operations strategy – OM in the News

Pandora Closes the Box on Mined Diamonds

The popular jewelry company, Pandora, will no longer source real diamonds and will exclusively use lab grown diamonds instead.

A combination of low cost and sustainability strategies are driving this change to make beautiful jewelry that is more affordable, accessible, and sustainable. Pandora’s decision follows a larger market trend that has seen the production of lab-grown diamonds increase to approximately six or seven million carats in 2020, while mined diamonds saw demand drop.

Video Spotlight:

Lab-made diamonds are […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2021-07-05T21:21:41+00:00July 7, 2021|Tags: ethics, operations strategy, product design, sustainability|

Samsung Plans to Manufacture Semiconductors in the US

Samsung is investing $13 billion in a chip-making factory in the US, which would employ 1,900 people by October 2022.

Three location alternatives are being considered: Texas, Arizona, and New York.

Samsung will be competing with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for the top leadership position in the $400 billion chip-making industry in the US.

Video Spotlight:

Samsung eyes Texas for $17 bln chip plant (Feb 5, 2021, Reuters)

This post is based on The Hill article,

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2021-03-02T02:38:40+00:00March 1, 2021|Tags: competitiveness, facility location, location, operations strategy|

The Case of the Disappearing Daigou

Disappearing daigou are causing sales in Australia to plummet in key industries like infant formula, personal care and beauty, and nutritional supplements.

Daigou in Australia are personal shoppers who ship products to China. In this multi-billion dollar industry, millions in revenue have been lost by dairy and supplement brands because of changes precipitated by the pandemic. Australian baby formula companies like Bubs, Nuchev, and A2 join others in daigou-driven markets to find new distribution strategies to get their products into the […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2021-01-10T07:29:44+00:00January 10, 2021|Tags: external environment, forecasting, operations strategy, pandemic, supply chain management|

VW Partners with Amazon Web Services

Volkswagen (VW) is in partnership with Amazon Web Services to link more than 120 VW factories to 1,500 suppliers and 30,000 plants worldwide via a cloud-based software and data portal.

The “industrial cloud” digitizes factory processes from stamping to painting to maintenance. Supplier partners use an app store approach to share and contribute software applications. Amazon provides support services, including data analytics and computing.

Video Spotlight: VW and Amazon team up to create an industrial cloud (Mar 28, […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2020-08-03T08:08:05+00:00August 3, 2020|Tags: efficiency, operations strategy, supplier relationship, technology|