Forecasting – OM in the News

Updating Southwest’s Operations to Prevent Future Meltdowns

The box-office hit The Perfect Storm (2000), starring George Clooney, highlighted a combination of three separate weather fronts that collided which led to one of the fiercest storms in recorded history in the North Atlantic Ocean.

During this past holiday season, several factors collided which led to major flight disruptions for Southwest Airlines. An historic number of flight cancellations and thousands of angry customers have resulted in major financial implications and operational challenges.

Let’s look at some of those factors to understand why […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-01-15T22:41:09+00:00January 15, 2023|Tags: asset utilization, ERP, forecasting, labor shortage, modeling, supply chain disruption, technology, training|

Subway’s Vending Fridge

Subway is adding smart fridges to its Grab and Go platform, which began in 2020 and sells sandwiches at more than 400 non-traditional locations including airports, college campuses, and gas stations.

The newest entry for Grab and Go is the smart fridge. First introduced at the University of California San Diego in September 2022, Subway has plans for further fridges at non-traditional locations. The smart fridge features AI that allows customers to talk to the fridge, including asking questions about what’s […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-12-15T17:40:42+00:00December 15, 2022|Tags: artificial intelligence, automated processes, forecasting, inventory management, location planning, technology|

Thrifting as a Sustainability Trend?

More and more, consumers are turning to thrifting—partly for the value, partly for the fun, and partly because they view it as being eco-friendly.

The trend is growing in both face-to-face stores as well as via online platforms like ThredUp. One survey reported that over 50 percent of sellers are at least 42 years old. Yet the purchasers are most often younger generations.

One other interesting trend, however, is that affluent customers are increasingly among those looking to thrift, sometimes for luxury […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-12-04T21:10:34+00:00December 4, 2022|Tags: ecommerce, forecasting, online shopping, product design, service design, sustainability|

The Strategic Importance of Effective Capacity Management

The adage goes that effective (and efficient) supply chain management extends from “a supplier’s supplier to a customer’s customers.”

Manufacturers are all rushing to “win” the race to electric automobiles. With this comes literally thousands of new and unique parts, of which suppliers may not have the production and/or engineering capacity to meet.

According to Opsahl, “The capacity of a supplier to launch new stuff…isn’t so much dependent on machine tools and production capacity as it is on human […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2022-11-28T18:14:33+00:00November 29, 2022|Tags: capacity, collaboration, forecasting, strategic capacity planning, supply chain design, supply chain partnership|