Category Archives: Small and Medium Industry

Supply chain bottleneck for world auto as every car uses some Japanese electronics

The world auto supply chain has become so integrated (March 18, 2011) that you are likely to find the same parts suppliers supplying to all auto plants. There was a time when Ford would frown at suppliers supplying to GM let alone Toyota. Today the world is a far different place , with suppliers supplying to everyone in their industry. In fact , you can be sure that suppliers who recently started supplying to the rejuvenated GM had to provide good references from other customers like Ford and Toyota.

[Note: This post from March 18,2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]

Disintermediation with Technology and the Indian phone booth

Three years ago I posted about the cell phone charging business in India and my friend Devinder the owner of the shack like structure here. This January, almost exactly three years later I decided to catch  up with Devinder as I found him mostly at his new photocopy center in  the regular brick and cementContinue reading “Disintermediation with Technology and the Indian phone booth”

As US auto starts booming again time to bailout weaker Tier 1 Tier 2 suppliers who could not globalize

When US auto sales declined from 17 million in 2005  to a low of 10.5 milliom in 2009 the suppliers whether Tier 1 or Tier 2 got squeezed. The demand for lower costs and market contraction meant that  weaker auto suppliers barely stayed alive and certainly could not globalize into low-cost locations. There was neither hope nor cash to expand globally.

Global organizations think local in India – GE,UTC ,Pepsi – the US small business “global” ecosystem?

// <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_setAccount&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;, &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;UA-857684-6&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_trackPageview&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;); ga.type = &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;text/javascript&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; ga.async = true; ga.src = (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; == document.location.protocol ? &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https://ssl&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; : &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;http://www&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;) + &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;.google-analytics.com/ga.js&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Continue reading “Global organizations think local in India – GE,UTC ,Pepsi – the US small business “global” ecosystem?”

Healthcare – avoiding Washington gridlock and growing jobs

Americans are sagacious and have given an electoral verdict and its really important for Congress to understand the mandate. Consider healthcare reform. The time has come to spell out what the details of healthcare reform will look like. If there are differences between the political parties – they need to sort it out between theContinue reading “Healthcare – avoiding Washington gridlock and growing jobs”

Where is the market ? Try India for infrastructure and consumer market

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-857684-6’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl&#8217; : ‘http://www&#8217;) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Soon after the elections President Obama will be on the biggest ever India visit by aContinue reading “Where is the market ? Try India for infrastructure and consumer market”

Amazon sales up 40% as Kindle and e-book sales soar -implications for business

// <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl&#039; : 'http://www&#039;) + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); // ]]&gt; // ]]> Amazon sales are up by 40% and analystsContinue reading “Amazon sales up 40% as Kindle and e-book sales soar -implications for business”

Groupon taps into social media to get new customers for small businesses

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl&#039; : 'http://www&#039;) + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Groupon is one brilliant idea to actually make social media work for small business. The wayContinue reading “Groupon taps into social media to get new customers for small businesses”

Boeing announces 18 B $ of orders at Farnborough , England Airshow and US Engine suppliers announce new business

// <![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl&#039; : 'http://www&#039;) + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); // ]]> It's really great news that Boeing has signed 30 new 777;s (worthContinue reading “Boeing announces 18 B $ of orders at Farnborough , England Airshow and US Engine suppliers announce new business”

Try to preserve trust – even with tight working capital

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-857684-6’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl&#8217; : ‘http://www&#8217;) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); It’s the economy with tight working capital  or messy processes – you might say. Today thereContinue reading “Try to preserve trust – even with tight working capital”