(Reuters) – Toyota may have pioneered the just-in-time manufacturing strategy but when it comes to chips, its decision to stockpile what have become key components in cars goes back a decade to the Fukushima disaster. After the catastrophe severed Toyota’s supply chains on March 11, 2011, the world’s biggest automaker realised the lead-time for semiconductors...

This post How Toyota thrives when the chips are down appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Confection du Boischaut Nord (CBN) is a small miracle of manufacturing: it is one of the few firms in Indre’s once-buoyant local textiles sector to have withstood the onslaught of foreign competition, first from southern Europe, then North Africa and now Asia. Yet the overtime episode is a telling insight into a France struggling with itself:...

This post INSIGHT-Making France work again appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf may be paving the way for a revolution in the market for metals used in the industry. The new materials used to build these futuristic cars, such as Lithium, could open up a new field for commodities investors. For example, the new demand for key elements used in electric...

This post RPT-INSIGHT: Electric car revolution brightens outlook for a medley of metals appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

The furniture production industry that had sustained a North Carolinan community for generations, was abandoned at the start of the century when furniture makers left Hickory for China. Now, little more than a decade later after the the local community college shuttered its relevant courses, jobs are coming back. The issues has become so important that competing presidential...

This post RPT-INSIGHT – US manufacturers battle back from “China shock” appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

For KKR & Co LP, the private equity firm behind some of the world’s largest leveraged buyouts, the acquisition of U.S. outdoor retailer Mills Fleet Farm for a little more than $1.2 billion should have been a formality. The New York-based firm was indeed very close to clinching the deal in late November. But then, the junk...

This post PE deals hit as banks curb lending for leveraged buyouts appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Pfizer and Allergan are in talks to create the world’s biggest drug company by market value. The problem with this scenario? Pfizer’s take over of Allergan have faced a political backlash in the United States over fears that the deal would lead to the company shifting its headquarters and taxable profits to Ireland. But a Reuters...

This post RPT-INSIGHT-How Pfizer has shifted U.S. profits overseas for years appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports that suppliers of everything from groceries to sports equipment are being squeezed for price cuts and cost sharing by Wal-Mart Stores. Moreover, they are bracing for the pressure to ratchet up even more after a shock earnings warning from the retailer last week. The discount store has always had a reputation for demanding...

This post Wal-Mart puts the squeeze on suppliers to share its pain as earnings sag appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Tom Scott, a former U.S. executive at Toshiba Corp, remembers his former boss Atsutoshi Nishida as an aggressive leader. “He gave me goals that scared the hell out of me,” Scott told Reuters after Nishida resigned as an adviser to Toshiba. He further described him as “tough as nails, maybe a little like Patton in World...

This post In Toshiba scandal, the ‘tough as nails’ target setter appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports how Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s $37 billion deal for aerospace supplier Precision Castparts Corp is encouraging investors to consolidate the fragmented aircraft components industry. This, as Boeing Co uses its clout as the world’s biggest plane maker to put a check on some deals. Moreover, Berkshire chief Warren Buffett isn’t alone in seeing potential...

This post Boeing uses its clout to control supplier consolidation appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

A courtship by BMW and Apple, previously put on hold, may rekindle after an precursory visit by executives of the world’s top maker of electronic gadgets to the headquarters of the word’s biggest seller of premium cars. Senior Apple executives toured the carmaker’s Leipzig factory to learn how it manufactures the i3 electric car, but dialogue...

This post INSIGHT-Apple, BMW in courtship with an eye on car collaboration appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

As Reuters reports, communist Cuba’s newfound interest in foreign capital does have its limits. French doctor Philippe Pouletty is working to develop a therapeutic vaccine to treat chronic Hepatitis B. But when he pitched the idea of floating a company on the pan-European stock market Euronext, with the Cuban state as a shareholder, that was clearly too much. Pouletty’s...

This post Cuba Inc. open to foreign capitalists, but within limits appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

As Reuters reports, Amazon.com is in a race against Google to store data on human DNA. Inherently, academic institutions and healthcare companies find themselves having to pick sides between their cloud computing offerings – Google Genomics and Amazon Web Services. A number of clients view Google and Amazon as doing a better job at storing...

This post Amazon, Google race to get your DNA into the cloud appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports on the jumbo jet, which for many years have been known as the workhorse of modern air travel, could now be close to ‘running out of runway’. Due to a slump in sales of the jets, questions are being raised over how long manufacturers will be able to sustain production. It has also fueled internal...

This post The jumbo jet faces a make or break year at Boeing, Airbus appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Taser International Inc’s small but high-profile contract-deal to supply body cameras to the London police nearly collapsed over one issue: where the video footage would be stored. If not for Amazon.com’s lack of a data center in Britain,  Taser wouldn’t have dropped the company as the official data storage provider for the year-long project.  This deal...

This post RPT-INSIGHT-Amazon’s cloud business a harder sell in post-Snowden era appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports that after record orders, Airbus is reshaping for higher output, while its procurement chief deepens the use of auto methods in their supply chain. The transformation underpins one of the toughest challenges faced by Airbus in its 44-year history: switching to a new model of best-selling A320 at the same time as embarking on...

This post INSIGHT-Airbus deepens carmaker thinking to drive jet output appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports on Mario Draghi’s German problem: In early October, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure paid a discreet visit to the Chancellery in Berlin to express concerns about rising criticism of the bank from German politicians. Coeure, one of ECB President Mario Draghi’s closest allies in Frankfurt, hoped for reassurances that the bank bashing would stop. But...

This post RPT-INSIGHT-Mario Draghi’s German problem appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports: A  year after sunny Spain issued notice of a law forcing solar energy-equipped homes and offices to pay a punitive tax, architect Inaki Alonso re-installed a 250 watt solar panel on a beam over his Madrid roof terrace. This, in response to an attempt by the government wanting people to become afraid of generating...

This post RPT-INSIGHT-Taxes, fees: the worldwide battle between utilities and solar appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Approaching a historic turn in U.S. monetary policy, Janet Yellen has staked her tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve on a simple principle: she’d rather fight inflation than another economic downturn. Interviews with current and former Fed officials indicate that Yellen and core decision-makers at the U.S. central bank are determined not to raise interest...

This post INSIGHT- Janet Yellen resolved to avoid raising rates too soon, fearing downturn appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

The news about deadly crashes linked to a faulty ignition switch, followed by wave upon wave of recalls, did not go down well for General Motors dealers earlier this year. But according to Robbie Long, service director for the dealer, what looked like “great adversity” has turned into an opportunity. The hundreds of customers bringing old cars...

This post INSIGHT- GM recalls far from calamity for some dealers who find new customers, business appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Technology and the auto-industry is ever-more conjoining, according to Reuters. In 2012, a small team of Google Inc engineers and business staffers met with some of the world’s largest car makers, to discuss partnerships to build self-driving cars. It was as if the two were “talking a different language,” recalls one person who was present. Even...

This post INSIGHT-Google, Detroit diverge on road map for self-driving cars appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

In Reuters market news, the Federal Reserve is in the spotlight. According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve may scrap international measures aimed at assessing bank health – in favor of imposing its own rules. As a consequence, the transition is frustrating bankers who have spent billions retooling their books to meet global standards. Moreover, Fed officials...

This post INSIGHT- Fed may shun global risk rules banks spent billions to meet appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Jens Weidmann steadfastly opposed any move by the European Central Bank to print money to buy assets and buoy the euro zone economy. This Bundesbank chief and head of the German central bank is well known for his hardline stances at the ECB, and in his latest endeavors, he is ready to support such quantitative easing...

This post ECB hardliner Weidmann comes in from the cold as deflation threatens appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

One of the many symbols of Southern Europe’s industrial decline must be the sight of one particular washing machine factory that now makes fewer than half the washing machines it did when Italy joined the euro. Rather, today, the Porcia plant is also a testing ground for the region’s industrial future. Home appliance maker Electrolux, which owns...

This post INSIGHT- A washing machine factory tests Italy’s industrial future appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters investigates what is now known as Caterpillar’s dealer sales push. In recent years, the company has called the 178 independently owned businesses that distribute its earth-moving products worldwide everything from “a critical competitive differentiator” to “the foundation” of its success. Now the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment is adopting a cooler...

This post INSIGHT-From dumb iron to Big Data: Caterpillar’s dealer sales push appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports on new investment related developments between Cuba and Europe, with a focus on possible obstacles in the form of human rights. The good news is, the European Union decided to seek negotiations with Havana on increasing trade, investment and dialogue. This will mark their closest connection after years of tension about Cuba’s human rights...

This post Have a cigar: Cuba and Europe to write a business plan appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports that European Union banks have shrunk their loan books by over $5.5 trillion since the global crisis of 2007-08. This, in an attempt to cut risk on their balance sheets, choking off credit to companies and stalling the region’s recovery. As a consequence, businesses hunting credit are now forced to look beyond wary EU banks for...

This post Hunting credit, firms look beyond wary EU banks appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports that Portuguese export firms are buzzing with activity despite three years of economic crisis at home. In the words of one footwear designer, Luis Onofre, “It’s a one-way trip. If we stop growing exports, we dig our own grave.” During the depths of Portugal’s crisis in 2012, his firm raised its foreign sales by...

This post Insight: Innovative Portuguese exporters boom despite bust at home appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Brazil had been struggling for years to decide which company to choose for a $4 billion-plus fighter jet contract. Dilma Rousseff was thrilled after a 90-minute meeting in Brasilia on May 31 with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. After Biden’s reassurances that the United States would not block crucial transfers of technological know-how to Brazil if it...

This post How U.S. spying cost Boeing multibillion-dollar jet contract appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Reuters reports that soaring diabetes rates, driven by increasing obesity, have fuelled profits at the Danish company, Novo Nordisk’s Kalundborg factory for nearly two decades. Now, the company wants to tackle obesity head on by launching a specific treatment. At first thought, it seems to be a no-brainer. However, in a global economic downturn, modestly effective weight-loss...

This post INSIGHT- Profit bonanza eludes companies chasing obesity business appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel falls under Reuters’ political spotlight this month. As Angela Merkel forms a new coalition government after a third successive election triumph, the conservative chancellor can build on efforts, in place since her first term in 2005, that have increased the number of Germans in...

This post Insight: Merkel’s Europe – how her men run Brussels appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.