IBM logistics circa 1965

My iPhone finally arrived Monday morning at 7AM. I almost missed it. I had to jump out of bed and chase the postman around the corner. But more on that in my next post. To give you a preview, I was not pleased with the packaging they used to ship it.

On a lighter note, I came across this photo of IBM shipping a 305 RAMAC, the first computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). The hard disk weighed over a ton and capable of storing 5MB in data. I believe PAA is short for Pan American Airways.

While its certainly eco friendly, no wooden crate or cardboard box, I can't believe the left it so vulnerable.

iPhone Inventory Issues

I am still reeling at the fact that I didn't get an iPhone last week. First I waited in line for 30 minutes at T-Mobile in Hietzing, a small suburb of Vienna. They only had 3 iPhones and didn't decide to share that with the 12 people in line until they officially were sold out.

Then I scrambled to the two T-Mobile shops in city center. Both sold out moments before I arrived. I forgot to mention that I also ordered an iPhone on T-Mobile's website the Tuesday before the launch only to get an email two days later telling me that they were having issues with processing credit cards.

Apple and T-Mobile you know how to delivery the hype, but not the product. What drives me even madder is how AMR Research gave Apple the supply chain of the year award! If you can't manage supply and demand, even after you've had a year to gauge the markets reaction with the first iPhone, a supply chain leader you are not.

UPDATE: Today I just received an email from T-mobile. Here is the translation in broken German to English: "We received just now the following current report. There are momentarily delays with your wished product. According to current information your order will leave next week our and soon it will arrive."

If Apple really did have the #1 supply chain this email would have told me exactly when my iPhone would be arriving with a tracking number.

Either way, I can't wait to get the damn thing. It's so cool!

The Blimp is Back

If you are an avid reader of my blog, and I hope you are, you may recall an article I posted back at the end of 2006 ago on a company called Cargolifter. Simply put the company as a 3PL that uses a blimp to ship cargo. The idea is brilliant. It's eco-friendly, eliminates border issues and traffic for that matter. The post actually generated the post comments every for any of my post with 12 comments.

I haven't heard anything from Cargolifter, but today I came across Boeing and its partner Skyhook, which seem to be revisiting the idea. I really hope it catches on because its really a great idea for many industries to help reduce carbon footprints and to easy traffic on the the roads.

New milk jug cuts logistics costs

In an effort to trim costs the milk industry in the USA is introducing a more efficient milk jug. The basic difference, it is stackable without the use of plastic milk crates and its square so more can fit on a pallet. All good things. Of course some nitwits are having challenges pouring the milk. For them, stores like Sam's Club are offering demonstrations on how to use the new jug. How sad is this? Anyway, supply chain innovation is at work here. Hat's off to the team that designed it.