Manufacturing the World Cup Ball

I've seen the manufacturing process behind cars, PCs and large mainframes and I think the making of something as simple as a football (soccer for my American readers) takes the cake.  The most surprising to me is the level of touch or people that is required to make the ball. Also the level of material waste.  Watch at :57 seconds when the triangular shape is cut from the large white square of material.  It looks like there is enough material left to make another cut.  But then again, Adidas charges $150 for the ball, so I guess we are buying those scraps after all.

Swisscom Doesn't Get Customer Fulfillment or Green Supply Chains

As many of you know I am now living in Zurich and as one should do in a new country, I am trying to learn the local language.  To help, everyone tells me that I should get a TV with cable to watch programs in German to support the classes and DVDs I am using.  Easier said then done.

Swisscom, the local provider of everything related to communications, including mobile phones, cable TV, internet and home telephone, send me a nice welcome package and in it offered me a discount on a TV subscription along with nifty WiFi box that sends the TV signal to my TV without any cables for free (originally $169).  A very cool idea since my Internet router and TV are in two separate rooms.

Looking to get the box faster and to eliminate the carbon emissions in having it shipped, I took the train to one of the many Swisscom retail locations in Zurich along with the promotion.  After filling out all of the paperwork 20 minutes later the sales rep tells me that I only can get the WiFi box for free in the mail, meaning I need to fill out the promotion card and mail it.  At this point I was steaming and basically had to cancel everything.

So here is what I don't get.  First, they have the WiFi boxes in the store, so why don't they have their inventory systems linked so they can give me a free one from the retail store, instead of having to make me wait to ship one? Not to mention the carbon footprint they are leaving to ship the box to me and on top of it, the additional shipping costs that they are absorbing?

Technically, this should be a no brainer.  Think Green Swisscom.  You are better than this.