Outsourcing is NOT a Lean Initiative
8 February 2009
I've followed JDS Uniphase for many years, ever since their downturn during the 2001 telecom meltdown demolished a previous employer. Last week th…
Boeing Abandons the Hollywood Model
21 January 2009
We've talked a lot about Boeing over the last few years, from deriding the supply chain convolutions that created the need for Rube Goldberg contr…
Surviving China's Deep Contradictions
21 December 2008
Wednesday's Financial Times had a fascinating article describing the rather incongruent business climate in China. China this week celebrates the…
Australia Learns About Outsourcing Costs
9 December 2008
Slowly but surely companies are beginning to realize that there is more to competitiveness than just cheap labor. Chinese wages and salaries are a…
Those Dang Fasteners. Again.
19 November 2008
If you had a few billion riding on a project, what would you say if the following happened? Would you still be employed? May 2007: One of the smalles…
Did Lego Learn a Lesson? Did You?
18 November 2008
Over the past few years we've been chronicling a very expensive journey by Danish toymaker Lego. A hat tip to regular reader Peter for helping us…
Shipping Water Across Water
6 November 2008
Take a look at the bottle on the right. Everyone's seen Crystal Geyser before, right? Take a closer look. See anything different? Yes, there'…
The Window is Closing
27 August 2008
Many may not realize it, but recent times have been good for American manufacturing. A plethora of reasons have made domestic manufacturing a good dea…