Category Archives: Strategy

Mega-Ships and Mega-Problems

Posted on April 23, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Very large ships are part of a system.  Changing the ship size radically affects many other parts of the system, such as which ports are usable.

Container Shipping Today: Mega-Ships and Mega-Problems.

Leave a comment

Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Strategy

Tagged ,

World’s largest container ship enters Panama Registry

Posted on April 10, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Thanks to Ana Casaca for this item.  It’s notable that the drive for large ships is being motivated in part by environmental concerns.  Such a large vessel is 35% more efficient than smaller ones, and 35% less polluting.    There are 20 more in new build.

Panama_Maritime_Authority_new.jpgWorld’s largest container ship enters the Panama Registry | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide.

 

Do these large ships increase port congestion? Some think so.  Port operators need to react and design clever ways of coping with the sudden arrival of almost 20000 containers each anxious to be on its way.  Are they up to it?

The fate of some ports depends on solving this dilemma fast.

Leave a comment

Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Strategy, Supply Chains

Tagged ,

4 Reasons Why 3D Printing is a Niche

Posted on April 2, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Well, now MIT has said it.  3D printing is not exactly going to take over the world.  Several important issues (quality, speed, development or setup time) are raised here.  And I think there are others.

 

4 Reasons Why 3D Printing is Still a Niche Application | Supply Chain @ MIT.

 

So I wonder if the maker labs people have really thought this stuff through. What they’re doing reminds me of shop class in high school– we put some folks together and let them make stuff.  But we don’t know whether anyone wants them, and often no one does.  So the yield of products, jobs, economic value might not be large.

Perhaps they should spend more time with design thinking and less with building stuff.  What is the problem, who has this problem, and what would solve it for them?

Leave a comment

Posted in Leadership, Production Operations, Strategy

Tagged