location – OM in the News

Bacteria + Food Waste = Leather

With vegan leather, material circularity further confirms its growing role in product design.

The trend toward material circularity continues to expand from furniture to fashion. This article features Polybion’s use of bacteria and food waste to produce an environmentally friendly cellulose membrane. That membrane can then be tanned to become vegan leather. Not only is this leather easier to produce than competing fungi-based products, but it is also more versatile and scalable. Therefore, the product […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2022-04-13T23:03:44+00:00April 15, 2022|Tags: carbon footprint, location, product design, respsonsive supply chain design, sourcing, sustainability|

US-Based Logistics Center Home to BMW, Niagara Bottling, More

BMW opened a vehicle distribution center at Sparrows Point, Maryland in February 2022.

The VDC will process up to 100,000 vehicles imported to Baltimore from Europe annually. The center also serves as a distribution hub to provide such services as pre-delivery inspection, repair, accessory installation, vehicle programming and maintenance.

BMW is not alone in moving to Sparrows Point. The industrial location, called Tradepoint Atlantic, is a “3,300 acre logistics and industrial center” which has also attracted Niagara Bottling and […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2022-04-14T07:36:59+00:00April 13, 2022|Tags: capacity planning, location, location planning, strategic capacity management|

Neon Shortages from Ukraine May Increase Global Chip Shortage

Our chip-dependent world may be dealt another blow as supplies of neon may soon be in short supply.

Ukraine-based Cryoin, which produces the critical gas, is situated in Odessa and has been shut down since the war began. In addition, transportation routes are flooded with refugees and commercial shipments may have a hard time reaching and moving through borders.

With up to 90 percent of the neon used by U.S. chip manufacturers coming from the Ukraine, alternative sources may be extremely hard […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-03-15T07:41:45+00:00March 15, 2022|Tags: facility location, location, product design, sourcing, suppliers, supply chain management, vendor analysis|

Making Short-Haul Rail Transport Economically Feasible

Parallel Systems is building autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles to solve carbon emission and supply chain constraint problems.

The autonomous rail vehicles are used for intermodal transportation, moving steel containers between rail and boats/trucks. The small size of the Parallel Systems’ rail vehicles can do high-volume turnovers economically and efficiently, offering access to urban communities or ports that do not have large terminals.

According to the company, its vehicles could make rail transport economically feasible for distances of less than 500 miles.

Video […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2022-02-23T22:04:51+00:00February 24, 2022|Tags: autonomous vehicles, distribution, location, sustainability, transportation|