Category Archives: Domestic Business

Queuing Up For TSA’s Fast Security Line

Posted on by

APRIL 18, 2014

by 

The TSA wants to speed up this line. Really.

Fliers gripe that getting through airport security lines can be too slow. Now, it may be fliers who are slow to sign up for a program to speed them through the lines. The Transportation Security Administration is aggressively trying to encourage more people to sign up for TSA Precheck, reports The Wall Street Journal (April 17, 2014). 

Precheck, launched in 2011, is much-loved among travelers because they don’t have to take off their shoes and jackets, don’t have to pull liquids and laptops out of baggage, and can walk through metal detectors without a full-body scan. By doing background checks on Precheck enrollees and scanning law-enforcement databases, TSA offers what is essentially pre-9/11 screening to “trusted travelers.”

TSA wants lots more people enrolled in Precheck to make better use of its designated security lanes, which currently number 590 at 118 U.S. airports. “It’s one of the last great bargains the U.S. government is offering,” TSA Administrator John Pistole has joked. To entice travelers into Precheck and test TSA’s ability to handle more people, the agency has been selecting regular passengers to go through Precheck security lanes and get it printed on their boarding passes. Selection is based on criteria like passengers’ travel history and the route being flown. TSA officers trained in behavior detection also can move passengers they deem low risk from regular queues into Precheck lanes.

Pistole said he has heard the complaints about Precheck lanes getting clogged, and TSA has already decided to stop moving travelers 75 years of age and older into Precheck service, unless they are enrolled, because they sometimes can take 10 minutes to move through. “It used to be great, but recently the Precheck lines have been the slowest of all the lines,” said Northeastern University OM Professor Fred Van Bennekom, who has timed TSA lines. “Sometimes there’s almost no one in regular lines and we’re all backed up at Precheck.”

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.

The Customized Bicycle Industry

Posted on by

APRIL 16, 2014

by 

bike custom

The vast majority of bikes sold in the US are made in Asia and a handful of companies dominate the market, writesThe Atlantic (April 3, 2014).  Custom-made bikes are a very small slice of the industry. “But right now is the Golden Age in custom frame building,” says one industry expert. “There have never been more builders producing, and the quality has never been higher.” Though thriving, the 100 or so builders in the hand-built bicycle scene make up about 3.3% of the overall U.S. bike industry, valued at $6.1 billion and is sourced almost completely overseas. Almost 99% of bicycles sold in the U.S.are assembled in Asia—93% in China and 6% in Taiwan.

Additionally, just four companies—Dorel, Accell, Trek Bicycle, and Specialized Bicycle—own about half of the 140 bicycle brands available in this country. Technology, though, is very accessible to a one-person or two-person shop or frame builder. A lot of the innovation and creativity comes from the thinking that smaller companies can produce. Technology has made the production side more important by lowering the cost of reaching customers. The internet opens up selling opportunities–and more competition. So production and design capabilities are critical.

Unlike production bicycles that come off the rack in standard shapes and sizes, custom bikes are designed specifically for their owners’ bodies, riding styles, and aesthetic preferences. In determining the angles, rigidity, and flex of the frames they construct, hand builders take into account dozens of measurements and factors—everything from customers’ inseams, arm length and hip flexibility to whether they prefer a stiff ride for efficiency or a softer ride for comfort. The customer also has a say in the bike’s finish, color scheme and design. Ranging in price from $3,000 to more than $15,000, the primary market for custom bikes is affluent people in their 40s or 50s—more men than women—who are steeped in the cycling lifestyle and already own one bike, if not 10.

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.

The Environmentally Friendly Paper Cup

Posted on by

APRIL 14, 2014

by 

Jamba Juice, McDonald’s, and several other food chains are starting to serve their drinks in paper cups. Drinks stay just as hot and cold in  new doubled-walled paper cup as in the old non-biodegradeable foam variety. The paper industry likes it a lot too. Demand for paper cups is growing 5% a year. Environmental concerns from consumers and new bans on plastic foam in more U.S. cities are prompting food chains to make a switch, reports The Wall Street Journal (April 11, 2014).

Jamba Juice said last year it would adopt paper cups for its smoothies and other cold drinks “to improve our environmental footprint.” McDonald’s is replacing plastic-foam cups with double-walled McCafe paper cups at all 14,000 McCafes across the country. The company says it is trying to be more environmentally conscious and cut costs on trash. Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has said it is testing paper cups. These companies join Starbucks, which has been using paper for years.

Environmental advocates say paper is easier on the environment than plastic foam because the latter tends to break up in landfills and then is mistaken by animals for food. Plastic foam is difficult to recycle unless it is kept clean and separated from other types of plastics—so many plants in the U.S. don’t take it. It isn’t biodegradable.

Paper cups are slightly more expensive than foam. Extras like double walls for insulation or plant-based lining to make it compostable add to the price. While the paper cups cost a few cents more, McDonald’s says it will make up the difference in the trash. Most of the chain’s waste is paper-based– wraps, fry cartons and Big Mac boxes—so paper cups can go into the same trash bin, and eventually into recycling bins.

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.