Dr. Misty Blessley is a professor at Temple U. She shares her insights monthly.
DJI, a Chinese company and the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial and industrial drones, faces scrutiny in the U.S. over alleged cybersecurity risks. It is now close to being banned here.
One U. S. business that sells spray-drone kits reported that its challenges began last year when importing DJI drones became significantly more difficult. This uncertainty has caused concern across industries that rely on these tools, from public safety and construction to supply chain logistics. For American agriculture specifically, a ban could cut off access to vital equipment, leaving fields unmonitored, untreated, and risking harvest losses.
Agriculture has adopted drones more rapidly than almost any other sector. Monitoring drones help detect disease and water stress early, while spray drones enable precise application of fertilizer and pesticides during narrow weather windows. They have become crucial for reducing input costs (China is accused of subsidizing their drone industry, which might explain some of the cost differences), protecting yields, and facilitating smooth food movement through supply chains. If imports are halted, many farmers could miss critical windows, leading to lower yields and creating issues along the supply chain, from processors to consumers.
Mitigation Strategies
To prepare, farming businesses should apply lessons learned from managing recent supply chain disruptions:
Diversify suppliers – Start testing U. S. or non-Chinese alternatives, even if they are currently less cost-effective. Early adoption minimizes dependence.
Stock critical parts – As restrictions tighten, building an inventory now provides a safety buffer.
Use mixed fleets – Combine current drones with alternative technologies like ground sprayers to prevent single points of failure.
Plan operational slack – Stagger schedules or adjust operations to account for potential delays.
Collaborate and advocate – Engage with farm bureaus and trade associations to push for phased implementation, subsidies, or funding for domestic options.
Classroom discussion questions:
1• What are the challenges and drawbacks of each mitigation strategy?
2• Considering that the Chinese drone ban is likely, how should user decision-making be updated? (Refer to Module A Decision-Making Tools and consider these facts:◦ Drones can cut labor costs by up to 90% and reduce chemical use by 20–30%. ◦ A high-end U.S.-made drone can cost nearly $30,000, compared to a similar DJI unit costing $6,500).
Retired Temple U. Prof. Howard Weiss created the Excel OM and POM software that we provide free with our text.
Katie Decker is Marketing Manager at Account Mate, a California software firm with over 150,000 clients.
This is Solver’s objective. The changing cells are the intercept and slope, there are no constraints, and the method in Solver is GRG Nonlinear. In addition, for least squares the “Make Unconstrained Variables Non-Negative” needs to be unchecked since slopes/trends can be negative in forecasting– although not in this example.
A recent example can be found in Middletown, PA, where residents protested the conversion of a decommissioned coin mint into a warehouse. While the project promised potential economic benefits, community members expressed concerns over increased traffic congestion, heightened noise levels, possible pollution, and the erosion of local character. Such reactions are emblematic of broader NIMBY dynamics, where objections are rooted in both tangible and intangible perceived costs.
Dr. Andy Hill and Dr. Rosie Cole are both Senior Lecturers at the University of Surrey in the UK.
But risk matrices are riddled with three problems:(1) mathematical compression. Because the scales for likelihood and impact are simplified, rare but catastrophic events often get downplayed. The extremes are squeezed into narrow categories, which means the true scale of a severe event is not represented accurately; (2) presence of ambiguous categories. The labels “low,” “medium,” and “high” are not always clear-cut, and the boundaries between them often overlap. Different managers could look at the same scenario and classify the risk differently, leading to inconsistent decision- making; and (3) false objectivity. Many risk matrices attempt to turn qualitative judgements into numbers, for example by multiplying likelihood and impact scores. While this looks precise, the numbers are often arbitrary and can give a misleading sense of accuracy.
At its core the movement is a consumer mindset focused on refraining from non-essential purchases for a set period, for some an entire year. Trending on online communities are people sharing their No-Buy challenges and success stories. Some are motivated to cut debt or save for long-term goals, while others are concerned with sustainability, minimalism, or anti- consumption values. Participation is surging, especially among millennials and Gen Zs, who are juggling inflation, student debt, and climate anxiety.
Professor Howard Weiss, developer of our POM and Excel OM software, shares his thought with our readers monthly.
Self-service fare collection was developed in Europe in the 1960s by transit agencies facing labor shortages and the need to reduce costs. Originally, subway passengers went through a turnstile serviced by someone who collected the fare. In most modern systems turnstiles are unstaffed, and many riders have been jumping half-height turnstiles or sneaking in behind another passenger. On buses, some riders enter through the rear exit or emergency doors.
Global coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, employs a similar collaborative model in the coffee industry. It’s Coffee and Farmer Equity practices enable direct engagement with producers across Latin America, Africa, and Asia to improve sustainability, productivity, and income generation. Starbucks operates regional farmer support centers, provides pre-harvest financing, and integrates ethical sourcing into its procurement decisions. These long-term collaborations help Starbucks secure a dependable supply while positively impacting over 400,000 farming families.
For retailers, traditional online returns impose heavy costs: shipping back, inspecting, restocking or disposing of items, and managing the reverse logistics infrastructure. By eliminating the return flow, retailers cut reverse logistics expenses, simplify operations, and reduce strain on reverse-channel storage and processing staff. Many retailers now use decision-making algorithms to determine return eligibility, factoring in item value, customer return history, resale potential, and handling cost.
During the last decade an average of 1,300 containers were lost at sea. In 2022, 661 containers were lost. In 2024, 576 containers that were lost. A notable cause of container loss is severe weather. In the 2024, three incidents off the Cape of Good Hope resulted in losses of 99, 44, and 46 containers, respectively. The region is known for its rough seas. However, due to Houti terrorists in Yemen, more ships are rerouting around Africa instead of passing through the Red Sea, increasing exposure to such risks. (About 1/3 of lost containers are eventually recovered).
This shift reflects a broader trend toward open-access infrastructure aimed at increasing accessibility for all EV drivers. It also introduces new OM considerations around the production, availability, and use of adapters.
Following the accident, two dozen master beekeepers were employed in a coordinated effort to help with the recovery by reconstructing roughly 300 beehives one by one and capturing many of the honeybees. There was not a total loss of the $160,000 but there were significant losses due to the costs of labor for cleanup, restoration of the beehives and capture of the bees.