Supply Chain Problems

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Dale00

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We appear to be in a complicated mess. Rolling shortages of many supplies are making life complicated for both business and consumers.

Many root problems are at play…interesting economic times, perhaps not seen since the Second World War.
*Land sea cargo container ships are piled up outside ports waiting to be unloaded - port capacities are too small, ships have gotten larger in an effort to reduce unit costs and ports have not been able to adapt
*China is declining as many manufacturing industries shift to other nations…the much talked about “decoupling” is happening
*Low cost labor jobs in the US are hard to fill…..automation may be posed to fill the gap
*Disruptive technologies are emerging …e.g. electric vehicles, space infrastructure …..causing traditional manufacturing and other industries to stagnate and managers struggle to decide where to shift capital investment

IMO the mess is not a mega conspiracy. It is not a time to hunker down and buy precious metals. It is a time of economic disruptions as techologies change and industries transform and nations face challenges…the future is emerging and we should look forward to it rather than wringing our hands and clinging to old doom and gloom explanations.
 

XYZ

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We spent a couple weeks down on Galveston Island earlier this year. We were fortunate to have a spot right on the coast. Most mornings it was clear enough to sit out in the morning and enjoy my coffee and view. The view typically consisted of cargo boats lined up out to the horizon. They were actually moving. But at a fairly slow pace. I do recall watching one big pink one make it’s way into the port. It took 3 days.
 

SlugSlinger

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Something not mentioned related to supply chain management is JITI. Just in time inventory that has been popular since the Japanese developed Six Sigma. To reduce the costs of maintaining a large inventory, most companies were keeping just enough inventory of products to sell or raw goods to manufacture their goods for a short period of time, they have used all the inventory and can not replace it in a timely manner. It’s all most like living paycheck to paycheck for individuals. Both are relying on a timely replacement of resources. With the .gov shutdowns, that cannot happen. The elitist have started the biggest economic catastrophe in history. What is worse, a virus that has a 98% survival rate that has shut down the world or a world wide food shortage that will kill billions?
 

trbii

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The Aerospace manufacturer I retired from a couple years ago went to the “just in time inventory” approx 30 years ago to cut storage costs and increase efficiency, they claimed. I do remember Japanese efficiency experts visiting, auditing and touting this new idea. Also starting to farm out all support and maintenance work. Shut down our in house machine shop, happily getting rid of our highest paid hourly tradesmen. Management was sure all outside support would show up in a timely manner to fix breakdowns, perform PM’s, build new tooling. Just a phone call away.
 

Fade2blue

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