S. Banks's Profile

I completely agree with the above commenter regarding the decision to manufacture locally. If 4 out of the top 5 smartphone manufacturers have already been producing in India successfully and profitably, Apple should be able to do the same. In addition to the reduced transportation costs mentioned above, Apple would also save substantially on import taxes, in addition to being able to open retail stores and reduce their cost to serve customers. Furthermore, Apple would be able to move away from the “authorized reseller” model and capture more of the value for themselves. I think that the decision to produce locally in India was the right move.

As Darrin mentioned above, I would worry about Gildan’s ability to vertically integrate in each customer market and still remain a low-cost t-shirt supplier. However, I think that vertically integrating in the U.S. market in particular is possible and advisable, since they already have 53% market share and have made significant investments in U.S. cotton production and t-shirt manufacturing.

I also think it’s advisable for Gildan to get more involved with the NAFTA negotiations, as Linamar has done. They likely already have a regulatory/lobbying team (overseen by this guy perhaps http://www1.gildan.com/corporate/company/bioPI_en.cfm), so they should leverage those capabilities in lobbying for desired NAFTA outcomes.

Interesting article! I think that ONS should take an active role in the transition to a digitalized system. As more types of power sources become prevalent in the Brazilian market and lead to greatly increased variability, it will be extremely important to improve the reliability of forecasts and the efficiency of the entire power system. ONS, and the entire supply chain, will be negatively impacted if such a system is not in place soon. Therefore, they should not wait until this becomes an issue, but rather be proactive in developing and implementing a digitalized system now.

Interesting article! I would argue that cotton substitutes will be acceptable to most consumers, with negligible affect on the look and feel of clothing. Recycled fibers are already becoming more common in the marketplace (including clothing made out of recycled plastic bottles http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/16/technology/plastic-bottles-fabric-repreve/index.html), and the production technology is only going to get better – enabling even softer, higher-quality fibers. As far as increasing the sustainability of cotton production, perhaps Nike should connect its cotton suppliers with Indigo in order to improve yield and manage the negative affects of climate change.

I found it interesting how well Raksul’s founders knew their target market – i.e. Japan is still paper-dependent, and the company is considering expansion to other paper-dependent markets like Taiwan. The business model is also particularly attractive because (as far as I understand it) Raksul acts solely as an intermediary between the customer and the print houses, and so does not incur the same expenses that affect the capital-intensive print shops. Like the commenters above me, I think that this technology could and should be used to expand Raksul’s reach to other industries. Raksul’s technology could be used for things like custom t-shirts and other similar products, where a customer is looking to create a design easily online.

Great essay! It’s extremely important that VW invest in electric vehicle production, as many countries around the world are getting closer to enacting bans on all fossil-fuel powered vehicles. VW will need to have a stable share of the electric vehicle market when that happens. As you stated in your essay, a lot of the success of a given electric vehicle program will depend upon the price of batteries. However, I believe that VW is already in a strong position as far as purchasing power goes, since it’s one of the largest automakers in the world (https://www.forbes.com/sites/bertelschmitt/2017/06/29/worlds-largest-automakers-toyota-renault-nissan-volkswagen-neck-and-neck/#47762be572fe) However, a technical partnership with a well-regarded OEM might help the public regain confidence in their ability to deliver an environmentally-friendly vehicle.