent losses as well as the occasional bankruptcy, companies began making deep cuts to basic services in order to keep costs down. Meanwhile, airfares continued to skyrocket even as in-air amenities started disappearing. Now it finally seems like all that belt-tightening is paying off: last year the four biggest domestic carriers together earned about $22 billion in Continue reading →

Pricing, Supply chains, Transportation, Air Travel, Oil, Southwest, Ethics, United

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Can Chipotle Recover from Its E. coli Crisis?

January 29, 2016

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Chipotle enjoyed years of rapid growth thanks in part to its heavily marketed commitment to fresh ingredients. However, that established image has crumbled over the last few months as the burrito chain grapples with a major E. coli outbreak at its restaurants. Chipotle’s problems began in summer 2015 when customers began falling ill in California and Washington. Attention then shifted across the country to more than 140 Boston College students who received food borne noroviruses from a local Chipotle. By Continue reading →

Branding, Marketing, Distribution, Ethics, Chipotle, Food, Supply chains, Safety

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Texas Plumber Sues Dealership for Shocking Truck Mix-up

January 20, 2016

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Last year we featured a post about the unfortunate case of Texas plumber Mark Oberholtzer. In need of a better truck for his business, he took his old Ford F-250 to a local dealership and traded it in for a newer model. The plumber didn’t give the transaction a second thought until about a year later when the complaints started rolling in. Due to the extraordinarily complicated nature of the global auto resale market, Oberholtzer’s truck somehow ended up in Continue reading →