supply chain management – OM in the News

Chick-fil-A’s Cauliflower Sandwich

After four years of iterations with multiple vegetables, from beets to mushrooms, Chick-fil-A is adding a plant-based category to its menu.

Unlike other quick serve restaurants’ (QSR) menu items which resemble their meat counterpart, such as Burger King with the Impossible Whopper, Chick-fil-A decided on a cauliflower sandwich.

Customer research indicated that customers not only want more vegetables, they want something identifiable as a vegetable, yet still with the delicious taste of Chick-fil-A. The decision to go with cauliflower differentiates Chick-fil-A from […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-02-26T08:32:01+00:00February 26, 2023|Tags: food supply chain, forecasting, House of Quality, inventory management, limited time offering, new product development, perishable inventory management, product development, supply chain management, voice of the customer|

Amazon’s Drone Delivery Off to a Slow Start

For a decade, Amazon has looked towards the day it could officially launch its Prime Air drone delivery service.

Last month the highly anticipated plan was launched, but as of early February 2023, packages had been delivered to only seven houses in the two test cities in California and Texas, lagging far behind Walmart’s drone delivery partners Flytrex and Zipline, and Wing’s drone service.

Video Spotlight:

Amazon has finally launched drone delivery – so far in California […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2023-02-22T20:15:56+00:00February 22, 2023|Tags: drones, ethics, last mile delivery, product development, quality control, quality of conformance, quality of design, reliability, safety, supply chain management, sustainability|

Update on Fertilizer Shortages and Food Crisis

As we approach the one-year mark (February 24, 2022) of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Putin continues to weaponize several key sectors of the global economy.

Both developing and developed countries have been hit by the domino effect of fuel shortages, which have led to fertilizer shortages, which have reduced global food supplies.

While people across the globe have seen prices rise and some products go missing, often, it’s the poorest countries that bear the brunt of these disruptions.

Video Spotlight:

By Lisa M. Spencer|2023-02-20T00:49:22+00:00February 19, 2023|Tags: aggregate planning, forecasting, inventory management, sales and operations planning, supply chain management|

Transportation Woes

We have previously discussed on the blog how the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain challenges that accompanied it wreaked havoc with California ports. New sources of supply chain challenges are on the horizon. Multiple transportation methods may see disruptions this winter—rail, barge, ship, and truck.

The rail strike appeared to have been averted, but that may have been premature. Six of the 12 unions approved […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-11-30T22:47:18+00:00December 1, 2022|Tags: cargo container, logistics, railways, shipping, shortages, supply chain management, transportation, trucking|