Technical essays often strive for simplicity and clarity. However, we should not confuse striving for clarity in arguments with desiring conclusive outcomes. Some concepts are inherently ambiguous. Some cultures and languages have created room for such ambiguity to thrive. Luis…
In light of the recent conflicts, India has made a move to ban TikTok and Wechat and 57 other apps, made by firms that are all based in China. This ban is a big loss for ByteDance, as TikTok had surprisingly “cracked” the challenging mobile market in India. I explain the appeal of Tiktok in India. The issue with the Indian market typifies that challenges that face Chinese Internet firms that seek to go global.
I explore the natural boundaries of Amazon's customer obsession - tracing the notion from Aesop's Fables to the Theory of Moral Sentiments.
WSJ reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer of silicon chips, would spend $12 billion to build a chip factory in Arizona. I have been arguing on this blog for sourcing suppliers closer to the customer…
Recently, Musk was again in news due to his tweets — probably not his most famous or costliest tweet ever — for threatening to move Tesla HQ out of California and manufacturing out of the Fremont CA plant. Supply chains and production has been sputtered in the US and elsewhere due to COVID. It is true that maintaining idle plants is prohibitively expensive. I take a look at how Fremont plant works well for Tesla, and how shifting capacity is complicated.
Supply Chains ran our lives quietly and without fuss, but due to the pandemic, they have gained media attention.
The pandemic has created stress on business and efficient supply chains. Many journalists seek to write on why we are seeing massive stock-outs for some products and not for others. The best strategy would be to directly talk to supply chain experts and practitioners who deal with global supply chains. This post is a quick note arguing, no, toilet paper shortage are not due to asset bubbles like tulip mania. It is just supply inflexibility for a functional product, what we call as “bullwhip” in supply chains.
Things that caught my eye:
The 2020 INFORMS Analytics Conference is FREE and online! This is a great opportunity to see some cool talks from your sofa! Here is the LINK! [More ...]