supply chain disruption – OM in the News

Retail Inventory Levels: Stabilized In Time for the Holidays

Retailers over the last few years can relate to the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Over the past few years, retail companies such as Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and Abercrombie & Fitch battled inventory levels that were too low, too high, and now (hopefully) just right.

They faced multiple years of lower inventory levels driven by pandemic challenges including reduced production, port congestion, driver shortages, and labor constraints.

Those low-inventory years were followed by higher inventory levels due to reduced […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-12-01T19:33:02+00:00December 1, 2023|Tags: allocation, cargo container, inventory management, lean, logistics, pandemic, supply and demand, supply chain disruption, transportation|

Direct-to-Consumer Caskets Disrupt Traditional Business Model

The old saying “there’s nothing certain in life except death and taxes” may still be true, but more options now exist regarding the cost of burying a loved one.

Traditionally in the United States, a family purchases a casket upon the death of their loved one, as part of the arrangements made with a funeral home. Funeral homes provide both tangible products (such as a casket) and intangible services (such as preparing the body for viewing and burial). The combined total […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-11-12T10:46:29+00:00November 12, 2023|Tags: direct-to-consumer, inventory, inventory management, online shopping, process selection, quality, supply chain disruption, total cost of ownership|

US Air Travel Disruptions: The Rule Instead of the Exception?

The airline industry has taken major hits since December 2022, and customer anxiety is on the rise over booking new reservations.

In December—during the peak of the holiday season—Southwest Airlines cancelled over 13,000 flights due to an antiquated and unreliable flight scheduling system.

In January, a nationwide ground stop imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over a computer issue forced a 90-minute halt to all U.S. departing flights, leading to over 10,000 delays in one day alone.

January’s grounding […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-02-15T22:07:05+00:00February 15, 2023|Tags: asset utilization, contingency planning, information systems, supply chain disruption, supply chain resiliency|

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|